The Clockwork Empress
by Dark Gear
Summary: Momonga wasn't the only person to be brought to the New World. What happens when the unseen force has brought in another that it probably shouldn't have? What happens when it brings in... a developer. Fortunately for her, she has a few advantages to give her the edge over any player. Unfortunately for her, she's going to need those advantages, as she doesn't start like Momonga.
1. Author's Note

Author's Note:

To all readers of this Isekai story, this is a work of fiction and all copyrights and ownership go to the respective owners of Overlord. The only ownership I have is of the characters I have created, the extra lands or world alterations I have produced with all features and rule sets, and the plot going forward.

This is going to be a bit slow due to building up the world and background info on rules and actions of what the main character has to do, so apologies if anyone is expecting combat and action every chapter. This does not follow Ainz Ooal Gown for any of the first half of the story, so if you're looking to read about him or his guardians, you'll be sorely disappointed for the first half. Towards the middle, it should bring him in; however, it may not necessarily be to everyone's liking. I reserve the right to not take criticism to heart and continue on my merry way of writing this story. With that in mind, I am more than willing to take constructive feedback, even altered logical plans of action for what characters could have done better in a given situation or future goal. I am trying to create something that is a bit more complicated than what has been shown in the Light Novels and Anime that most Isekai stories tell.

Basically, I never understood the whole concept of only one game dragging players into another realm, or for that matter dragging ONLY players into another realm. I'm trying to at least apply some realistic expectations to what would transpire, with as much detail as I can provide to flesh out why characters do what they do. Please forgive any large excerpts of information that explain how features work.

Now, on with the story…


	2. Ch 1 Boot Up

Overlord: The Clockwork Empress

Selene Cordel never thought she was amazing or incredible. She thought she was pretty, and smart, but never thought she was the best at what she did. Her colleagues felt otherwise. To them, she was the golden dev, the one who made her mark on the gaming community. She was, according them, invaluable as a developer. If she was on the team, you knew the game was going to be a fantastic hit.

Her official title was General Development and Improvement Programmer. She wasn't technically an official employee for any one company and enjoyed her freedom to work in all departments as a contractor for any game project. The few areas she didn't touch were mainly the Storyboard Writing, Art and Design, Public Relations and Marketing. Beyond those, she had helped with everything else for multiple projects, hence being considered a prodigy in the field of videogame development. Her approach to creating new engines, AI, Net Code, Feature Programming, UI Development and even Rigging and Animation was a huge boon to whatever company acquired her contract. She never had a problem with finding a job. They were practically beating down her door to work on the next big thing in the gaming community.

Selene didn't exactly need to work much anymore, as her main accolade was the reason everyone thought she was incredible. She had developed, on her own free time, a world creation tool that took multiple features and requirements of buildings and resources to create a random generation map that any team could use and considered all available space and restrictions. All someone had to do was pick all available buildings they needed in each village or even something larger like a city, the different needs to make the world feel livelier like blacksmiths or glassblowers, and it would build a breathtaking world with advanced topography and placement with advanced city planning and roads as well as points of interest like a cliff near a waterfall. There were no odd "rings" or flat terrain issues under the buildings, it settled everything without sunken polygons or clipping, with hills and roads being in perfect sync. Due to this, the tool was used in almost all MMO games, and she received royalties from its uses. It revolutionized game development from then on.

This tool made it infinitely faster for design teams to work on fine tuning and working on other facets of the game without any issue with holes in the world, allowing patches and expansions to be quickly rolled out for many popular games. This wasn't her only feat, as she had helped design multiple features for quite a few games that won her many entertainment development awards. However, despite what everyone thought, she wasn't effortlessly creating these incredible features and tools. She wasn't just waking up in the morning and knocking out an incredible feature for a dev team in a day. She had many sleepless nights, or nights she fell asleep still wearing Dive Gear or lying with her face smashed against a keyboard or desk. She tended to work from home half the time, the remainder being at whatever company hired her. Each time she showed up, they provided a VIP office especially set up for her. She hated them. She was almost never in them due to needing to talk to the project leads in other parts of the building and would rather have a small station to sit at near them to throw ideas their way.

She also remembered not all the features she had helped develop had worked perfectly. Some had been purposefully scrapped in exchange for something else due to the difficulty of implementation. She remembered a few that were so frustrating she got up and stomped around the room with everyone else noticing. If she threw a temper tantrum, it meant there was no chance of getting it to work and her patience had ended. It didn't mean they wouldn't try and create a replacement.

Selene had just finished one more project, a first-person shooter with some sort of disease that took over humans as hosts. It wasn't classified as an alien shooter or a zombie shooter, but something entirely new. You never knew if your allies would suddenly turn on you due to a defective gas mask or some other issue and was an immediate hit as soon as it was released. It was just more money to shove in the bank and try and retire early.

After the release of the project, she decided to take a plane home to California, San Diego. She didn't have any plants or pets as she was worried none of her neighbors would help water or feed them. As she picked up her luggage from a carousel and got into an auto taxi, she received a phone call. The young woman tried to shift in her seat to reach over her purse and bag to find her phone, but it was barely out of reach in a pocket on her backpack. Just as she was moving her long Auburn hair to unbuckle her seat belt to make a second attempt, the auto taxi barked a loud warning.

"PLEASE KEEP YOUR SEATBELT FASTENED UNTIL THE VEHICLE HAS COME TO A COMPLETE STOP." She was cupping her ears immediately, worried she was going to get tinnitus.

"Ow, that is really… oh, I'm going to have to give a complaint about that." She stopped attempting and simply waited. The call went to voicemail and that was that. Once she was at home, she'd check to see who had tried to communicate with her and return the call. Until then, it was brooding time about the loud taxi ride. She crossed her arms over her ample bosom and frowned.

Once the taxi had stopped on the side of the road to her condo, she removed all her baggage, closed the door and pulled out her phone. Before she could hit one button, the taxi started to pull away quickly, nearly running her foot over before she could get back on the sidewalk.

"Hey! Watch it!" She snapped at the automated vehicle as it sped away. The dev unlocked her phone and touched the app to request the ride, auto pay being provided by the previous company to get her home. She placed a scathing review and complaint for the ride, telling others to avoid them. As she dragged her luggage up the stairs and unlocked her front door, she listened to the voicemail via her ear piece. It was a request to call back an old friend of hers who lived in Japan.

Selene dropped her bags off in her bedroom and went to take a shower. She'd call him back after she had a chance to relax a little bit, as the flight had given her at least some jet lag. Once she was out and felt clean, she checked her refrigerator for food, which clearly was empty. She wasn't one of those people that left things to rot while she was away, she bought what was needed for the week and that was that. She remembered she had some pasta in the cupboards and tomato sauce, as well as some meatballs in the freezer. Now felt like the best time for Spaghetti.

After she had eaten and sat down on her couch to watch a little tv, she turned to a news channel while using her phone to return her call to Suchi, another developer.

"In tonight's news, record sales of the new game "Biotic Revolution" reaches well over fifty million in less than twenty-four hours. This has broken- "

"Hello? Selene?" Suchi Kazagawa answered on the other side, his heavy accent bleeding through the receiver.

"Hey there, I'm returning your call." She looked down at the floor as there was no one to look directly at.

"Hey, I'm glad to hear from you again. How are you doing?" Suchi sounded pretty happy to hear from his old friend. He remembered taking a few international courses with her in college.

"I'm doing well, yourself?" a small smile crept on her mouth as her eyes flicked to the ceiling and roamed her living room.

"You already know how well I'm doing after your help with our little project. See how well it exploded in popularity now?"

"Yeah he he, I can see that." Suchi was referring to Yggdrasil, the DMMO-RPG game that had become the most played MMO in Japan. No one didn't know about it, as there were also servers set up in the U.S., Europe, Russia and China. India and Australia for some reason banned sale of it, though oddly the Middle Eastern countries welcomed it with open arms.

"So, I know you just finished with that project that's all over the news." His statement seemed to allude to a question just after.

"Yeah, I'm just relaxing now for a bit. Barely even looked at my mail or emails." Her slim laptop was still stuck in her backpack, she hadn't even pulled it out. A tablet sat on top of her coffee table, and her phone she just didn't like replying to emails due to the finicky touch screen. She really needed to buy a new one.

"Ah, I see. So, now probably wouldn't be a good time to ask for a favor." There was the request she was expecting.

"It depends on the favor, what did you have in mind?" She didn't want to walk into a mess she might not be able to get out of, despite Suchi being an old friend.

"You know what? I'm sorry, I should really let you just settle back in. You've been in Texas for what, five, six months straight trying to get that project finished? This can wait a little bit I think. How often do you get to go home these days?"

"I fly back at least once every two to three weeks. Also, stop that. You always do that. I'm not one to rest on my laurels here. Is this a contract?"

"Well, not exactly." She furrowed her eyebrows. Was he in trouble? If this wasn't a contract, could he need help outside of development?

"So, this isn't work?" Selene crossed her legs and laid back a bit, flipping through the channels to a tv show or movie. She didn't really feel the need to watch the news focus on a videogame instead of something more interesting.

"Well, it is and isn't." She hated that. Suchi needed to get to the point. She was tired of people dancing around questions these past few days.

"I'm confused. What is this about?" Suchi sighed on the other side of the call.

"You see, Yggdrasil has reached the end of its lifespan, after twelve years. It's been a great run, but now we're moving on to another project."

"O…k, so this is what, an offer for a contract?" she asked. He seemed to be dancing about what he really wanted to ask her.

"No, well, sort of."

"Spit it out Suchi, I know all I'm going to do is snap at you and you'll blurt out everything smushed together in one sentence" she chuckled out.

"Ok. Would you be willing to do a log dump read for me on Yggdrasil? I've got my hands full right now and- "

"So, this is work."

"Look, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I know this should be official, but the shutdown is tonight and I'm not asking you to look through every log and report. Just feature usage and do a little analytic review, that's all. We want to try and implement some features that were major hits, but things have changed a bit throughout the expansions and patches that we don't… well…"

"You don't know what was popular from what people used because it was the only thing available."

"Right."

"Don't you have people that do that stuff anyways? Why me?"

"Because you helped create some of those features, and I already know those alone increased the player count by over five million."

"Bullshit, you're just trying to stroke my ego" she laughed out. Her eyes rolled as she heard him chuckle.

"I'm serious! Look, I'd much rather have someone who actually knows what they're talking about vs some suits above thinking this and that are what the gaming community want. We've got a good reputation, and I'd rather have you with your amazing credit do this."

"And, what, you want me to do it right at midnight and call you after?"

"What? No! No no no, I'm just hoping you could maybe log in as an admin before midnight and download the logs after the servers would shutdown, brush through them and tell me what you think, maybe tomorrow? Or the next day? It doesn't have to be immediately. I just want your opinion."

"Well, I'm kind of tired as its 6 am here and I just got off a jet… this is a little too close to the dead line too given you're seventeen hours ahead… but… well, I'll think about it."

"Please?" Selene sighed and brushed her bangs back. She would much rather catch some ZZZs, but she did want to help her friend get their next project rolling in the right direction.

"Alright, alright. I'll log on."

"Fantastic! Great, I'll send you the admin authentication access." She would need that just to make sure it didn't consider her a hacker trying to cause chaos. Even GMs would register her log on and leave her alone.

"Ok, well, I'll talk to you later then. Expect a call sometime this week."

"Sure thing! Good bye Selene and thank you. I really appreciate this."

"Of course. Good bye, say hi to your wife for me."

"I definitely will. Hopefully we'll see you out here soon." She hung up the phone and groaned. She would much rather climb into bed and get some sleep already, but once the game servers did shutdown she wasn't going to have as complete data due to the end of life "parties" that would be happening in the game. There usually weren't just a few players feeling nostalgic, there were usually entire guilds throwing massive bashes with everyone just to enjoy the friends they made and to reminisce on old times and adventures. There would be quite a few that stay up until they were forcefully logged off.

The young woman looked at the digital clock on her wall. 6 am. This meant it was 11 pm in Tokyo. She grumbled a little as she got up and went into her office, decked out with some of the latest in high tech gear. Top of the line personal server, spare air conditioning, two laptops, two desktops and a main terminal on one side of the room, a wall size tv and multiple consoles connected on the other side, including the Dive system. She even had a developer command suite hidden inside the desk. She sat down in her gaming chair and pulled the handle on the side, lifting the footrest and reached for the headset. As she grabbed it, she pulled off her earrings and took off her necklace she always wore, as it got in the way of the wiring and hurt her ears as she put the straps on for the earphones.

She activated the system and downloaded Yggdrasil. She didn't play the game at all, though she remembered each feature in it as she had helped create almost everything. This was so long ago and with so many other games that caught her interest, she just wasn't an MMO type of gamer anymore once she was out of high school. She just didn't really have the time. While in high school, she would raid often.

Once the game was downloaded and installed, she logged in as a special custom admin. It asked if she wanted to use her personal avatar, a custom angelic being that seemed almost entirely asymmetrical in all facets of the body. The wings were made of fractured crystal disconnected and floating from the back, with the rest of the extremities hovering away from the torso. There was no face, just a pair of white eyes and flowing silver hair. Despite how it looked, no one seemed scared of it. It didn't exude any sort of evil or inherent goodness, it just seemed to fit for a general avatar to use to test multiple games without having to create a new avatar each time.

"No, I think I'll just go straight drop in" she spoke aloud to her mic. The system acknowledged and loaded her in as just a representation of herself, albeit without any clothes. She seemed to be wearing a skin-tight glowing bodysuit as a replacement for her body textures, though it hardly mattered as no one could possibly see her with admin status. As she loaded into the game and looked around, she was floating in the sky with a broad view of the surrounding landscape. It was night time in the world, with small lights twinkling both below her and above, the stars shining brightly one last time. A few shooting stars flew by the moon, disappearing after a second or two.

The woman floated down to a rooftop and watched players enjoying their last night together, trying to get personal information to stay in contact with guildmates or talking about dungeon crawls. Food and drink would be free right now until the shutdown, so people were just dropping kegs of alcohol everywhere, feasts were laid out and large parties were flourishing. Some were crying that they would lose their friends they had made throughout these years, which most likely referred to the players that simply weren't on anymore. As time continued forward, she leapt from the rooftop and teleported to different parts of the world instantly, checking on dungeons to see if there were still players doing crawls, guild meetings in their fortresses or hunting of monsters. There might even still be pvp engagements still happening.

She checked through a small list of the most recent features that everyone was using, but then quickly stopped. It wouldn't provide accurate data as in the end of the service life of the game, of course people wouldn't be using the features the same way as normal. Crafting would be all but useless, so there was no point in checking on that for sure. Her logs needed to exclude what she was seeing right now to some degree. As Selene went through the process of setting up downloads of the logs and in-depth checks, she loaded her list with the required restrictions and timelines needed, with recordings of errors and tweaks made to fix any of them.

"Four hours? Oh, you've got to… fine, I'll be asleep by the time that's done and logged out." She knew by the time the logs had finished compiling and downloaded for her to really look at them, the servers would be long since shutdown. The best she could do right now was Macro usage, messaging and how communications was holding up for the remaining players.

"Remember that time we- "

"How many were there? We must have taken out a whole army!"

"Sorry to do this Momonga, but I just don't have the energy anymore- "

"So here we were, stuck in this tunnel, right? And- "

She slipped through chats quickly, not really caring about what they were saying as how they were sending it. More than half were using face to face communication with other avatars, with very few using long range messaging. They wanted to see their friends one last time. The dev pulled up time in the upper right-hand corner. Fifteen minutes to shutdown.

"I'll miss you all!"

"This is the end!"

"I don't wanna go out like this!"

"We will find each other! In the next game we will rebuild our guild! Are you with me?"

Selene was tired, and before she knew it, she was falling asleep before the shutdown had completed. She already knew what was going to happen, she'd wake up with the logged out blank system screen showing into her eyes, skin indentation from the helmet on her face and chin and the need to pee. There was always a very light beep noise that came from the shutdown of a server, she knew it from a few forced shutdowns of previous test builds for other games to sift through error reports.

Oddly, this never sounded off in her ears.

What happened next for her was something she never would have expected to ever happen in her wildest dreams.

 ** _Eight Hours Later_**

Selene woke up to the rough feeling of dirt on her shoulder as well as grass. She looked around, blinking and confused as she slowly moved to a sitting position. That was when she panicked. The woman bolted to standing on her feet as quickly as she could, stumbling a little bit as she surveyed where she was. What was in front of her eyes was not her office, it was not the log out system screen, and she had no idea how she got here.

Surrounding her was an open field, with a forest further off to her left, a small pond to her right, and further up in front of her was a sea of small hills with a mountain range in the far distance. She turned around to look behind her and saw a good twenty-five miles behind was another mountain range curving off to the North and South.

"What the… where… wha… how…" she spun around quickly in all directions, looking for a road or a sign, something to tell her where she might be. As she did so and looked down at her feet, she noticed something very important. She was completely naked.

"Where the fuck are my clothes. Who the… no way… no no no no… this can't be happening this can't be happening…" she started to repeat. Selene tried to calm herself down as she looked up at the sky.

"This is a dream, it has to be a dream, I'm dreaming. All I have to do is wake up." She pinched herself on her left arm and Winced. She felt pain. Games could not allow direct pain ever, they would have law suits immediately for causing a form of torture in all courts everywhere. The amount of griefing and trolls that would cause adrenaline spikes, heart palpitations, dizziness and other issues would spike. The list went on for medical conditions it could exacerbate. Even Yggdrasil only allowed limited touch sensation. She might be really here.

"Did someone…" she was scared now. Someone could have broken into her home, potentially raped her and thrown her off in some rural area with no clothes. Some crazed fan? Some angry rival in the development community? She checked her body over and trembled. Nothing was out of the ordinary, no scratches or issues. She was just completely nude. It could have been a really bad prank, but she doubted it.

"Hello? Anyone out there? I need help" She yelled out in all directions. There was no response from anyone, and frankly she didn't see any signs of civilization. That should be impossible. Getting out of San Diego would be extremely difficult with traffic at the time she fell asleep, and after eight hours there should still be some sign of roads or buildings nearby. The only way there would be no signs was if she was dropped off somewhere in Arizona, somewhere in the desert. This was clearly not a desert.

She was almost at her breaking point and ready to fall to her knees and cry, but every sensible thought going through her head told her to start walking. Maybe if she followed the mountain range, she'd find a town or a Sheriff, maybe a road she could follow. Heading towards the hills seemed like a sure-fire way of getting lost, and so did the forest. Unfortunately for her, the forest was somewhat in the way near the mountains. She had to go somewhere, and hopefully someone could help her.

As she dropped her hands from cupping her mouth, a small sparkle shimmered in front of her. She was surprised and moved her arms again up to her mouth, seeing the shimmer happen a second time. Nothing seemed to appear or try and harm her, but it was very odd, as her eyes widened, and her feet started to back pedal. She tripped and fell on her butt, looking towards where the sparkle had faded away. She had to start moving, or whatever it was could get a chance to manifest, and she wasn't about to stick around for that.

Selene got up and stumbled a bit, then ran for the mountains until she was out of breath, and nothing seemed to follow her. She could hear birds and crickets chirping throughout the area as she walked, not really noticing anything else besides wildlife and nature. She tried to cover herself as best she could, though there didn't seem to be much of a reason right now given that there was no one to see her buck naked. She felt a breeze and shivered a bit, trying to rub her arms to keep away the cold. In the distance she could see a small black dot on the bottom of the mountain she was heading towards. It would slowly get bigger and turn into a cave entrance. By the time she reached it, twenty-five miles had been crossed and the day was almost over. She was exhausted after walking for so many hours. There was no chance of finding civilization right now that her legs felt like jelly. To compound issues, she was hungry and thirsty.

As she reached the cave, she checked to make sure no predators were living inside of it, whether it was a bear or wolf pack. If there was, she probably would be killed instantly. Luckily, there wasn't a single living creature inside. The woman walked in and sat down with her back to the end of the cave, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was alone, naked, out in the middle of nowhere, and she had no idea how she got there. There were no signs of civilization yet anywhere which made no sense, and that sparkle happened back when she was near that pond. She really did feel like crying now, as tears welled up in her eyes. Her hand moved up to try and brush them away and as it did so, she saw the shimmer again. She backed up as far as she could against the cave wall and stared. After a few seconds she moved her arm again, and the shimmer appeared for the fourth time. This time, however, she saw a slight image appear inside the shimmer.

"That's it, I'm in a new game, maybe they put me in a holding server. Those assholes!" She was pissed now, at least for the single minute she thought about what the image might have entailed. She moved her hand again, waving it about in front of her. The image focused a bit here and there, but ultimately, she barely made any sense of anything she saw. She also realized if she was in a game, she wouldn't have felt pain. Something was wrong beyond the obvious. She tried to think logically.

"I was wearing the Dive gear and was in Yggdrasil. I fell asleep. I wake up out here, in the middle of nowhere, with no clothes, and I see this odd hallucination. I can't find any signs of civilization… where am I?" she speaks to herself as she tries to bullet point the facts by word of mouth. Selene looked at the cave wall and put her right hand to it, feeling the intricacy of the rough stone. She then balled her hand into a fist and slammed the bottom of it sideways like a hammer. It hurt. It hurt just like the pinch. She was here, physically, in wherever this was. Continuing to physically harm herself wouldn't change that.

"Aliens? No, maybe, possibly. Magic? That thing keeps popping up when I move my arm. Supernatural? WHY AM I ASKING THESE QUESTIONS! I WANT TO GO HOME! SEND ME HOME! PLEASE!" She started to scream, tears pouring from her eyes as she just sat there with a bruised hand. A small thought popped up in the back of her head that she was asking herself these questions to keep her sanity. She just dropped her head against her knees and sat there, crying for a few minutes. After what felt like an hour, it started to get dark outside. Here she was, naked and alone huddling in a cave. She couldn't just sit and die out here. She needed at least some answers to what was happening.

The young developer looked up and sat on her knees and waved her hand around in front of her. The shimmering kept happening, with slight image appearance at certain spots. She was starting to get annoyed as she couldn't really make out anything she was seeing, a few letters here and there but that was it. She finally was fed up and punched her fist at the air. The image became crystal clear for an instant then faded away. It looked like a character sheet. That surprised her greatly. She tried to bring it back but kept getting more shimmers. She didn't want to punch at air again to bring it back, as each time she did that it would take energy she needed to conserve. She did remember she focused hard on it when that happened and tried to concentrate on what she saw.

It took a minute or two, but it slowly stayed for longer and longer until it didn't go away. Once she had it staying, she tried to turn it off, which took a bit of time to figure that out and "send it away." What she saw was very interesting.

Written on the sheet were stats and skills, along with resistance percentages and what seemed to be a full body view of herself. To the top left was her level, one.

"I'm not in a game, or am I?" She whispered. She noticed a name for the location she was in, "New World. Second Continent. Artinia." That slightly confused her and at the same time explained things a bit. She wasn't on Earth anymore. This made her blood run cold.

"Magic. I don't believe in magic." She tried to come up with some other explanation, something logical, but this was the best she could figure out. It was either that or some supernatural wormhole opened and swallowed her up, as well as removed her clothes. It had to be true. She was here, not home. No one took her clothes and dropped her in the middle of some open field, at least not human. She pushed her head down and covered her eyes with her hands. She needed to believe it, there was no other way she'd see a character sheet floating in front of her eyes. Yggdrasil's sheet didn't even look like the one she had. None of the character UIs she had helped create looked like it either. This was unique. It also looked ugly to her. The design was square and far too symmetrical, with everything having to be a certain size. There was a lot of information that didn't always fit in one column, so this seemed to annoy her.

"If you're going to give me something like this, at least make it functional!" She slapped at the sheet and it deformed halfway, mushing together a bit. She panicked, and her level was now mixed with resistance percentages and armor rating. Selene tried to pull the corner back out and rearrange to how it was originally set but noticed she could move things about. It was customizable. She felt another shiver as it got cold in the cave. She tried to brush it off, as there wasn't much she could do to fix the situation until morning.

"So, what do I have here at least" she whispered as she looked through all the "features" of her sheet. It would at least keep her mind off her horrible situation. What she noticed were multiple bars just under her level. One was red, which she figured was her health points or hp. Below that was Blue, what she figured was her mana or mp. Below the blue bar was an orange highlight bar that didn't seem filled. She was curious as to what that did and decided to test it. She slapped the palm of her hand on the ground and yelled. It went up a bit, then slowly started to fade away.

"Yup, rage. That's been around since… hell, since World of Warcraft. It's been used in how many knock offs I can't even remember…" she said to herself as her blue eyes looked further down. She remembered most of her gaming history during computer science courses. There was a yellow bar below that, what she figured was energy. It seemed to be one quarter full. Rogues or thieves would be using this she thought, but then corrected herself. She noticed two vertical bars to the right of all the horizontal ones. One was a light blue and was at one quarter bar, the other was a light orange and was similar.

"Son of a… it's crafting survival features. Food and Water bars. Of course! Yellow isn't energy, it's stamina!" It was like lightning struck her brain as she figured it out. Some of what she was seeing was MMO, another part was crafting survival. For all she knew, there were first person shooter elements and maybe sim city somewhere as well for management. She was somehow in a real new world and yet had game elements she could use. It didn't really make sense, and yet she couldn't come up with any reason it had to be just a bad dream.

Below the yellow bar was a purple one, which she immediately figured was psionics. She didn't have any of that, did she? She needed to check if she had any spells or abilities she started with. Only one ability appeared in her list, something called Molecular Reformation. The ability had a golden sparkle around the wording. It brought a thought to her head of Terrain Deformation, a tool devs used to create the lay of the land. This seemed different.

"I wonder what this does. There's no real tooltip… that would have been helpful…" she said in annoyance to no one. She wanted to cast it, but she didn't really know how. As her eyes wandered past her sheet, she was looking at an outcropping of the stone surrounding her. Selene focused on it carefully, as maybe that was how to get anything to work was to simply concentrate. As she looked at the stone her hand slowly reached out, almost to extend whatever force she was trying to exert on the material. That was when she noticed dirt and dust sifting and moving just below where she was pointing at.

"Come on… come on…" the stone started to crack, and just as she was about to reach her wits end, a piece fell off and dropped to the floor. She had caused that.

Her eyes immediately flicked to her sheet, straight to the bars to see if any of them moved. She needed to make sure it hadn't cost her health, but most importantly she needed to know if that took any points from the other bars. None of them moved. This wasn't magic, or psionics, or rage or even energy. This was just something she had. A special ability. Was this just a gift for her, given the fact she had helped code so many things in games that used this stuff? She was a developer, so this might have been given to her to help her develop. Things weren't set in stone for her "Character." She also wondered if the reason she was a level one and naked was she hadn't picked her avatar, otherwise she might be godly right now.

Just then, her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten the whole day or drank anything. Her mouth was dry as well. She swore as she saw both the food and water bar were ever so slowly lowering. She would need to find food and drinkable water in the morning. She also needed to test this power she had a bit more before she went to sleep, and she figured out the most effective way right now.

As she focused on other stone outcroppings around her in the cave, she tried her best to see what she could do before it got too dark. She didn't want to collapse the place on her, but she also didn't want a wide-open cave mouth waiting for animals to try and crawl in and end her life, as well as not being so cold. As she concentrated on the stone, she tried to focus on as little as she could, seeing just how much and how tiny an amount she could make fall off. What she noticed was what seemed to be a fine dust slowly floating away and piling up on the ground. Was this the very molecules of the stone? The smallest amount? It seemed incredible, but also taxing on her concentration. She needed to finish this "experiment" before she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. She also needed to make sure she didn't inhale that powdered stone on the ground.

Selene took a more forceful thought process and focused hard on the stone, and literally ripped out a slab of it from the wall. She jumped as it happened and slid maybe three feet forward, creating a small outcropping. It helped a bit with the wind flowing into the cave.

"Ok, wall it is, before I drop." Multiple other blocks popped out of the walls as she built a makeshift blockade to help stave off the cold. It worked quite well; the stone created an impenetrable barrier that she made high enough so that most animals couldn't try joining her inside as well as keeping herself from turning into a popsicle. This was a step in the right direction. Her eyes wandered over the sheet still floating in front of her and looked at the remainder of information. She was getting really tired, but this was important to keep her alive. There were two icons at the bottom, one showed a bag and the second one seemed to show a letter T. Other information she noticed was there was no class anywhere and no race. She was pretty sure she was human last time she checked, as she most definitely had the proper female equipment.

"Is the bag an inventory?" She questioned herself as she touched the icon. It didn't do anything. She yawned and waved her hand around near it, and then felt like a ditz. Everything seemed to need concentration on that specific tool or ability. She focused on an open bag and received a new menu with slots going horizontal, probably to show what she had. All it showed was empty in bright white letters.

"Of course it would be empty, because then it would be too easy to give me clothes and food and other things to keep me alive." She sighed as she gestured in annoyance. Her hand moved through a small shimmering spot near the menu, disappearing inside. She pulled out her hand quickly and grasped it with her other hand. Was that her inventory? An invisible floating portal?

She groaned as she perused how the menu was set up. It was the standard Japanese layout with boxes and lists that expanded into other lists endlessly. You could sit there and sort through everything you had for the next ten minutes trying to find that one healing potion or armor you needed. She abhorred it.

"I'm changing this right now if I can, that is just so unintuitive." She started to pull it apart and put it back together, ripping parts off and moving them to one spot then another. She started to remember all the UI designs she had to work with and one she especially loved. She chuckled at that thought, as it had revolutionized how any actions were taken to reach equipment for all western games from then on. "Battlefield of the Stars" had her help develop a Spiderweb Radial menu that was completely customizable. It had a main hub that allowed access to the character sheet, with multiple "links" to other bubbles. Each had a focus depending on what the player wanted, whether they wanted one to be inventory, another to be basic stats, another to be their belt spare weapons. You could further expand with more bubbles connected to those, allowing you to restrict and control what went into each. You could build a sorting system for your inventory that you could quickly reach at a moment's notice. One could be used for just healing potions, another for just mana regeneration food, another for spare melee weapons or ranged. All you had to do was tap and move down the next chain. Inventory could be sifted by typing in the search bar, or the quantity or assorted other requirements the player set to keep things organized.

By the time someone with the standard Japanese layout had found what they were looking for, the Spider Radial would have allowed the player to completely swap weapons and armor, drank a healing potion, picked ingredients for their next meal, prepped new spells to cast, quick check their stats beyond their Hud and potentially talked to guildmates and friends, all while still waiting for the next enemy to swing their sword. RTS gamers could only dream of this kind of control. Just then, her wish was granted, and her inventory menu updated with the Spider Radial.

"Yes! Yes, this is what I need, thank god. Boy I can sure make use of this." It made perusing her character sheet infinitely faster. She could tell where her skills were, her stat bars, quick inventory check which was still empty, resistances and even perks and special effects or buffs. The final check she had was the T icon. She had no idea what it stood for. She decided to just focus on it and see if it did anything. What she saw astounded her. Her mouth dropped open.

Before her very eyes, was a massive tech tree, spanning from Early Paleolithic era straight to "Final Ascendance." It had a tier range from one to fifty, Early Paleolithic era being tier 1. And she somehow knew exactly where she was at. Beyond the tiers, there were lists of technology she could learn or unlock, using what seemed to be chunks of her experience points she would accrue. Each tech unlock would cost at the beginning ten experience and go up by a factor of ten every five character levels. She didn't like that much, as if she wanted to level that would slow her down just to improve the tech and equipment she needed to use. Selene bonked herself on the head and remembered where she had seen this from. There was another game she had helped try and design this for, a crafting survival game that eventually allowed you to get into space from the stone age. There was one feature that allowed you to bypass using your experience to tech up however, but it cost something probably more worthwhile than those points. Every time someone wanted to just max all tech in one tier to move to the next, they could have the game delete all materials and resources they had available. It wouldn't delete any tools or equipment, but any ores or supplies used for crafting or food would just up and vanish. It provided the technology for the tier you chose each time, which while making it faster to learn everything, you now had to gather more materials to make use of those new tools or weapons. To stop anyone from abusing it and handing over the materials to their guild or only gather a certain amount, they can to construct one hundred of any technology in the tier they were exceeding, and any resources given back to the player from the guild would have a time stamp to make it vanish if they touched it. Guildmates could craft something with the resources and hand it to them without issue, but if it was the raw materials it was gone.

Of course, the major advantage was you didn't lose any experience, so you could level up faster, and you gained all knowledge of that tech tier. Tier 1 was automatically provided so people could start somewhere, but it seemed she didn't even have that. Given that she had Molecular Reformation, she wondered if that would allow her to collect enough starting resources to tech up. A thought occurred to her as she looked through the tech tree and swapped quickly to her experience bar. It had gone up, whether from "exploring" just to get to the cave or using the Molecular Reformation ability to move blocks of stone around. She'd have to do more testing in the morning. She wasn't quite ready to reach level 2, but she was well past half. The technology tree matched restrictions for the first five levels, then after that was no longer restricting. This was to help players start with basic tools. If she could get to level three, she would reach Upper Paleolithic era, and at least have some standard stone tools, probably a stone spear and a bow and arrows. She'd also, if she could figure out how to hunt, get some hide clothing to stay warm. There was an unlock that allowed plant fiber clothing, which seemed to either use grass or leaves from a tree. She'd need that immediately.

The woman thought about what would happen once she did make the equipment or clothing. If everything was to be believed, then hopefully she didn't need to follow Yggdrasil's equipment tier system. Low, Middle, High, Top, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, Divine and World tier. She really would much rather use "Divine Apocalypse's" tier system. It was much larger, though it did have far more low-quality tiers to balance things out and allow players to ease into better equipment, allowing quests to flow more efficiently. The tier system goes Trash, Shoddy, Petty, Worn, Common, Uncommon, Professional, Elite, Blessed, Magic, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Artifact, Celestial, Ascendant, Mythic, Black List, Unique, and finally Special. Mythic and Black List weren't allowed to be gained by players, but she might be an exception.

Trash tier was just that, trash. It was some of the worst equipment anyone could get their hands on, had already been heavily damaged and was falling apart. You found this in early starting areas when you didn't have anything in your slots. This would be replaced very quickly. It didn't provide much protection, but it was better than nothing. Just barely. This would be considered low quality for Yggdrasil, maybe not even that.

Shoddy was a decent step up from Trash, but unfortunately it still fell apart quickly. It was mainly a tier that provided better protection than trash, but its durability was still low, only allowing a few hits before straps unbuckled or plating came off. This was provided as quest rewards by starting area quest givers, which would constantly make you want to do the next quest to replace that broken armor. It wasn't much, but it would be a step up from something you found in a dumpster or on an undead skeleton. Despite it being a better tier, it would still be considered low quality for Yggdrasil.

Petty was the next step up and provided as bought items from vendors at the beginning. Better than Shoddy, it would provide average armor and protection without falling apart. The side effect was that it was usually made of ramshackle materials and looked like something a bandit would wear or an asymmetrical anime character. The armor would usually be difficult to repair due to the nature of all the materials added. Again, low quality.

Worn was basically poor man's Common. It had cheap materials used, and usually was incomplete and missing at least a key feature that Common provided, whether that was a pauldron or thigh plate. Oddly enough, this was the main gear used by starting adventurers getting out into the rest of the game. Also, oddly, this might be considered mid-tier for Yggdrasil, depending on what slot it took up.

Common was interesting, as it was unlike all the other common armor from other games. It was as its namesake states, it was a common tier used by most anyone. Usually kept as back up weapons or armor when higher tiers were damaged or broken, this could be used to enter groups and not be considered a noob. It was at least average quality, nothing cheap but also nothing expensive for materials. This was, despite the lower tiers, considered entry level armor to enter any dungeons. Despite it being called common, this would be considered mid-tier.

Uncommon was usually higher quality Commons with better materials. They usually had armor patches added in certain critical areas, decent stitching and buttons, and were usually easier to move in. This was what players would try and receive in most dungeons, as it was always an upgrade across the board for all stats. Unlike most other games, it didn't usually provide stat boosts, just far better armor and durability with less inconveniences, and probably a cooldown decrease on skills and abilities. This is also considered mid-tier.

Professional was what was used by seasoned players, mercenaries and assassins. This was the tier that a decent number of players tended to stop at and provided at least some stat boosts. It was made of some of the highest quality materials, didn't restrict any mobility, provided a cooldown decrease and tended to be fashionable. If someone was wearing this, you usually didn't want to fight them in pvp, as well as wanting to group with them for a dungeon. This tier level would be considered high-tier for the Japanese MMO.

Elite was considered some of the finest equipment most players would receive, usually providing the best materials commonly available without using special resources or ingredients. This would be what a king would wear, with the finest silks and leather provided. Anyone walking around in full Elite would turn heads. It would be considered high-tier.

Blessed was the first tier provided by early raiding, and always had special effects that the lower tiers couldn't provide. One of the effects she remembered seeing was "1% chance on being hit to fully heal." A good portion of the effects were nothing especially amazing but combined with other Blessed equipment and this allowed raid groups to continue further on to better raids with less down time. This would more than likely match the qualifications of Top-tier gear. Some games would call it "Epic" tier.

Magic tier was not the normal magic tier other games had. It was as its name suggests, pure magic. It would provide all the benefits of the lower tiers, and yet always had a unique ability attached. Some of the abilities were new spells or powers a person's class weren't allowed to have, like a warrior casting a fireball from his sword to draw aggro or set an area on fire. They were highly sought after, and only rarely dropped from raid bosses. If someone had one, everyone would congratulate them on their fortune. It made doing anything in the game far easier. Despite how powerful they usually were, Selene believed it could be lumped in with Legacy-tier. This could also be considered a Legendary in a dungeon crawler game.

Rare never got its name changed, it was a standard for so long due to the coloring of the item. It would probably be equal to Relic gear from Yggdrasil, and usually provided set bonuses and high stat boosts. It wasn't necessarily stronger than Magic tier, but the set bonuses combined would allow very near breaking of raid bosses. One advantage one set allowed was allowing tanks to have total immunity to certain damage types, without needing any resistance. Forum posts complained about how pvp couldn't be done against those players who had immunity to that type of damage, and the response from other players was always "so change your damage type. Everyone has at least three forms of damage."

Epic was one of the strongest tiers anyone could get, and very few ever received them. The strength of even one of these would be considered equal with the Legendaries of Yggdrasil. Fewer than ten thousand players in Divine Apocalypse had them. There were multiple forum posts about how broken some of them could be in a pvp environment, but the devs, including herself, never wanted to change them due to the effort required just to receive even one. Some required extremely long quest chains, each requiring an absurd amount of time and patience as well as sacrificing high quality materials and even equipment just to gain them. There were even a few players that held epic weapons, only to be completely naked bar a loincloth due to throwing the rest of their items away for it. If someone had an Epic, they had earned it.

Legendary for Divine Apocalypse meant just that, a weapon that sparked stories or armor that caused everyone to remember them for years. The number of players that ever gained one were less than a thousand and were almost exclusively raid players or world boss destroyers. Very rarely, if ever, did anyone who held a Legendary pvp. They were just too busy preparing for the next raid to fight. If someone had a Legendary, they were more than likely being offered spots in any groups, even going so far as sparking guild wars to have them join. This seemed to be the last tier any decent number of players ever received, and she could easily place this on par with Divine.

Artifact, despite anyone else thinking it might be equal to Divine, was considered a higher tier than that. It was always unique, and there were finite amounts of them in the world. She'd place it easily on power level with a World item of Yggdrasil. They always required special planning to reach, with multiple raid groups teaming up just for a chance at it. So much planning was placed on retrieving the artifact to stop any problems from arising, as even one mess up could cause the artifact to be lost forever, never to be seen again. Most of the Artifacts had been categorized, but new ones were added every six months. Fewer than a hundred players had access to them, and guilds had to share that access amongst themselves due to the effort and supplies used.

Celestial was the final tier any player had seen. There were only ever two players who ever gained them, and until recently were only ever considered something a Game Master, or GM, could spawn. If someone had one, no one tried to go after them in world pvp, and they had enough power to solo raids, though this might not be the maximum extent of their abilities. One of the players who received his had spent so much time trying to gain it that his obsession caused heart failure after he acquired the item. The second player is in hiding to keep guilds from trying to find her and send advertisements to join them. Due to both players disappearing, no one truly knows how powerful they are except for GMs and developers.

Ascendant was the highest tier known, but no one has ever received one or made anything at that quality. Some think it doesn't exist, it's just a lie from the developers. Selene knew otherwise, at least for the tier being real, and hoped no one received one until her friends at Lost Cause Games could create a raid or invasion that required access to one. So far, they had no luck. She could smell a contract being offered in the future. For all she knew, there might only be one in the game.

Mythics weren't used by players, and only ever touched by developers. They were fully broken items just for use in testing features. Did the feature work? Yes. How much damage did the weapon deal? Does it matter? The feature worked, that's what they cared about. They were horribly imbalanced tools that could only be spawned in house, and never downloaded by the game client. The files were completely missing outside of the company. She could say that each company had their own Mythic list, if she could even lump other equipment tiers from other games into it.

Black Listed Items were avoided as much as possible, even by devs. They were Mythics on steroids and were unstable. While Mythics would test a feature, Black Listed would usually test stability of the game and see just how good the net code or how structurally sound the entire game was. She remembered one friend of hers, Brian, had to use a Black List sword to see if a new type of weapon damage was working correctly. He crashed the game so hard that when he was able to start it back up, the npc he attacked was corrupted so that it would constantly die from so much overkill damage he couldn't be resurrected correctly. They had to recompile and load the back up of the npc into the game just to make him not collapse on the ground, effectively stopping any quests being given. This was why most devs didn't even want to use them. They were a last resort while working on the project.

Uniques weren't in any tier, they were usually given to players for special events. They could be any quality level and had special names you couldn't get anywhere else. They always had some special power added, though the power wasn't always useful in combat. Some allowed removal of certain material requirements from crafting recipes or limited how much mana a certain healing spell would use permanently by drinking a unique potion. This made players want to attend the events and participate in whatever the event called for. Not everyone gained a unique, as the event could be something like a champion arena to show your martial prowess, or maybe racing your pure-bred mount around an obstacle course. She remembered there was a tier for Yggdrasil like this, she just couldn't place her finger on it. There was no list provided by the devs when events happened, to keep people hoping for something incredible. If a list showed up, some people wouldn't attend because they knew what was being offered as a reward and they didn't like what they could get.

Specials were Quality of Life improvement items. They had special powers that just made the game easier to deal with. Town portal scrolls or tomes, unending campfires, unending water jugs, all of these fell into this category. This was usually the first tier beyond uncommon that most players wanted to gather as much of as possible, as it just made playing more enjoyable when they didn't have to track how much water they had, how much food or repair kits they were carrying, whether their mount was being overburdened etc.

Of course, all of these tiers could be modified and crafted with entirely new features in Divine Apocalypse. The list of what could be done just to craft that special equipment made just for you was huge. Primary Material, Secondary Material, Tertiary Material, Primary Additive Material, Secondary Additive Material, Main Focus, Cleansing, Primary Forging Technique, Secondary Forging Technique, Tertiary Forging Technique, Tempering/Bit sewing, Filing Technique, Primary Sharpening, Secondary Sharpening, Additive Sharpening, Primary Modifications, Secondary Modifications, Fitting, Enhancing, Imprinting, Auras, Blessing, Imbuement, Runic Etching, Enchanting, Socketing, the list went on. It needed to so that players had something to look forward to beyond just finding developer gear already placed in the world and dungeons. It also helped that the maximum player level was 100,000. This also didn't take into account the tech tree tiers, or Reputation Level, or any of the other factors that could raise that beyond 100,000. Theoretically, the maximum player level with everything maxed would be one million, which no player could possibly reach in their lifetime. This made everyone feel unique in every sense of the word. There was a reason Divine Apocalypse was the number one selling game everywhere right now.

A yawn escaped her lips as her eyes started to get droopy. She couldn't stay awake any longer and being hungry didn't help. She'd need to scavenge in the morning and figure out if there were any bushes that had edible berries, roots she could eat, or maybe some small animal she could catch if that was even possible for her. She'd also need to make some rudimentary clothing to stop being cold or getting a sunburn. There was a lot she'd need to do, and as she tried to build a plan for her excursion out of the cave, she drifted off to sleep, no longer able to keep herself awake. She had a long second day ahead of her on this New World. No one was coming to save her. She needed save herself.


	3. Ch 2 Back to the Stone Age

Selene awoke groggy and aching due to sleeping on the stone ground of the cave. She had hoped through some miracle that the previous day hadn't happened, and she was still lying in her chair, ready to take off her Dive Gear. Sadly, that was not the case. She stood up carefully with some rays of light peeking through the slabs of stone that made up her wall, and carefully concentrated on one to push it out of the way. She'd need to make a door in the future to not have to do this each time. The entire process took three minutes. Getting the wall set up yesterday took a good half hour. She didn't know if she was getting better or worse due to just waking up.

As she walked outside naked as a jay bird, she breathed deep… and promptly had her stomach growl loudly. Her priority was clothing, then food and water. She hadn't bothered to check if the pond she had started near was clean enough to drink but trekking all the way back didn't sound like a good idea. She'd probably collapse after reaching it anyways.

She stepped out onto the grass nearby and tried to think of how to use her special ability. Her first thought was just how far Molecular Reformation would function. Did it have a max range? Could it be used as an AOE? Could it be used on living creatures? She'd have to find out through trial and error it seemed. At least with the grass, she could probably tilt the balance on her experience bar and level up to at least 2 right now, maybe try and chop down a tree with it?

Her mind swapped to the task at hand and tried to perform an AOE pull of the grass. Multiple stalks surrounding her started to rip out of the ground, the roots no longer capable of staying in the dirt due to the force. Once there was a pile of grass sitting on the ground in front of her, she walked to the edge of the circle she had created and started measuring with her footsteps, then she did the math to convert it into meters. The size of the AOE seemed to be roughly ten meters, give or take a few centimeters due to the size of her feet. The math wasn't exact and she, frankly, didn't care.

"Ok, that's not so bad, and it worked on grass so… living? Maybe? That might not count though. The tree might not count either. What can I test now… oh, maybe maximum range?" Her stomach growled again. She knew she would need to finish this up quickly. She focused on the tree at the edge of the forest, which seemed to be roughly a hundred twenty meters away. Nothing seemed to happen. As she moved forwards towards the tree, she noticed it was vibrating a little bit. Once she had reached one hundred meters, the tree started to have noticeable effects. The bark started to rip off, the leaves fell, and branches started to break. Finally, the trunk cracked, and the tree toppled over with torn fiber and roots. It wasn't a clean use of the ability, but it proved the max range. At least for now.

"Wait, how do I know this is the maximum for… my level… great, this didn't prove anything." She sighed and turned around, staring at the pile of grass. She opened her character sheet and checked her experience bar. Almost level 2. Since she hadn't yet created anything and didn't exactly know how to yet, she figured it was best to sacrifice some experience points right now and at least start with all the tech in Early Paleolithic Era. It wasn't like there was a scarcity of plants around to finally make some clothing. The cost of all the unlocks were also extremely cheap, one experience point per. Her experience bar started to go down, and she was further away from leveling to two.

As she focused on the tier update to fully complete Early Paleolithic Era, her mind started to fill with different ideas and designs for basic tools as well as how to use them. It was like someone was shoving knowledge into her brain. Was this causing any side effects? She didn't know, but if it helped her survive right now, that was a low priority to figure out. Unfortunately, the tech was lackluster compared to what she was expecting, at least what she chose right now given she hadn't "bought" the whole tier yet. Hand axes without a handle, fire starting tools, how to make a campfire, plant fiber clothing, a sharp stick. There were quite a few others, but those seemed the most important. During the tech up, the pile of grass stayed where it was, and the tree was still lying on the ground, undisturbed. That could change later once she gained the whole tech tier.

Selene focused on another patch of grass, and pulled it all up for extra materials, then focused on crafting it into clothes. It took more effort than she was figuring it would, as just the basic shirt and pants took a good half hour to weave. Granted, she wasn't actually touching any of the fibers as it slowly split and cut into the required lengths and widths in her inventory. It was amazing to see it build whatever she needed, or at least knew how to make, inside the inventory. The dev wondered if that would change later and she'd need a workbench or station with her to craft anything else. Would it auto craft without her needing to do anything? Would it need her to interact with it or would she just need to be in the area to use its effects, like an aura? That all depended on if she even had to build one.

She put the clothing she had made and looked down at her body. She'd like to have some underwear, but honestly thought better of it. The fiber might not breathe well and having a bra made of grass sounded like it would itch. Once she had some hide, if she ever managed to take down a large animal, she'd think about it. Her stomach growled, this time with an accompanying hunger pain. She also felt slightly light headed. She needed food and water now.

"Wait, trees. Trees need water to live. I wonder if I could…" she trailed off. She really needed to keep everything an internal monologue, as speaking was just causing her to waste more energy and dry her mouth even more. She took a deep breath and walked out towards the forest. As she neared the edge and found a fairly large Cedar near what she thought might be an oak. It was hard to tell, and she didn't know enough about trees.

As she approached, she tried to use Molecular Deformation to move the dirt and continued to do so until it started to turn into mud. Finally, she reached water. It was muddy and not very clean, but it was water. Just then, her eyes drifted up and she mentally chastised herself. Further up ahead, barely beyond the forest line or maybe it was the middle, was a lake. She didn't need to move any of that dirt. She felt completely stupid overcomplicating things, however what was done is done, and she might not have been thinking correctly with low blood sugar and being dehydrated. She walked carefully through the trees and then kneeled to scoop up some water and stopped to make sure it wasn't contaminated.

As she looked around, she tried to see any animals coming to drink from the lake as well. She saw a few birds here and there, a squirrel, and then finally a deer. She had finally concluded it was ok to sate her thirst, but she wanted to make sure. If anything caused an illness, there was no one to help her, and the animals tended to be more resistant to stuff as they didn't need to cook their food. She needed to make a campfire, then something to carry the water, then boil the water to drink. She knew how to make a campfire already, but she wanted to create one using her new power. She needed experience, and the best way to gain that experience was to craft using what she was given instead of what she already knew.

"How do I gain enough materials to… wait…" she quickly went back to the cave and moved past it. Despite having a nice little stone home, she didn't want to have it fall apart on her so quickly. Doing any sort of "aggressive remodeling" on her hole in the mountain was not in her best interest right now. Further down the mountain range she stopped and started creating a new cave, focusing on anything other than stone. If there were raw metals or salt, anything, she'd pull it out and try to craft ingots without a forge. She was thirsty and hungry, but if she could at least get to level 2 while building her "base of operations" it would help in the long run. There was no way to use the materials until at least Chalcolithic Era, in which she'd have access to copper. Her metallurgy skills were also lacking, and by that it meant she had no idea what to do beyond pull the metals from the mountain, and have it drop on the ground.

She focused carefully on the massive mountain and tried her best to get some minerals to come out. Fortunately, it worked, slowly. Unfortunately, she was causing friction, which was turning the metals into molten lava drooling out and causing small fires on the grass nearby.

 _Shit shit shit! How do I cool it down?! How do I cool it down?! Wait, slow the speed of the molecular movement. How the hell do I do that?! Just… just slow… slow slow slow…_

She tried to focus on wicking away the heat by slowing down the molecules, and it worked, for the most part. What she now had were big globs of solid metal lying on the ground, some mixed together. Her experience went up though! Level 2. She had reached the next level at the risk of causing a forest fire. Smokey would have her ass if she was back on Earth. She hoped he didn't exist here. Just needed to get her full tech 1 tier.

 _Well that is all useless, but whatever, it'll disappear anyways once I craft a bunch of stuff and go get food._

Selene started to collect rocks and shove them into her inventory, then sticks on the ground and some dry leaves. She then wondered if she could excite a flame in the campfire instead of using a stick. She succeeded, though it was a small flame. That was all she needed as she blew slowly to feed the fire. She then ran to a tree and slowly broke it down. She had seen a "how to boil water in the wilderness" video on Gotube that was suggested to her awhile back, she had no idea why it was there. Random vids tended to do that, their algorithms might have been bugged.

Her stomach was angry at her, and the hunger pains were getting worse. She was almost there, she just had to get things prepped. Once she had a small log chopped, she slowly hollowed out the inside to make a sort of pot. She then took the log pot to the campfire and cooked a stone in the fire, getting it as hot as she could along with using her power. Once it was sufficiently cooking, she ran to the lake with the pot in her inventory, ripping two small branches along the way, and pulled the pot out and filled it up, then shoved it back in her inventory bag. Once she got it back to the campfire, she popped the log pot out and took the two branches she had ripped off to pick up the rock from the fire. The rock was dropped into the water and started to boil it quickly.

She then took a large leaf that came with the branches and tried to dip it into the water as it cooled it down over the next half hour. The water was still a little hot, but not hot enough to burn her mouth or fingers. As she blew on the water and tried to focus on the temperature, it calmed down to just above lukewarm. She drank it and immediately felt better. It might not have been cool mountain spring water, but it was the best stuff she had tasted since she came here, given how thirsty she was. Her stomach still needed to be filled, but at least she would be hydrated.

Next on her list was some food. The easiest would probably be some berries or nuts, but none of the trees looked like they provided them, at least she had no idea which ones grew nuts, so bush scavenging it was. Her plant fiber pants seemed to make a slight squeak as they shifted while she walked outside and started to search the forest. Roughly a mile out, she found some. They weren't in a clearing looking like something from a Disney movie, the bushes looked like anything else she would see in a forest, usually hugging a tree trunk or mashed together.

What the dev found were a few berry bushes with a few different types of berries, and just as she was about to reach for some succulent juicy looking red ones, a squirrel ran by. It bypassed the bush she was at and continued forward. She froze and thought for a moment, realizing these might be poisonous. As she watched the squirrel run away from that bush, it continued to a thorny shrub and dove in. When it jumped back out after a few minutes, its mouth was full. The small creature scrambled up a tree and disappeared. She quickly went over to the shrub and carefully pushed her hands into the vines, scraping the sides of her fingers along thorns as she slowly and meticulously picked some prickly berries inside. Once she removed all the small pointy bits which was relatively easy to do, she popped them in her mouth. They were somewhat tasty but a bit sour. She just had to spit out the pits or they would crack her teeth, and there were no dentists anywhere to help. The hole she had unceremoniously dug up near the tree also had some edible roots that she noticed, due to some survival training from the tech tier she was trying to fill. Selene quickly went to grab them and bring them to the campfire. One looked to be like a potato, but she couldn't really tell. As soon as they were done cooking near the fire, she dug in. She didn't like the flavor of them as they were very bland, but food was food.

If she could get a sharp stick prepared, she might be able to go spear fishing. She had never done it before, but there was always a first time. She just hoped there were fish in the lake. As she walked to a tree and ripped off a branch, then sharpened it, she started to think about how many fish she was going to catch. Her dream was probably going to be a long shot off what she would actually be able to do.

 _Ten? Five? Hell, I'd be happy if I caught even one without stabbing my own foot._

As she made her way to the lake and slowly waded in, she looked around. She didn't really notice any movement, but from what knowledge she had been "imbued" with, the time she would have to wait and stand still would be a bit lengthy. She didn't have anything better to do besides get food.

Suddenly, she saw a small vectored wave appear on the top of the water. She tried to track it as it slowly made its way to near her feet. She looked down at saw what might have been a Bass, but she didn't know anything about fish. It swam a little bit around her feet as she stood as still as possible, ready to stab downwards. She needed the thing away from her toes or she'd just injure herself instead of getting him.

 _Come on… get a little further…_

The Bass slowly moved away from her, and she struck. What she didn't expect was the stones she was standing on were a little slippery, and the water would slow her movement. The spear hit the fish, barely, but she lost her balance and flopped face first into the water. She also whacked her left knee against a stone and scraped it. Her head came above the water as she pushed herself up, wincing.

"Shit! Where is it?" She got up as quickly as she could without slipping again and looked for the spear while pushing her wet hair away from her face. After a minute of slowly searching and trying not to fall, she found it lying a few feet under water, with the Bass punctured on the end. She limped over to the spear and slowly kneeled to pick it up, her knee bleeding a bit. As she picked up the spear, the fish slowly started to slide off the end, and she quickly opened her inventory to drop it in. What she saw right after was interesting. She was ready to reach tier 2 tech already.

"Wait, was it craft one hundred things or perform one hundred actions involving the tech tier?" She asked herself. She couldn't remember, she had done so many jobs. Crafting one hundred items and tools didn't seem to sound right, as Divine Apocalypse attempted to make people level up by doing instead of gathering materials and sitting in front of a workbench or station. The "actions" could be making a spear and fishing, or gathering the materials and building a tent, or any combo of what she had learned. Maybe it was the latter, given that having someone learn what they have by doing would benefit more than just making stuff and selling it. Sitting in front of a crafting workbench for an hour would probably make players not want to stick around.

Selene was positive she hadn't created one hundred tier 1 items yet, she knew that much. She opened her inventory again to look at the fish.

"Fuck. I don't get to eat you!" She whined as she really wanted to tech up quick enough to get access to better tools. She tilted her head and looked up at the sky, letting out a deep sigh of frustration. That fish she had just caught, despite doing it poorly and scraping her knee, was an accomplishment.

 _No, I'm eating you before I tech up. You are going in my stomach. I got a skinned knee because of you. Because of me. Whatever._

 _ **Eight Hours Later**_

Selene had no idea how effective her actions were. Once dusk had settled, she had reached tier 3, Upper Paleolithic Era. She knew all the technology within those tiers. As soon as she had unlocked each tier completely, somehow her mind simply opened to new designs and tools, as well as simple knowledge on how to use them or even basic survival skills. She had no idea how to knap a hand axe or craft a stone tipped spear until soon after. The woman had created plant fiber clothing, a spear that broke while fishing, so she had to make a new one with a sharpened stone tip, a bow and about ten arrows, a strip quiver made of grass to hold them, and made poor sandals that would have to be crafted each day due to wear and tear. She had also crafted a campfire in the cave, made a somewhat leaking log pot and used it to carry water to boil over it, then crafted a makeshift cup out of a large leaf and some grass to sew together the sides.

It took a decent amount of time to figure out how to cut the tree down with Molecular Reformation, but it worked. She had extreme difficulty with fine tuning it and wondered if it would even work on a living creature besides a tree. She hadn't yet seen anything large enough to test it on, and she really didn't want to in all honesty. Some of the skills she had learned were more than likely not standard experience for a caveman, and probably added in for ease of entertainment for players. The leaf cup wasn't exactly something she'd expect a homo erectus or early homo sapiens to make, but she has been wrong before. She'd have to make a new one each day or every other day as the leaf would eventually dry out and become brittle. It was either that or find a more solid material to use, or make pottery.

The metals that had cooled in small puddles on the ground were long gone, and she had learned to quickly cool them. She would need to make an ingot cast in the future, probably during Chalcolithic Era.

All the tech tier upgrades came at a worse cost than just the metals, as all the materials and food she had gathered throughout the day had disappeared. She had to quickly gather more after she had gotten to Upper Paleolithic, which was just before the sun had gone down. It took another hour just to get two more fish, one was another Bass and sadly, the second was a minnow.

Selene was starting to get used to her inventory management and was opening it quickly and shoving what she figured she'd need later into the portal and pulling it out without needing to lift anything from one point to another. Weight meant nothing inside the inventory list it seemed, as well as looked to be infinite in size. She could even store caught fish she had gathered from the lake via spear fishing and it wouldn't go bad. There was no need to have a refrigerator with this feature in. It was like it kept all food or expiring items in a constant state of stasis. She wondered if she could grab fish with it, but worried about the water pouring out after she tried to reach in, splashing her.

As she walked back to the cave very proud of herself and slightly skipping, she noticed some sort of odd bulk lying on the ground near some trees. She couldn't really see very well with the sun going down. She crouched and slowly made her way around another tree to see what it was and to her shock it was the carcass of a deer. If this was Earth, someone would have enjoyed hunting it, as it was a fourteen-point buck, a big one too. Sadly, something else had already gotten to it. She covered her nose as flies were flitting about near some open wounds on the neck and near the chest as well as the rear. The buck might have been attacked and somehow gotten away but died from blood loss and shock. As she looked around, she concluded that the hide would just go to waste. She didn't like it, but she knew what she needed to do.

Sitting down near the body, she started to carve away at the hide and hooves and antlers with her hand axe as well as using her power, flailing her hands around to keep the flies away. It was disgusting in every way, but she needed the hide. Her new-found skills taught to her showed how to clean and tan the hide into leather or hide clothing and she was sorely in need of it. Once the carcass was stripped of everything she could make use of, including the brain for the tanning process, she continued back to the cave and started to craft a tanning frame. Just as she had finished creating it, she couldn't hold her lunch in any longer and vomited on the floor. What she had just done was carved meat and entrails out of a dead animal to survive, and this was something completely new to her. She was surprised she had held it in this long and hadn't done it near the carcass, covering the hide with her thrown up food. Luckily, she still had the fish and now left-over meat she had stripped from the body to eat later, along with small piles of berries and clean water. She had even found grubs inside a rotting log, and while she didn't like the idea of eating them, she did try one and found it wasn't as bad as she thought. The taste was somewhat nutty, almost like squishy almonds. She'd carve out the bone from the deer and turn it into a cup to boil after this, and hopefully not puke a second time. She didn't want to eat the marrow, despite it probably being nutritious.

To most people, the creation of a stone age camp in a cave would be an incredible accomplishment for survival. To her, she was at least coping and wasn't miserable. She had learned in order to use her MR power she had to keep her eyes open and looking at what she was trying to take apart or build. This didn't go so well when she carved up the carcass. Seeing the hide being peeled back just made her shiver in disgust. She was still going to eat the meat the flies hadn't touched yet, but only because she had to. If she managed to get back to Earth, she might consider becoming a vegetarian. Cooking and eating bugs, at least larva, wasn't exactly what she had in mind to survive either. It didn't stop her from cooking them up and eating the little things, however. She needed to keep her energy up so that she could explore and find more ways to level. Since she had reached level 3 in just one day, she figured she could at least reach level 5 and Neolithic by tomorrow evening at least. This was pathetic by any player standards of Divine Apocalypse. Level ten was usually reached in a few hours at worst.

Just from what she had reviewed in the tech tree, Mesolithic at least started to teach farming, which sounded like a good idea for her. She never had a green thumb, despite her mother trying to help her grow herbs in the backyard when she was little. She even killed her small potted cactus. That shouldn't have been possible.

Selene sat back near her small campfire and watched the stars for a bit. Her stone "wall" had been completed excluding a circular door frame that she hoped that she could get enough hide to turn into a flap and until then had a stone boulder rolled in front of. The fire kept her warm enough with the grass and leaf clothing, so she wasn't shivering, and her stomach was full, with a leaf cup of water to drink. Her "relief point" was outside near a scratched out dug up hole that she poured dirt onto with her power to keep animals from sniffing around. She even had a small bed of leaves and grass to sleep on. None of what she made could even be considered trash tier, it was that low end. She was even worried the bow and arrows would break on her they were that primitive. Despite that, she didn't complain. In one day, she had crafted all of that, with no previous survival training or experience. The tech tree was a miracle for her, as it not only was giving her new tools to use, but also new information on how to do something. There were her tooltips she was missing, at least in a new different way. She just had to be willing to learn and try new things.

Once it was completely dark outside, she pushed a large stone in front of the opening to her wall and went to bed. It would be another short day tomorrow, as she realized today had gone so fast due to trying to get everything needed to not die. Once she had all the basic tools, she was fine. She didn't have any sort of entertainment or friends to talk to, but what she did have was work to do that helped her not focus on how bad it was.

Once her head hit the top of her sleeping spot, she was out like a light. The campfire slowly burned down to embers through the night, with nothing bothersome happening throughout.

 ** _Next Day_**

Selene's blue eyes opened as she breathed in deeply and rolled over, prepping her mind for another grueling day to survive the wilderness. She quickly opened her character sheet to check her food and water bar and yup, they were low. She made her way outside slowly to relieve herself then got back inside to eat quickly. The remaining grubs were cooked up along with fish and berries, she drank her water and made her way outside. As she stretched and did a little exercise to make sure she didn't pull a muscle, she surveyed her "territory."

"Roar" she said out loud, then thought better of it. "Oh, who am I kidding, mew." A sigh escaped her lips as she headed down from the cave entrance and towards the forest. She went through her gathering tasks and picked up some more grubs from another log, fished for two hours and then headed back to the cave. She decided to craft a second campfire near the lake so that she could eat lunch right there, before potentially teching up. Her tool set had gotten a little better, with her power allowing for a better knapping of the hand axes and less jagged corners, causing less catching of sharp edges and tearing less if she carved up any food or didn't need to use Molecular Reformation. Her power also helped dry and stretch the hide she had put up from the buck, using the brain tanning method, hence why she had carved it out of the skull. The brain contained Lecithin, which is a natural tanning agent for the skin. It allowed her to finally create a blanket and have barely enough strips left over for some wrap gloves to help protect her hands on the Thornberry bushes. Right after eating lunch, she had reached Mesolithic Era, which meant she could finally plant some of those seeds and pits she had been saving. Surprisingly, seeds and pits did not disappear when her tech tier upgraded, as it must have considered it "crafted" from the original resource. It would take time for them to grow as long as she took care of them, but that was a small amount of food that would be closer to the cave and easier to reach without any difficulties.

She had spear fished one more Bass after she "leveled up" to four and Mesolithic before heading back to her cave and more importantly, her mining cave. She was going to try and get some more metal pulled from the second opening she was now creating, but something caught her eye behind some large bushes.

As she neared the edge and looked through the brush her eyes widened. There, on the other side, was a boar. Its tusks were large and split it seemed, turning into two points on either side of its mouth, four in total. It was a decent size, almost half as tall as she was. That meant it could topple her and probably gore her insides out if she pissed it off. It hadn't seen her yet and turned slowly away. There was a berry bush it was trying to get at.

 _You need that hide Selene, you can't let it get away. Just be careful._

The auburn-haired woman slowly pulled her stone tipped spear out and made her way around the bushes as quietly as she could. Her thoughts were racing as she moved towards the animal.

 _This is stupid, this is stupid, you're going to get yourself killed!_

 _We need that! It's us or them, you can do this!_

 _There are better ways to attack it! Don't be stupid! Stop where you are NOW! Spear bad! Use something else!_

As she came up on the boar and thought better of what she was doing, it turned its head slowly and she could see its one eye look right at her. She had to act now, or it would turn and attack. She lunged forward as fast as she could, slamming the stone spear right into its throat. The boar squealed and tried to shake away from her, attempting to throw her off and at the same time bring its tusks to bare. She held on for dear life as she pushed as hard as she could to end this quickly, her feet sliding a bit from the strength of the creature. Her weight didn't seem to mean much compared to this thing. Blood was pouring out and made the ground slippery as both fell to the ground, her hands wringing the pole with white knuckled fingers as she struggled to keep holding on. The stone spear tip broke inside the throat, but as she kept pushing the remainder into its neck, the pole pushed through the wound. Slowly, very slowly, the boar stopped struggling and just lay there, bleeding out. She had taken a hoof to the stomach that nearly knocked the wind out of her, so she just laid on the ground as well trying to breathe.

 _You idiot! You could have thrown your spear! Bow and arrows! Laid a trap for it! Blocked it off and attacked from a higher advantage point!_

Thoughts were flying through her head as she sat there still holding onto the pole and panting. What was done was done and there was no changing it now.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I… god…" she didn't know what to say as she coughed while ending the animal's life. Its eyes started to go blank as she just lay there, watching. After a few minutes, she had come to terms with what she had done, wiping away a few tears she was shedding for the poor creature. After another few minutes, she decided to dissect the body. The fight she had just been through had worn her out, so she decided she was going to lose her lunch a second time in a row by using her special ability.

Once the body was cut to pieces and placed in her inventory, and she had created a small puddle of vomit on the ground, she noticed that her plant fiber pants were wet. She had evacuated her bladder during the scuffle. Her hands were also trembling. She couldn't think too hard on what she had done, she had to continue back to the cave and "melt out" some more metal to level. She also needed to craft a new spear tip as the old one was now broken. She couldn't wait to finally make copper tools.

Once she had created a few more puddles of metal on the ground, even trying to use bark to collect some on the ground and put in her inventory which didn't exactly work as intended as the bark exploded from the heat and even some raw ore that she found that she could collect from loose rock with her hand axe, she had finally reached enough "actions" to tech up to Neolithic. Even though she had passed Mesolithic, she hadn't found the time to start a small garden. Her seeds were sitting in a small grass pouch just for that occasion. She noted she'd have to do that tomorrow, as right now the most important task was… to make new pants and wash herself in the lake. Once she had felt reasonably clean and not covered in her own urine, she sat down in her cave and cooked dinner, thinking about what she had done. She had taken the life of an animal that was minding its own business, she had carved up a carcass of a deer the day before. It was difficult for her to come to terms with what she had done, but the largest thought in her head that kept her level and calm was that she needed to do this to survive. This was how nature worked. She needed to eat, and she also needed the hide. It was as simple as that.

 _I'm not Lara Croft, but then she didn't use some special ability to chop trees down or build a stone age hunting camp. Also, I don't have dual pistols. I'd probably miss if I shot those, if I know anything about myself._

Selene slowly laid down and went to sleep under her new blanket, waiting for the next day. Level 5 had been reached, after two "official" days of work done. It was hard trying to get enough resources and actions done each time just to tech up. She was starting to wonder if she needed to take a bit more direct action and hunt more, as the boar was the single biggest boost to her actions as she fought for her life… when she technically didn't have to. She would wait until tomorrow morning to officially tech up to Neolithic, since all her materials and food she just gained would be gone, including the boar hide. The hide she had just gained from the boar, if she had "help" from her power would be finished and used for some hide clothing, and she could maybe double tech quickly, Neolithic to Chalcolithic. That was the best she was expecting to do tomorrow. Once she had copper, she'd finally have access to a basic ingot mold, and actually use the softer metal. It wasn't lead, but it was still worse than Bronze or Iron.

 _ **The Third Day**_

The young dev had created a pot to boil water in now. It was faster than boiling a rock each time she was thirsty, and even made a thin lid for it. There was also a mortar and pestle that helped with most of the food preparation. She now had a daily routine of fishing and gathering with some hunting where she could find the animals, this time she only found two squirrels that she caught, as well as berry picking and even found some bird eggs. It still disturbed her somewhat skinning the squirrels, but she didn't lose her breakfast this time. Princess Aurora she was not. She walked briskly towards the lake to do some fishing as she lost herself in another train of thought. Chalcolithic era was barely within her grasp, which would allow her to use her power or potentially a copper axe to cut through whatever she needed. She just needed a bit more experience and-

She stopped just shy of the lake and stood frozen. A wolf was sitting on its haunches watching her and panting oddly. It had grey and white fur, but that wasn't what she was staring at. Its teeth were in full view. It watched her carefully, studying how tall she was, maybe even thinking it could take her down.

Selene slowly backed away, always facing the predator. It got off its haunches and slowly followed. Wolves tended to hunt in packs, and that might have meant she was surrounded. She checked her left and right carefully out of the corner of her eyes, hoping one wasn't about to leap at her. She wasn't wearing any sort of armor and if she was bitten, if she managed to survive it could take days for her to get back on her feet. That was If she got back on her feet and wasn't eaten.

 _Can I fire off Molecular Reformation at the wolf? Could I kill a living creature with it? Each time I've used it, it was on a tree or on a dead body. It might not even work._

There was only one way to find out. She focused on the wolf in front of her and tried to tear it apart. Nothing happened. The wolf started to growl at her, its fangs showing as its lips flared. More showed to the sides of her in the bushes.

 _Not good, not good._

She focused quickly on the ground beneath, hoping maybe to shoot a stalagmite up to pierce its body instead. The only thing it did was blow up a small part of the ground the size of a large fist, casting dirt and rock everywhere. It startled the predator stalking towards her and jumped back a bit to reassess what she was but didn't run like she was hoping. Apparently, she needed more experience to handle it in a fight. She'd have to practice once she got back to her haven… if she got back to her cave at all. The others were starting to move slowly in. There was something odd about how they were so aggressive, a look in their eyes as if drugged. She couldn't explain it really, she'd never looked into the eyes of a wolf before, even at the zoo.

 _Use the Molecular Reformation! Make small explosions on the ground as you run! Head for the cave now!_

She bolted for the cave entrance, trying to throw blasts at the ground as she ran. It threw the wolves off just enough to allow her a decent distance head start. She leapt over a bush in the way, barely missing the thorns as she continued onwards, the wolves easily clearing it soon after.

 _You need to go faster! There's the cave!_

She could see the cave entrance in front of her at the edge of the forest, and ran as fast as she could inside, focusing on the large stone to close off the door. There was enough of a small space for air and some light to filter through on the top, and it sealed just as the wolves reached the entrance. Somehow, she had managed to close the door without it taking three minutes. She might be getting better at it.

"Holy shit! Holy shit that was scary as… whoa…" she was breathing heavily, her heart racing a mile a second. Just then, a nose pressed up to the small opening and then a pair of eyes. Snarls and barks could be heard as they tried to push through. They wouldn't have the strength to move that boulder, but they could try and fail multiple times. Selene froze and just waited inside, staring at the small opening like a deer caught in a car's headlights. Eventually after what felt like forever, they stopped, and she heard nothing. She didn't come out of the cave until at least an hour passed by. Nothing was near, and birds had started chirping again close by.

Selene let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding after opening the door. She needed to be better prepared for that to happen. She wasn't the only hunter out here, she had forgotten about that. The next time she lowered her guard, an entire pack might jump her and rip her apart. Her first thought immediately after, which surprised her, was to go find their den and take them out for the hide.

"What am I thinking, I can't… I can't do that…" technically she could if she locked them in with a stone barrier… or maybe stone prison bars. Then it would be like shooting fish in a barrel with her bow and arrows. She just needed to plan this out a bit more.

 _Does this make me a terrible person? Well, technically, they just tried to kill me so… no, no I'm going to go take them out before they manage to do this again… and succeed._

 _ **Later That Day**_

Selene had not thought this through enough. She had found the den by following their pack paw prints back to another smaller cave entrance a good two miles from where hers was and did exactly as she needed to. The den had at least six wolves in it, that much she was certain. She had created a large row of stone pillars across the den front and sides to keep them from jumping over or squeezing through. She had also carefully focused on making a pronged top on one to hold a newly made hemp rope. This was her ticket out of the prison she had created once the wolves came running out to meet her. Her quiver now had a good fifty arrows in it, enough she thought to end them. She scoffed at the notion that it would take close to eight arrows each to finish them off, but she had yet to use the bow and therefore was probably really bad at it.

"You can do this. You can do this. Just climb over the pillars, go in, throw a stone and scream. Then run. Running is important." She took some deep breaths and finally climbed over the top. As she dropped to the other side, she could smell something, some sort of odd foggy gas roughly chest height. She started to cough a little bit, and she was getting a little frustrated with it constantly pouring out, even a little skittish… and angry.

 _What is this? There must be something piping into the cave that's causing this. Is this why the wolves were so fearless? For all I know, they aren't acting normal and just rampaging through the area. Maybe the deer didn't die from running away if they were the attackers, but because they wanted to just kill._

She took off her wrap gloves and tied it around her mouth and nose, wrapping up her hair into a ponytail at the same time. She could hear barking and growling inside, but she hadn't been seen just yet and was trying to be as quiet as possible. Further in, she found out the reason. The wolves seemed to be fighting with each other, and it wasn't play fighting at all. One of the weaker ones seemed to be trying to attain alpha status and was losing. The alpha got the upper hand a minute after she stopped and watched, snapping the neck of the smaller one.

"Whoa…"

They heard that. Their ears perked up and looked up at her location, where she was squatting. The fog seemed to be coming from a nearby natural vent just at chest height further down, and their heads were about that height.

 _Volcanic? No, doesn't cause this. Natural gas? Some cause hallucinations, even hormone changes, I know that much from watching NOVA. I just don't know what it is, and frankly I don't care. Time to run! Stop being an idiot and run!_

Selene shot for the entrance as quick as she could with the sound of the remaining wolves charging up after her. She reached the rope and climbed over, getting a foothold as quick as she could and landing safely. The pack reached the entrance and tried to turn around, looking for an opening. She had completely reinforced all sides, so they couldn't jump on an outcropping or parkour off the wall. The rope also was completely on her side now too. The whole trap had taken an hour to set up.

"Time to do what I came to do. Putting you all out of my misery… and apparently yours as well."

She notched an arrow into her bow and aimed as best she could. She also focused on bringing up a larger wall behind the wolves, to completely trap them and keep them from retreating. It took roughly ten more minutes to do, but It was now a shooting gallery. They snarled and growled, barking with their heckles bristling. One tried to chew through a stone pillar, willing to break its own teeth to get at her. She fired.

The first arrow hit the shoulder of the alpha when she was aiming for its head. The second shot hit it in the stomach. She kept firing arrows repeatedly, pumping arrows into each of them. Once it had ended and they were all lying dead on the ground, her quiver was empty. She really needed to practice more at a target dummy. She slowly lowered the back wall and took her rope to climb over the prison pillars, ready to run again if there were any more still inside ready to attack. The wall had lowered just enough for her to peek over and didn't notice anything strange other than the foggy gas. She stayed low to the ground and carved up the bodies, then slowly entered the remains of the cave close to the ground. What she found further down were no adults, bones littering the floor, and three pups. Two seemed to be adolescent, a boy and a girl, with the third lying in the corner, not moving much. It seemed to be the runt of the litter. They were in a sunken part of the cave, further below the area hit by the gas.

 _You can't kill them. There's no way. You aren't a monster. Stop._

The other two just snarled and barked at her, trying to bare their teeth. She had killed their parents. It was for their own good it seemed, given the gas had probably altered how they were acting. Their brain activity was probably too screwed up to go back to normal. Surprisingly, the two adolescent ones weren't tall enough for the gas to really reach and weren't even in the main area. They were probably staying down there so they wouldn't anger their crazed parents. Sure, they might have breathed some of it, but not enough to really screw them up.

"Fuck…" Small boxes, enough to make them stay in the middle of them without bolting, slowly arose around them as she focused on containing the little ones. She didn't even focus on bars, just walls they couldn't break through with a hole in the top to breathe. She felt a little awful, but only a little given what had just happened. The dev noticed that they looked hungry, and might not have been fed. For all she knew, the parents weren't feeding them due to the gas altering their thinking. There were no motherly instincts or paternal protection it seemed. She had to get them out of here, at least to give them a chance to not turn into their crazed family. She hoped that they would be fine in her inventory, like a pet that wasn't tamed yet. The grubs were perfectly alive when she pulled them out, so this would most likely work. The portal opened near her, and she picked up the stone boxes, which were quite heavy, to slide them in. The little one in the corner, however, didn't even fight her or growl, just looked at her with little blue eyes.

"I'm sorry girl, I… I'll make it up to you… you need better" she shoved her into the inventory and went to work on the den. There were antlers lying around as well which she took, some larger bones she could use.

Once she was back at her own cave, she carefully pulled the boxes out, nearly twisting her ankle at one point putting the second one down. They were still growling at her as she turned the front into a cage, surveying them a little more and in the light of the sun. The two that were older were colored black with a grey V neck on the chest and the female adolescent was grey with brown back fur. The little runt was white as snow. She was also sick. That was why she was in the corner. They were probably leaving her to die.

"Alright… alright alright, I can do this. I can at least try to." She pulled out some meat from her inventory and started to cook it, making sure it was not from their parents. She made a note to throw the wolf meat she had collected out, as she couldn't take any chances it was contaminated. After it was lightly sizzling, she let it cool and gave a little bit to both adolescents, seeing if they were alright with her feeding them cooked food. She didn't want to see them starve to death out of spite. Regardless of the growling and snarling, they ate just as quickly and quieted down. They had received food, something the parents had stopped giving them. That must have confused them.

"Fine, yes, good? I'll keep feeding you. Promise not to bite?" she slowly broke the bars of one cage and backed away. The black male slowly came out and sat looking at her, tilting his head. The other one just lay in her open cage, not knowing what to do.

"Ok, good, fine, you can just stay there and I'll… I'll go over here…" she sat down with the white female and picked her up. The little one didn't even struggle, she was so weak. The woman would hate it if she died after everything that happened.

"Ok, let's see what we can do for you hon." She pulled up the small mortar and pestle she made that morning to paste the roots and mash up grubs to taste better. The dev looked through her inventory quickly to try and find some "healing herbs" that she now knew about. It had to be turned into a broth or mashed into a poultice. The problem was these wolves were primarily meat eaters, despite being considered omnivores. She heard that dogs ate grass on occasion to settle their stomach from her sister. She might have to force feed her to keep the pup alive. Luckily, she had found some herbs near the cave entrance while she was preparing the prison pillars. She knew they could heal and be used in a poultice, but the healing was extremely slow if it was used on her. It might work better on the small runt though.

"What am I doing… I'm not a veterinarian… I don't even have a pet back home…" she sighed and started grinding the herbs. "I'll do my best ok? You hang in there." The little girl didn't even bark, an ever so small whimper was coming from her mouth. Once the herbs were ground up and more meat was cooked, she rubbed the herbal seasoning into the food and cut it into very small pieces the size of her pinky finger tips. Just as she was about to feed a piece to her, the black male came up and was about to snatch it from her hand.

"Hey! NO!" she snapped and pulled it away. The rocks and pebbles seemed to vibrate slightly, with an odd air arising from her outburst. The black furred male backed up a bit and sat down, looking around himself before staring at her. She had just shown dominance and didn't know it with an involuntary use of Molecular Reformation, at least the start of using it.

"I'll feed you more after I've taken care of her. She's your sister, you should be watching out for her, not stealing." Selene took the piece of meat and held it to the runt's mouth, slowly pushing it through her small teeth. She was worried she'd get bitten, and for a moment it happened. She soon realized she wasn't trying to chew her finger off but eat the food she was being given.

"You're going to be fine, just keep eating… ow… not my fingers… eat the meat please… ow…" she was very grateful for the gloves she had put back on. Her hand would probably have cuts and bruising if it wasn't for the hide she already gained from the deer. Once the herb bites were finished, at least until the runt decided not to eat anymore, she fed more cooked meat to both adolescents and looked outside right after, to the left of the cave, to see if something else she had made in the morning had dried enough to be usable. Down on the ground, now dried from the sun, were five clay bowls with curved edges to be used for multiple foods, even a stew if needed. Selene was thankful the pack hadn't broken any of them when they charged towards her cave. She was now going to need at least three of them for the pups. She had originally made five, so she didn't need to keep cleaning them very often. Pouring water into each of the bowls, they eagerly lapped it up and ate some more cooked meat, then started to lay down, sated. This was their home now. It was surprising how quickly they were adapting to a human keeping them around. They were far and away not domesticated, that much she was certain, but they at least acknowledged her as a provider of food and water, and a safe zone to be near.

 _Domestication takes how much time? I… I don't really know. They're young, so maybe they'll trust me after a while?_

"Loyalty is probably a big thing for you girls… and guy. You probably just care that I'm feeding you right now though. Well, whatever. At least I'm not alone anymore. Sheesh, I'm talking to wolves." She rolled her eyes and started to clean the mortar and pestle of herb residue. She didn't feel that the two adolescents were any threat anymore.

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

Two more hide frames had been set up, and the pelts of the wolves were now strung up for stretching. She had just enough of the boar hide to make some hide pants and boots. She'd realized she now would need another pot to keep them hydrated, as well as double the hunting to get more meat.

As she sat down on the blanket and opened her character sheet, she noticed she had exceeded the required experience to level up and had reached level 6. She could have gotten to the Chalcolithic era right after she hit level 5 as it wasn't connected anymore, but she didn't have the time to gather the materials to craft another one hundred tools from the Neolithic era or performing any actions due to running away from the pack. The prison pillars sort of counted, for maybe half of the experience at least. She looked out the circular door frame and watched the sun fall behind the horizon and had an idea.

As she stood up and walked to the door, the pups watched her carefully. Selene walked outside after removing the stone boulder and counted her paces on both sides of the cave entrance out towards the forest and plains. Once she had her measurements, she checked her inventory. She had cut down quite a few trees just for the wood to use on the campfire and her tools right now, and it didn't take any space in her inventory. A stack of fifty logs of wood was just sitting in there. She might have gone a little overboard, but she at least wanted to see anything trying to creep up on the cave. She hadn't chopped them into cords, as she didn't know if she'd need them for anything else, or even a trap set up to knock the wolves around.

She started to focus on the ground to the left and right and shoved her hand into her inventory to touch the logs. The number started to go down as a log wall started to spring from the inventory portal and directly where she needed it to be. Unfortunately, she only had enough to build one wall to the right, but that was still impressive for something done in less than twenty minutes. There would be a lot of cut down trees tomorrow, that was for certain, and another wall as well as a gate in front of the cave. She might be able to build a small fort now. It wouldn't amount to much, but it was expanding out from just a cave to a home. She could have tried with stone, but that might have taken far longer. Lower strength materials seemed to be easier, at least right now. The metals that she was pulling from the mountain she wasn't even using or could really control how it flowed out. She might get faster as the days go by, but right now she just wanted a log barrier.

As if on que, her tech tier was ready to be advanced. She stood there, thinking carefully. If she did it now, the pups wouldn't have any extra food until she went hunting and gathering the next day, as all the collected materials and edibles would vanish. There would be no breakfast until she went out and got it. There would be no herbs for her to use to help the runt.

"Damn it. I guess that's going to have to wait until tomorrow too." She was starting to get the idea that waiting until the next morning for each tech up was in her best interest, both to try and keep what she still had and make some use of it, and to read over some of the unlocks she was going to receive before it happened. She noted that she would need more arrows tomorrow, as more than half of them broke when she pulled them out from the parents. She hadn't exactly built the bow and arrow with perfect quality in mind. It was considered a weapon, and she expected it to break after a few uses, the ammo as well. She could make a sling, but that would be even less accurate with how poor her aim was today. She'd probably hit herself in the head with the stone. The wolves were right in front of her behind those small pillars and she could barely hit vital areas. The dev definitely needed to practice more, either on a target dummy or while hunting. She'd spent most of her time with a spear, and it wasn't even in combat.

Selene walked back into the cave and slowly covered the entrance, stoked the fire, and sat down on her bed. As she pulled the blanket up over her, the runt slowly moved up next to her arm. She needed body heat, and if she didn't stay warm, she might be dead by morning for all she knew.

"Come here, come here." She picked her up and pushed her into the crook of her left arm to curl up. As she looked up and around at the other two, the black male padded over to the rear of the cave, away from her. He laid down on the ground and curled up, staring at her.

"Fine, be that way. I wasn't expecting you to trust me so quickly anyways." The adolescent female, on the other hand, padded over to about five feet from her and sat down, staring at her.

"Sleep time. More food tomorrow." She didn't feel as if the female would attack her, she wouldn't get anymore food beyond her corpse if she did, and the door was sealed up. They'd be trapped. She hoped the grey and brown wolf was smart enough to figure that out. She sighed and tilted her head back until it was lying on the grass pillow pile she had placed and tried to fall asleep. She'd figure out names for each of them soon.

In the morning, breakfast. Afterwards, copper.


	4. Ch 3 Personal Challenges

A loud bark echoed through the cave that suddenly startled Selene awake from her slumber. Her eyes shot open as she looked around, confused and worried.

"WHA! WHO! HUH!" She yelped out as her eyes searched for where the sound came from. The light was barely showing through the top of the boulder door, meaning it was early morning. The black male was sitting at the door entrance, watching her.

"Oh. Yeah. You." She squinted carefully as she looked at him through bleary eyes. She noticed him as close to the boulder as physically possible, sitting on his haunches. He probably needed to relieve himself. It was morning, regardless of how long she wanted to sleep. The dev looked around the cave to see where the other two were. The white runt was still in the crook of her arm, but she was awake as well, whining. The grey and brown one, surprisingly, was laying next to her. What suddenly made her freeze was her right hand was lying on her left paw. Her head was also laid on her right paw. The adolescent female was looking at her.

"Uh…" she was unsure what to do. Had her hand moved in the middle of the night? She was scared if she moved her arm the wolf would bite her. The black male barked again.

"Ok! Ok, I'll… let you out." She built up the courage to move her right hand slowly up and away from the paw it was resting on. The grey female raised her head and looked at her. "It's ok. It's ok, I'm just going to get up and let you all out." She held her hand still for a second with open palm, then slowly brought it close to her nose. The adolescent sniffed her hand for a few seconds before finally giving it a small lick. Everything was ok.

"Alright, potty time." Selene got up and opened the door up, and as it was barely big enough for anyone to fit through, the black male bolted through and nearly knocked her left leg out from under her. "Hey!... fine…" She figured he couldn't hold it anymore, so she gave him a pass for being so pushy. As she exited, the grey female came out right behind her and the white runt waddled in a close third. All three went to the edge of the forest and did their business, while the woman would head to her relief spot. Dawn was just breaking with the rays getting brighter, the sun making its return and casting away the shadows… and telling her to get to work. Once they were all done, everyone headed back into the cave for breakfast. The black male barked as he stood near the campfire.

"Alright! Sheesh, don't order me around." She was getting annoyed at how blunt he was at trying to communicate. Was he trying to be the alpha of this pack? She'd have to set him straight and prove she was in charge. This was a matriarchal pack and she controlled things here. She would also need to name them, as calling them "black male" and "grey female" wasn't going to cut it. While she was cooking breakfast, she watched each one carefully. The white runt seemed to curl up again after going potty and looked like a little white ball. Her eyes were still open, waiting for her to finish cooking and to feed her more. She kind of reminded her of the moon when she hid her paws under her tail.

"Luna" she said out loud and pointed at her. Her little head popped out of the ball, her little ice blue eyes staring at the finger. The woman then looked at the grey female. She hadn't figured out the mannerisms all that well considering they had been with her all of one night. The wolf had somewhat accepted her at least, and seemed relatively friendly, considering she probably acknowledged her as the alpha. She couldn't come up with anything interesting for a name though, other than the color of her fur.

"Ash?" she questioned herself as she looked at the adolescent female. The wolf didn't move or make a noise, just stared at her. She mentally chastised herself, wondering why she had expected the wolf to acknowledge that as her name.

"Fine, Ash it is." She moved on to the black male. She was thinking of calling him Asshole or something insulting, given how he acted so far, but that would just show she had no class. She finished the cooking and placed their meals down; interestingly, Luna got up and slowly waddled over to the dish that Selene was about to feed her with. She was getting stronger, but she was still sick. Those herbs and that food had helped. As she watched them eat and chewed on her own food, her eyes kept drifting to the black male. His fur was jet black, almost shining blue when the light hit it right. That was it. His name.

"You are gonna be Blue." The male looked up at her while he continued to eat, ignoring the finger she was pointing at him. He was hungry, and anything she said until he was done was irrelevant. Once they were finished, she cleaned the bowls and checked her inventory. She was a little low on edibles, which was fine, because now was her chance to tech up to tier 6, Chalcolithic Era. Before she teched up, though, she needed to finish using the hide of the pups "parents." Once she had crafted a long sleeve shirt and even a small hair band, along with some sleeping spots for the wolves which now looked like basic hide and almost indistinguishable from something she could get from a deer or boar, she felt she was ready with almost nothing in her inventory or other materials lying around the cave. She focused on the upgrade and learned all the new tools she'd need to make. She also got her first real sword in the mix, and, a shield. Neither one was probably going to be all that great considering they were copper, but still. She could at least defend herself.

What she noticed was that she could have made trash tier equipment once she had reached tier 5, Neolithic. It would have been a hide shield with a stone tipped spear, which wouldn't have saved her from very much. She also didn't have enough hide to go around throwing it at all her crafts right now. Despite having all the wood and stone she could want right now, and maybe water considering the lake, she needed to be careful how she used her materials until she got a decent supply… that she didn't need to sacrifice each time to the tech gods. Her tools were the first thing she would probably need, and she'd finally get a hand axe that had a handle! She was really surprised she hadn't found out how to make one in Neolithic, but it didn't matter now. Some of the tools seemed useless due to having her special power, but she couldn't be too careful learning everything.

"Alright, wall first. Gate next, then forge and copper." She was almost giddy with excitement. She ran to the forest quick as she could, collecting what wood she needed to build the remainder of her walls. It was not going to be fancy, three walls with a gate on the middle. It would have enough space for a wooden hut or log cabin, a small vegetable garden, some space set up for any workbenches she might soon need, a forge spot, and hopefully a small potted area for healing herbs. Regular herbs would grow with the vegetable garden.

Once she got back, she built the two remaining walls she needed and worked on the gate, but she now realized she would need some copper ready for hinges and pivot points. As she checked through her list of what she needed to make, she stared at the ancient forge she was now going to create and install. She took a deep breath, grinning afterwards. The wolves watched from the doorway to her "inner sanctum." For all she knew, they might have thought she was going insane running around gathering stuff and cutting trees down.

The forge was crafted, and she placed it down in a specific spot away from her new, and small, log cabin. There was nothing in the cabin yet, not even a bedding spot, but that would come later. She placed the forge down and… tried to figure out how to make it work.

"Fuel, so wood, no not wood… charcoal to heat? Needs to be hotter… a bellows, well that's obviously included… The ingot cast… finally crucible." She raced to gather some clay from the lakeside. Once she had enough, she bolted for the open gate and crafted the ingot cast to put in the sun, trying to use her MR power to quicken the pace. These would have to be very thick, thicker than what she had previously tried to make to not crack in the heat. She also built a thick crucible to use inside the forge so that she could pour the melted copper. She'd have to be quick about it, as she now knew the cooling temperature for copper was high, with the melting point being well over a thousand degrees Celsius. She made a wood to charcoal mound and set the thing blazing inside more clay, creating a big batch of it. Her bellows was now made of the blanket she had been using. She'd replace it soon, assuming she found another large animal to skin or some smaller animals to stitch together their hide. Once everything was complete, the morning was already reaching mid-day.

She ran over to the second cave opening and instead of trying to pull small amounts of metal out of the wall, and melting it in the process, she just started breaking chunks of stone away until she saw raw malachite ore. Selene started to pop out the ore chunks until she couldn't see anymore and took some hide she was tanning to make very thick blacksmith gloves that went up her arms. She was almost there, just a little more and she'd have her first ingot.

She took the same branch "tongs" that she used to cook rocks to boil water and picked up a few of the ore pieces, malachite, placing them in the heating forge. The crude crucible would melt the malachite ore into copper, which she could then drain into the ingot mold she had made. She watched the ore inside start to get hotter, but then she realized she needed to use the bellows. The dev started to pump the bellows as often as she could, trying to feed the flames and cook the copper so it would melt and become exactly what she needed. Apparently, she couldn't use raw ore to craft anything, it just didn't let her. It had to be in ingot, billet, slab, bloom or rail form for crafting usage.

After half an hour, she was getting tired.

 _All of this, just for one ingot. This is tough!_

After roughly ten more minutes, she pulled the crucible out a little bit to see how well it was doing. The heat had melted the malachite into a liquid completely, but she needed to get rid of the slag on top. She didn't really have anything made yet that could clean it out, but she did have her special power. She just hoped it didn't cause any issues. As she poured the molten copper quickly into the molds while suppressing the movement of the slag, she realized that the slag was just going to ruin her crucible if it stayed there. She'd have to remove it right after.

As she set the crucible down and got rid of the slag into a pile of dirt she had placed just for the refuse, she looked over at the molds, or should she be saying… mold. The malachite had given her a total of one full ingot.

"All of that for one ingot?! Oh god… just to get enough for a few different things… more tools… a sword… shield… there won't be any time to get food… shit… there has to be a better way than what I'm doing…" she looked up at the wolves sitting barely inside the cave. She had enough time to cast one more batch, then she'd have to drop what she was doing, set up the garden to start growing, and then go fishing. If she worked hard enough, she'd have enough food for lunch, and then finally dinner. She pushed herself to melt the remainder of the ore all at once and make four more ingots, and she had barely enough to make a fifth final one. With all six ingots, she could make a short sword and a medium shield, a small knife for cutting food so she didn't have to keep concentrating her power on everything, and a spear tip as well as caps for the gate sides as well as pivot points so it would turn. She'd have to hold off on making arrow tips for later, but at least the gate was finished and capable of being opened and closed with some effort, without using her power to move it around now. It even had a large latch on the front. By now, she was getting hungry, and it was well past afternoon. She gathered as many berries as she could once she set up her garden, though she was finding it difficult to get many now from the bushes.

"Good thing I set up the garden already." She hoped there were more bushes further away, but that would take longer to collect, and more energy burnt. Selene headed to the lake and caught five fish; she was getting better at it, at least she thought she was, but there was one larger fish she never could catch, and it kept swimming near her. Her eyes kept glancing at it as she tried to spear anything that came near, but by the time she could turn, it had swum away. She called it quits after two hours and didn't try to push her luck. The next thing on her to do list was to get some more herbs, and if she hurried, she could try and find more grubs.

It took her longer than she was expecting to find another area that had the herbs, but what she wasn't expecting along the way was to find lemon grass. Her blue eyes scanned the small patch that had been sitting on the hill she was scouting, pulling what she could of any restoratives and throwing in her inventory while picking up only a little lemon grass for the garden. Just as she was about to leave, her vision caught something purple on another hill. She did a double take and squinted stopping movement completely with her head turned over her shoulder.

"It couldn't be…" she turned and started walking over to the hill and looked around. Growing on the second hill was lavender, or at least ten flowers worth of it. She couldn't find anymore, but at least she knew where it could grow now.

"Oooh… soap…" the idea shot into her head as fast as using it to freshen her cave up. She had tried to take a bath each day at the lake, but there wasn't a whole lot she could use to clean herself besides water. She just needed to get her hands on some lard, which sadly would probably come from another boar if she could find it. The previous lard, or should she call it animal fat since it hadn't been boiled, that had been in her inventory had obviously disappeared, so that wasn't an option. It hadn't occurred to her to boil it until now. Hopefully she'd find one and be able to kill it… this time with arrows instead of the spear. The lye would be easy to get since she'd have wood ash due to what she was already making now, along with her campfire.

Now that she was thinking about it while heading back to the small fort, she wondered what she was going to do about trimming herself. Her armpit hair would eventually grow beyond what it was now, which wasn't much at the moment, but it would be a problem eventually, her leg hair and… other… areas too. She'd need a copper razor soon added to her toolset. Could she use her power on her own hair? She didn't want to test that until she knew she could focus it more efficiently. She still couldn't tell if the time she took on different actions with it was going down or staying the same. What she did know, was that it was helping her get on her feet.

Once she passed through a small spot of the forest heading to the fort, she was able to find about a handful of grubs and that was it. Things were getting a little scarce it seemed near her new home. She'd have to explore further out and learn to travel farther. Just as she got to the fort, it was starting to get dark. As much as she wanted to try a second attempt to get more ore, it was better if she could see if something was green in the stone.

Just as she passed through the gate and turned around, her eyes spotted Ash sitting in a corner near the East log wall, holding something in between her teeth as she tried to chew it. It was a small rabbit. She had caught one. Selene was a little surprised for a second, and then realized she was a wolf after all. The dev just hadn't figured either of the adolescents were well taught yet on how to hunt. She might have just gotten lucky or caught it off guard. What worried her was the gate was closed, so she couldn't have gotten out, which meant there was a small hole somewhere in the defenses the rabbit got in and tried to go for the just barely made garden. There was nothing fully grown yet, so she couldn't figure why it was there. Regardless, Ash had just proved she could sometimes find her own food.

"Hey, you." She said softly. Ash looked up at her and then down at the rabbit. The wolf licked her chops and stared for a second, then did something she didn't expect. Ash picked up the rabbit carcass and carried it over to her, then dropped it on the ground at her feet, looking up at her. She already considered her the alpha.

"You know what, thank you, but I'm not going to take that kill from you. Here, lemme help." She picked up the rabbit and walked up into the cave and sat down to start cooking dinner. Ash sat near her, respectfully watching as she skinned the rabbit with Molecular Deformation and then cooked the meat. The grey wolf didn't, however, expect the food being given back to her.

"You earned it. Good job." Ash just looked at her for a moment, then a slight woof escaped her mouth before digging in. A small whine came from Luna near her as she waddled up expecting her share.

"Ok ok, you're hungry, I get it. I'm making it right now ok?" Selene started to cook the fish she had caught, making sure to rub the herbs into Luna's share, but saving a few of them for the second garden. Luna was able to eat her own helping now, without any assistance… or bit fingers. Now that she had some energy, she wasn't so vulnerable or weak. The little one ate carefully, as if she was expecting bones to be found. The auburn-haired woman had already removed anything that could get caught in her throat. Blue was sitting behind Ash, silent.

"I suppose you want your share too?" she said to him with a smirk. He just blinked at her. She shook her head and put his bowl down. He scarfed the fish as quickly as the bowl touched the ground. Afterwards, he just got up and went to the back of the cave. Her eyes rolled. Domestication was going to be tough, if not impossible, for him. He might just need to be let out and fend for himself, that's how much he might not like her. He hadn't caused any real issues yet, and the previous actions could be forgiven due to the circumstances at the time. Once all of them had finished eating, and the bowls were cleaned, she noticed the water levels on the jugs were low. She'd have to get some more tomorrow. What perked her up was that she easily hit requirements to reach The Bronze Age which she would do tomorrow morning, but her enthusiasm died quite a bit when she realized that required a decent amount of copper, tin, lead and zinc. She wondered if some of the previous "puddles" she created were any of the ones she needed. That would now cut down how much she had available tomorrow.

After cleaning the bowls, the wolves and herself headed outside to relieve themselves, but the wolves headed back inside the cave. Selene sat outside for a little bit and watched the stars.

While her day wasn't the most productive, she at least had new equipment, especially the sword and shield, even though both were registered as trash tier. She was a little irked at that. Even the speed in which her power cut up food seemed to go up, which she thought meant she was getting better at using it. Tomorrow would be better, in the long run, she hoped, as she laid down on her bedding and tried to pull the blanket over her… that didn't exist anymore. A slight groan escaped her lips as she remembered the bellows. Hopefully she could figure out how to make bronze easier than the copper ingots, as it took way too long just to make a few of them. If it was only going to get worse, then it would heavily slow her down in getting anywhere. Ash laid down next to her and Luna curled up in the crook of her arm again after getting something to drink.

While the woman thought the next day would be a little easier, lady luck would sadly rain on her little parade through the New World.

 _ **The Fifth Day**_

Selene woke up with a groan as her neck felt sore. She must have slept wrong during the night, as well as her left arm had fallen asleep due to the angle she was holding Luna. Ash was slowly waking up, and Blue was nowhere to be seen.

"Blue? Blue? Where are you?" she asked out loud. No response, for obvious reasons. She got up carefully with Luna wondering where she was going. The woman walked outside just in time to have Blue walk through the cave entrance, ignoring her body standing there and pushed past her right leg. She let out an exasperated sigh with her hands in the air as she watched him walk over to the campfire and sit down, looking at her. Thankfully, the cave door was no longer blocked so they could exit out to relieve themselves when they wished, but she was still a little annoyed the way he didn't care she was standing there. Ash had proven she would wait until she had cleared the entrance before exiting or entering.

"Yeah, morning to you too." She blew her bangs away from her eyes and then tied her hair back with a hide band. It was morning at least, which meant breakfast. She remembered the water was running low, so she needed to get more of it. She also needed to try and get some more ingots made, this time of bronze once she officially teched up. The dev looked at her boots, which were getting a little dirty. She'd have to clean them up or make new ones if they were too worn out. She now had to get some water first, then she needed to get some more assorted ore, and finally after she made some more ingots fish and try and hunt. She had also promised to practice with the bow and arrows.

 _You need to make a training dummy. How else are you going to get better?_

Selene picked up the water pots and brought them with her to the lake, looking around for anything she might be able to use later. As she passed the bushes, she tried to get a few more handfuls. There was almost none left, just two berries found. Her head cocked back a bit as she tried to dig deeper, but a thorn caught her left glove and poked through somehow.

"Ouch!" she yelped as she pulled her hand away, the glove being torn away from her fingers by the bush. "Crap!" she swore as she tried to get back inside, but the way she had pulled had caused the glove to fall deeper into the bush, away from where she could reach unless she wanted to scratch up her arm. "Damn it, now I have to make a new one…" the woman huffed and got up to head towards the lake, a little frustrated with her bad luck and hoping there were other bushes nearby. There were no more berries it seemed, at least none she could reach in that area. She'd have to go further out and try and find another grouping of them. Maybe there were more, further up the lake?

Once she reached the large body of water, she tried to fish after she filled up the pots. The second pot, once filled, slipped from her hands as she was putting it in her inventory, splashed her in the face, and crashed to the ground, breaking into twenty pieces. "Damn it!" she snapped, wiping her face down and trying to see where the shards had flung. She was getting even more frustrated with how things were going for her. As she started to wade into the water and look for any fish for lunch, the larger fish, what she thought might be a catfish as she couldn't really tell above the water line, swam near her.

 _This time I've got you!_

Unfortunately for her, the trash tier copper tipped spear she had crafted, had other plans. She had used it quite a bit yesterday, and now, it was due to not be so strong given how primitive her crafting was. The bindings broke as she stabbed and hit stone below the water's surface, and the copper tip floated away just as she struck out for the catfish. The fish dodged just barely in time, and as it turned the tail knocked it further through the water and deeper into the lake, away from her. The fish zoomed after the shiny thing and grabbed it in its small maw, carrying it off.

"Fuck! Why me?!" she groaned in annoyance as she looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, then looked off towards the edge of the lake. This just wasn't her day. Everything was going well for her in the past few days, but everyone did have some bad luck. She just had to calm down and think straight so that she could-

Another boar could be seen further down, drinking. She couldn't believe it; her luck was turning around. She didn't have the spear now, but she wasn't going to use it anyways. She had to use the bow and arrows, even though she hadn't had any time to practice. This was her chance to get some animal fat. As she slowly got out of the water, nearly slipping in her crouched state, she pulled out her bow and notched an arrow as she tried to run up to a tree to hide. It was a perfect opportunity. She raised her bow and took aim carefully, hoping she could land a few shots. Surprisingly, she'd never get the chance.

A small squeal was heard behind her as she looked back to see what just caught her off guard. What she wasn't expecting was a piglet to come busting out of the brush behind her and knock her off her feet. The arrow went flying off into the lake, and both the boar and piglet ran away. To top it off, she had the wind knocked out of her from the fall from a rock she landed on.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it damn it!" she yelled out in between coughs. Why was she having so much bad luck today? Was it some god playing tricks on her here? Or was it just bad coincidence? Selene slammed her fist down against the ground, angry at what was happening. She needed to keep a level head, but it was hard when so many things had already gone wrong today. She now needed to make a stone spear, catch some fish, make a new pot and then go get some ore. Once she had all of that, she'd make some ingots and hopefully upgrade even further. She huffed and got up to gather some clay and throw it into her inventory, then made a stone tipped spear to replace the copper one. She was really bummed about losing that. That was copper she couldn't replace right now.

Once she had the spear ready, she tried to catch what she could, but this time she only caught three fish. No more seemed to be swimming anywhere near her, and each time she moved, they swam away.

 _Little bastards must be putting the word out not to go near the feet. Great._

By now, it was past noon. The fishing had taken longer than she had expected, and she needed to get the water boiled before she started on the ore mining. As she passed a rotting log, she was able to at least get a handful of grubs but nothing else. She checked her usual spots but couldn't find anymore, and very nearly opened a log to see just in the nick of time a snake tail barely poking through. She'd cleaned the area out. The dev had to either hunt now or explore further. Exploring unfortunately took her in the opposite direction of the fort and took more time, where she needed to go home at least temporarily. She might have time to head out and find some more berry bushes, or maybe find some smaller game.

As she reached the fort and opened the gate up to head into the cave, she noticed Blue in the corner with something long in his mouth. He caught a snake. It couldn't have been the one she saw in the log, so there might be a few of them out there. She'd have to be a bit more careful.

"Fuck, I forgot to close whatever hole is in the walls!" she groaned but realized Blue had potentially saved her from a bite. She motioned for him to come over to her, but he ignored her.

"Come on, don't you want me to cook it?" she asked. That would probably be a no, given the fact that wolves didn't need anything to be cooked in the first place, unlike her. Selene walked up and kneeled in front of him. He growled a little as he chewed on the body. He would snap at her hand if she tried to grab it.

"Hey! Look!" she pointed towards the door frame. His head tilted up and away from the snake and looked where her finger was pointing. While his eyes were away from his meal, her right hand quickly grabbed the snake away. He barked at her and growled.

"Enough! I'm going to give it back, just let me help you!" she yelled back. She stormed over to the campfire and cooked the snake as Blue sat there letting out little growls here and there. He was annoyed. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I can't have you getting any random poison in you right now, even if you might be resistant! I've already got one sick pup, I'm not sticking my fingers into your mouth too! You might actually bite them off!" she snapped. After cooking it, she threw it out to him. He quickly picked it up and carried it to the back but watched her get up and leave before starting to eat it.

As she stormed out and through the gate, straight to the mining cave, she grumbled something about shaving Blue to teach him a lesson. She didn't really mean it, but she had to vent somehow. As she neared the cave and started ripping stone away, she found some zinc as well as lead, but no malachite. She continued in, almost making the cave as large as the first one, and there was still none gain. Tin appeared, at least one vein, some more zinc, and lead. No malachite.

"Oh, come on, please? I really need this!" She dug deeper and deeper, with nothing green gained. By now she had a decent pile of zinc and lead and tin which as she now knew was rarely found in the same area as copper ores, enough for what she figured might be twenty-five ingots, but no green. The sun was slowly heading passed and only a few more hours before dusk would come about, and she really needed to get some new gear. The woman was about to tear her hair out, until a thought occurred to her. She could melt down her copper sword and shield and recreate them into a bronze sword and shield. It might provide at least a little left over for a small bronze spear tip if she also melted the copper knife too. She took a deep breath to calm down, putting her hands up in a show of settling her frustration and setting her mind to the next task.

 _Bronze sword and shield, bronze spear tip if any is left over, bronze knife. Nothing to it._

Selene worked hard on the forging process, melting down her copper equipment and then recasting it. Almost as soon as she finished crafting each one, including the time to pour the ingots, three hours had past. On top of that, her crucible cracked. She held her hand up to her forehead as she couldn't believe what was happening. Was that considered trash tier too?! It wasn't real equipment used on her person though and didn't have the tier info in her inventory! She realized she'd need to make a new one, cook it so that it would hold up to the heat, then get the chance to use it. That would take another hour or so. She was almost fed up. Just then, movement happened just outside the gate, and pushed against it. She flipped around and stared at it. Ash came out to see what was going on. Blue was just behind her.

 _It could be the boar! God, I could use some good luck right now._

The movement stopped and left the area as she gathered her things again, sheathing the sword and pulling the shield onto her back. She used her remaining glove as the straps for the shield, but she figured she could get more leather once she took down the boar to make a new pair. If the piglet was with it, then all the better. She stepped outside, closing the gate just as Ash and Blue came up to it, and tried to find the creature that had pushed on the gate but was having a bit of difficulty. Suddenly, movement through the bushes much further out, heading towards the hills and around the far side of the forest. She charged after it, hoping she could get some shots in as soon as she saw it with an arrow notched and ready. What happened next was not what she was expecting.

As she cleared the brush and bushes to step out in the open, her eyes landed directly on something squat and green. A goblin. Time seemed to slow down, and she stopped dead in her tracks as it turned around. Its eyes seemed to be dull as it blinked at her and roared a tiny roar. The thing charged her as she pulled up her bow and fired, completely missing. There was no time to shoot again. She pulled her sword but didn't have enough time to attack as he lunged at her with his own iron blade. She dodged, barely, to the left and rolled, her left arm scraped by a rock along the way. She needed to pull the new shield right now.

The goblin turned and looked at where she landed as she got back up as fast as she could, her heart pounding. What the hell was this thing doing here? Were there more than wolves out here? She was expecting animal predators, maybe lions or tigers or bears (oh my!) but not some sort of humanoid… thing. Her hand pulled at her shield and got it off her back just in time for the green skinned creature to attack again as she backed up and tried to swing at him. He jumped around and dodged her flailing attacks. As he jumped at her again, she blocked with her shield and pushed forward, slamming him back and onto the ground. He quickly recovered, but his nose had been bloodied.

"Get the fuck away from me!" she screamed at him. It didn't have much effect, as he charged her again. She tried to block again with the shield, but he leapt and grappled the sides. Now her shield was a riding spot for him to try and attack behind it, to stab at her. Selene flailed the shield around and he tried to attack, one strike cutting against her left arm at the shoulder, another the tip of his sword barely cutting her left cheek. She was trying desperately to shake him off before seeing a tree nearby and charging for it. The goblin was slammed against the tree with an ACK! sound blasting out of his ugly mouth, but it didn't stop him from still trying to impale her on his sword. She kept trying to slam him again and again against the tree, hoping to knock the wind out of him. On the third try, he started to climb up over the top of the shield to try and finish the fight once and for all with a sword to her head. She struck first.

Her blade shot forward just over the shield, impaling his skull against the tree. His sword arm swung around a little bit in a twitch response, his left arm's fingers wiggling a little bit. His sword managed to put another cut on her left arm and shear away a section of her hide shirt before the arm went limp. She pulled away and dropped onto her butt, staring at the body as she panted heavily. The whole fight had lasted maybe a few minutes at most, but she was exhausted. Her attacks did almost nothing as he had dodged everything, the only way she had not been killed is she reacted to strike just over the lip of her shield. Had he not been doing that, she might be dead right now.

Her right hand flew to her left cheek and felt the blood flowing, then to her left arm at the two gashes. She'd have to poultice each and bandage them up. She took one more look at the body, then the sword. It was iron, something she didn't have yet. The little bastard had better equipment than she did. The wounded woman picked up the sword tentatively while watching the body, as if expecting him to jump up and attack her again. Then, just as slowly, she started to run, which turned into a dead sprint as she went straight for the fort. As she got inside the gate, she forced a large mound of dirt in front of the entrance to keep anyone from trying to open it. She was frightened right now. There could be more of those things prowling around.

 _You need armor if you're ever going to fight again. You should make some tomorrow._

Today was not a good day. She had classified it as such with definite certainty. She just wanted to barricade the gate door and never come out again, but she knew tomorrow she'd have to go out there to gather, and the pups needed food. She needed food. Selene couldn't just hide and hope they go away, otherwise they'd find her and break through the gate, probably killing her and the pups… or worse. She didn't want to think about the worse event that could occur, or the thought of them breaking through. It was already early dusk, so there was no chance of going out for more healing herbs. She'd need to use the spares she was going to plant in the garden, and hopefully find some more tomorrow… if she lived through tomorrow.

Her arm hurt now that the adrenaline was slowly wearing off, so the dev went quickly into the cave and started to mash up the herbs in the mortar and pestle. The entire time her arm ached with some sharp pain due to holding down the mortar, but once she pressed the poultice mix into the wounds, she hissed due to the stinging, followed by a numbing of the nerves. The woman bandaged herself up with some plant fiber made cloth. She already knew the poultice would very slowly heal her and help keep any scars from forming, and the bandage would keep any dirt out and stop any infection. Technically, both could do more than that, if she had crafted a better quality of each.

Poultices could come in a variety of mixtures, but they tended to always do the same thing, at least depending on the tier. The tiers were Extremely minor, Very Minor, Minor, Light, Medium, Large, Very Large, Grand, Super, Mega, Ultra. Apparently, any sort of potion followed a similar tier system. The bandages, on the other hand, followed a level 0 – 10 tier system. Zero was just a basic bandage, but each tier above that increased healing by ten percent, being considered "Medicated" bandages. The poultices were just slow regeneration systems for players in Divine Apocalypse, even being able to be chewed for the effects in combat along with any potions, elixirs, flasks, kegs, scrolls or other assorted buff items. The ones she had made were the lowest tier though, extremely minor or "X minor", which meant it was just there to stop the pain and to keep her from receiving any scars. The healing effect was so low it might as well not even be there. She pushed some poultice mix into the cut on her cheek, wincing as she did so before pasting a piece of plant fiber bandage to it with some berry juice from the two berries she had.

The entire time she was doing this, she was trying to keep tears from flowing from her eyes and sniffling. The three wolves were watching her, with Ash coming up to her alpha and lying down next to her in a comforting motion. Luna tried to climb up onto her lap and just looked up at her, with Blue staring intently from his spot in the back of the cave.

 _I'm hurt, but I still need to practice and make the training dummy. My accuracy was horrible back that, if I can't hit anything that isn't point blank range what's the damn point of using the bow!_

Selene picked Luna up and put her down on the bedding to head outside. She had enough grass from the morning walk to the lake to make a very primitive training dummy with some wood holding it up. As she notched an arrow into the bow, she saw a flash of the goblin in her eyes taking the place of the dummy. She fired, the arrow whizzing past the head. She fired again and again, most of the arrows missing, a few hitting nonvital spots.

"GOD DAMN IT! WHY AM I SO BAD AT THIS! WHY DO I SUCK SO BAD AT ANY OF THIS! AM I REALLY SO PATHETIC?! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING BUT CODE IT SEEMS!" She screamed out loud and just looked at the sky. Stars were slowly showing up. The tears were now flowing freely. She never really had a chance to hit the boar in the first place, or the goblin. If she didn't get better soon, she figured she'd be dead within the next few days. As far as Selene was concerned, she was only prolonging the inevitable.

The dev walked into the cave, feeling defeated. She'd try to practice in the morning, but she didn't expect much. Blue trotted over to the campfire and barked, expecting food again.

"Fine! Fine, I'll feed you, you ungrateful little – "she looked up into his eyes as she sniffled back the tears. He just blinked and kept staring at her. She let out a big huff and started to cook the three fish that were available, as well as the grubs. There were no berries, she hadn't found any roots to eat, and the fish were obviously going to the pups. That left the gruel she made for herself. Her eyes just stared at it as the wolves ate, Luna finishing first surprisingly. Ash let out a small whine as she lay down and yawned, looking at her. A small sigh came out of her mouth as she started to eat her food, then cleaned the bowls. One of the edges was chipped now, which seemed to be another thing to add to the pile that broke the camel's back. That was another thing she added to the list for tomorrow to do.

Once they were all settled for the night, Selene just laid back with her right arm draped over her forehead and stared up at the ceiling, her character sheet and inventory opened. The inventory slots just kept saying empty, and she had closed and opened it a few times, almost hoping to see a change and find food hidden somewhere that she didn't see.

 _What am I going to do about breakfast tomorrow? I'll have to wake up early just to find anything, and the fish won't even go near me now! The berry bushes are picked clean, at least close by, I probably will never be able to take down that boar again without probably killing myself using a spear, and for all I know there's a whole horde of goblins out there waiting to… to…_

She covered her eyes with her arm, not wanting to think about it. The woman was afraid she'd have nightmares tonight, which was probably true. Her arm moved up a bit as she looked at her character sheet one last time for the night. Level 9. She was level 9 and at Bronze Age. She had enough actions completed to hit the Iron Age now, at least tomorrow, for all the good that will do. She hadn't seen any iron veins yet. Her stat bar next to her body portrait had the same yellow color it seemed… wait, had it always had that color? It was blue before when she first looked at it, but it might have changed just because she played with the design. It wasn't as if it mattered either, the color meant nothing or the little arrows on the sides probably pointing towards her inventory and mocking her. "Hey! Look at this! She has nothing!" it was saying. Selene could change the color, but there didn't seem to be a point to it.

Selene closed the sheet and rolled over, with Luna wondering why she had moved. Her arm changed to a better position and cuddled the white pup close. She needed a little comfort from the fluffy creature, and the white pup needed some body heat, so she welcomed the attention. Ash was to her back lying on her new bedding, and Blue was just being Blue, lying in the back and not on his bed. She'd go to sleep, but she wouldn't get much rest, as nightmares of goblins breaking down the gate and stringing up the heads of her pups ran through her mind, laughing as they did so and reaching out to grab at her.

 _ **The Sixth Day**_

The defeated woman woke up groggy, her body still tired from the bad dreams she had. As she got up, she looked around to find Blue was nowhere to be found yet again. As she got up to go outside, she saw the gate was partially open. She froze, her eyes looking around. Ash was gone too.

"Fuck, fuck!" she panicked and looked around, expecting to find goblins in waiting for her. Nothing else stirred inside the fort, except Luna who had followed her outside to relieve herself. Somehow, the adolescents had used the pile of dirt to reach the latch on the gate and got out.

 _You smart little… damn it Blue! I expected you to abandon me at the first chance, but I didn't expect you to lead Ash with you! Gaaaah!_

She kicked at the dirt and wanted to hit something, but obviously the only thing around was little Luna, which there was no way she would lay a finger on the girl. That was it then. She had just herself and Luna to take care of. They must have sensed weakness in her and went to join another pack. Maybe they were better off, she could only guess given what she was doing. As she walked slowly back to the cave, her eyes fell on the forge.

"A lot of good that will do me right now" she whispered to herself. Her thinking changed as she stopped and looked at the cave. She didn't have any food, so a tech up right now wasn't a problem. It wasn't like she had anything to look forward to until she was able to find something for the both to eat. As the tech up upgraded her knowledge and she learned multiple uses of iron, she turned around and moved the dirt and opened the gate even more.

"Luna, you stay here, I'm gonna see if I can find something, anything for us to eat." Luna just barked a little and ran back to the cave, looking at her. She might not have understood there was no food yet to give her. The woman headed out with her stomach growling again, looking for whatever was edible. She found a squirrel, and barely caught it as it tried to climb a tree. Once she was at the lake, Selene tried one more time to spear fish, but she didn't even catch one. By the time she got back to the fort, it was mid-morning. Luna was whining, and she didn't want to disappoint her. The woman cooked up the squirrel and fed it to the little pup, and just sat there watching while her own stomach growled. The small hide could barely be considered for gloves, but at least they were something. There were a few meat scraps that she ate, which took the hunger edge off.

 _You've got to make some form of armor, even some basic padded armor so that goblin fight doesn't kill you next time. You need some protection!_

The dev was tired and hungry, but she went out to pull up some grass with her power to create some cloth armor over her hide clothing. It really wasn't much, as it would probably only protect against blunt weapons and not anything that could cut, and it was trash tier, so it was going to fall apart quickly. She felt as if she had painted a big target sign on her head just standing in front of the training dummy wearing it.

"Fuck this, and fuck everything that seems to be happening to me." The dummy obviously didn't respond. She picked up her bow and fired some arrows, missing most of the time. She was angry she had such low accuracy, and it didn't seem to improve no matter how hard she aimed or concentrated. She threw the bow down on the ground and stormed over to the forge. It was taking so much resources just to build anything worthwhile, and it was so slow to melt the ingots. She thought for a second, wondering what else she could do that she hadn't done before. She could try and put it in her inventory, maybe she could craft the ingots without it being "out in the field" near her.

As she placed the thing inside and looked at it, the info told her it requested charcoal and the other ingredients to craft an ingot. It worked! She loaded the remainder of the charcoal sitting in the mound, as well as her bronze knife to test if it could in fact melt it down to an ingot. She could always make a new one quickly after. Unfortunately, right after she had prepared everything, nothing happened. The forge just sat there in her inventory, saying it would take an hour to produce the ingot, but the minutes, and even the seconds, never went down.

"AaaaaahhhhhhHHHHHH!" she screamed and scratched at her hair, ruffling it as she was so fed up with what she wasn't understanding. Did she really have to go through the whole damned crafting process to get a few ingots? This was how the rest of the world really did this, without her special power, so why couldn't she?

 _Because I'm fucking alone that's why! I must do the mining, the fishing, the woodcutting, the smelting, the crafting, everything myself! The real world has many people doing different jobs! Also, game features are fucking me over instead of helping me!_

She closed her inventory and looked at Luna at the cave entrance. She was wagging her little tail. It was a little heart breaking. She was her alpha, her weak, pathetic, alpha.

"You deserve better. It probably isn't me hon." Selene walked to the gate door, picking up her bow along the way. She needed to get at least some more food. Maybe if she tried spearing at rodent holes, she'd catch something. Maybe a weevil, maybe a snake, she didn't care, she was just hungry. This was the perfect time to go exploring, as there wasn't anything else to do. She tried to rip some stone out of the second cave before she left, but all she found was more stone. She figured as much. The second cave was now the size of the first, with the same material seen all around. She stormed out and started looking for holes in the ground, anything that looked like it might be a home to an animal. As she looked around, she walked further and further away from the fort, heading towards the lake, and finally to the other side of it.

Just as she found a hole, she thought she saw a rodent dart into, she noticed the bushes in front of her a good ten meters had some noises coming from behind. The dev slowly crept up to the bushes and looked through a small opening… and froze, her eyes widened in terror. Five goblins were standing around, arguing about something. Their speech wasn't something she seemed to understand, but it seemed somewhat like English. The problem was the words seemed almost like baby talk, with garbles and hoots mashed together

 _No no no no no, this can't be happening this can't be happening…_

If they found her, she was dead. She barely managed to fight off one of them, there was no way she could take out five. She stepped back from the bushes and stepped on a twig. It cracked, sending out a noise that the goblins heard. They turned and started walking towards the bushes, then burst through them. They didn't find her, as she slipped behind a tree, but there wasn't anywhere for her to run to. If she bolted, they'd see her, then catch her. That would be the end.

 _Don't be the deer in the headlights that freezes up and gets stabbed without doing anything, if you're going to die, die fighting!_

She pulled her bow and notched an arrow. They were somewhat close, but not close enough to reach her before she fired off at least two arrows. She knew she could get off at least that much. That might kill one, maybe two if she didn't miss? If it didn't kill the first one, it might wound them or startle them, if it even hit. She couldn't lose confidence right now, it was already too low. She peeked around the tree and watched them fan out to look around. If she ever needed her Molecular Reformation to do something in a fight besides launch dirt into the air, it was now. She had tried to fire off effects before, but that was when she was panicking. If she controlled herself, she might just get a stalagmite to burst up and impale one. Then she had to shoot a second one, that left three. She might be able to get away or at least fight one more that got in her way, that would leave two while she sprinted. This was if everything went perfectly for her, which the odds were horribly against. This was her only chance, as one of the goblins was heading for her tree.

 _One_

She focused carefully on the one walking towards her and saw him stop as he looked down at the ground confused. It was trembling a little bit and as he carefully inspected the dirt and lowered his head, a stalagmite finally burst forth and shot through his right eyeball. He went limp immediately as his brain turned to mush. The other four turned and looked at his body and that was when an arrow flew. She had tried to focus on not the ground below him, but further below the ground to cause a sort of gaseous explosion to launch the rock and dirt upwards.

 _Two_

The arrow struck the second one further away in the chest. She was aiming for his head. She could have easily missed if she aimed a little more to the right. The other three narrowed in on her location from where the arrow fired and charged. A second arrow launched but completely whiffed. She pulled her sword and grabbed her shield, turning around and shooting off in a dead sprint. She got a good distance closer to the lake, but slipped on a wet platform of stone, crashing into the ground.

 _FUCK FUCK FUCK!_

As she turned around and tried to get up, they were almost upon her. One was just in front of the others and took a swing down at her, the shield blocking the strike. Her arm nearly went numb from the vibration flowing through it. Selene could feel this was the end, but something else had other plans.

A black blur shot from the bushes and tackled one of the goblins, dragging him away a few feet and shaking him by the neck. It tried to struggle, but then there was a loud crunch sound as its neck was snapped. Blue was here. The second goblin turned around at this new adversary, but he was about to be caught off guard as well. Ash jumped from the bushes and landed on him, biting into his arm that was holding the sword as Blue charged to help her, tearing the little green bastard apart as he grabbed at his left leg. The last one was so surprised he didn't realize Selene had brought up her sword and stabbed right through his back. The goblin struggled for a few seconds before his eyes glazed over and he slumped backwards, sliding a bit more down her sword. She tossed it aside and looked at both wolves, laughing and crying at the same time while trying to get her breath back. The whole process sounded weird to the wolves.

"Both of you! I thought you had abandoned us! God are you two a sight for sore eyes!" she was so happy they were there. Ash padded up to her and whined while Blue just stood there, watching her. Selene wrapped her arms around the grey wolf's neck and hugged her for all she was worth, then looked at Blue. She motioned for the black wolf to come over.

"Come over here you big dummy!" she laughed out. He fidgeted a little bit. She thought for a second. Apparently, he didn't like being called names. "You did great boy. You were amazing. Thanks." He finally padded over slowly and looked at her outstretched hand. The adolescent male wolf sniffed it for a second, then licked it. She rubbed his muzzle and gave him a scratch behind the ears. As she got up slowly and picked up her sword, knocking the goblin off it in the process, she looked around. These pups, despite being not adults yet, took out two goblins by themselves. She didn't really expect them to be a match for a human that was prepared, but the goblins were almost the same size as them. That evened the odds greatly. She had also thought they didn't know how to hunt and had just gotten lucky with the snake and rabbit. Clearly, she was wrong, and she couldn't have been happier to be so.

"Let's go home. I'll figure something out for-" she shut up as they trotted away from her and back through the bushes.

 _Or not. Maybe they were just paying their debt to her taking care of them before all of this._

She started to turn around, but heard the bushes rustle again. Both came back out, each carrying a large rabbit. Those might have been the parents of the small one Ash had caught. It was roughly enough to feed all four of them tonight. She laughed and closed her eyes for a moment. Her pack had come to protect her, and pitch in to feed everyone.

" _The power of a wolf is in its pack. You take on one, you better be ready to take them all on."_

As they walked back to the fort, she kept looking at Blue. She had him figured out the wrong way. He might have been sleeping in the back because he didn't know where his place was in the pack. All she did was get annoyed at him, and each time he had barked, it was for a reason. He wasn't being mean, he was just stating things with barks and woofs. It was the only way he was able to communicate, she just wasn't listening. His barks near the campfire was him telling her "food time." He wasn't telling her to cook, he was telling her he was there and ready to eat! He also was probably being so annoyed because he wasn't being useful to the pack. He had no chance to show he could help.

Once they got back into the fort and latched the gate, she skinned the rabbits and cooked all the meat up. There was nothing left for breakfast, but she, and the two powerful wolves in her little pack, would figure something out. The rabbit tasted amazing due to the hunger she had endured throughout the day.

As they settled down and she lay back on her bedding, she looked over at Blue who went to the back of cave.

"Hey, uh uh. Your place is right over here. No one is taking it. Come on. Nice and warm." She patted the bedding made of hide just for him. He looked at her for a moment, then got up and trotted over to lay down beside her. She gave him a scratch behind the ears and he started to pant happily. "Good boy. You did great today. So did you Ash. Better than your parents ever could be. You both should be proud."

Ash gave a soft woof to talk back to her, and Luna seemed to want to be a part of all of this, letting out a small howl to show she was a deadly killer too. Selene laughed and gave her a scratch.

"I didn't forget about you, little killer. You are just a great little survivor. I swear, all of you make me so happy. I'm just sorry you're following such a bad alpha. I hope I can somehow be worthy of your loyalty in the future. You too Blue, I'm sorry for… I'm sorry for how I've acted. I just lost it on a bad day. I really should have kept my cool, but I didn't." A small grin had cropped on her face. She might be bad right now, but she just had to push to figure things out. She'd been on this world for what, six days? Basic military training on Earth tended to take six weeks just to finish boot camp, then there were the courses beyond that. For work there was college, and trade schools, etc.

The fact was, she had never fired a bow before she got here, so of course she'd be bad at it. She just needed to keep trying. She took out one goblin today with an arrow, next time she'd take out all of them. And she'd have help. There was no rush to push beyond Iron Age right now, she had plenty of time to tech up. She had a bronze sword and shield, she just needed to maintain what she had and try to work out other ways to do things. Spear fishing didn't work anymore, she could see if she could make a fishing pole. No feet to look for, and she didn't need to look for the fish, they'd just get caught and she'd reel them in. The garden would eventually grow what they needed too, and Luna didn't seem to need a whole lot of the healing herbs anymore. They would be ok if she took things slow.

As she looked up at the ceiling and opened her character sheet, she checked her level. She had reached level 10 from everything she had done for the day, including the fight with five goblins. The tech tier was ready to upgrade as well. She kept looking at the color of her stats bar with the arrow pointers on the sides. Her inventory was almost empty besides the forge, so what was it trying to tell her?

"I get it, but it'll fill up eventually" she whispered to herself. She tried to focus on the arrows themselves, maybe they would go away if she acknowledged them. What happened next was not what she expected, at all.

Her sheet swapped temporarily to every stat she could ever have, with a point listing in the upper right-hand corner. She had attribute points, and she never used them! She didn't even know about them! Her jaw dropped in awe and in pure amazement at her stupidity.

 _You aren't stupid! Do you realize what you've been doing?! You've been practically soloing a new world without using any stat points! There are achievements for that in the gaming community!_

She could easily see attributes such as strength, carry weight, agility, dexterity which seemed different from agility, intelligence which couldn't possibly mean how smart she was and more than likely was for mana or the other bars. The rest included spirit, perception, movement speed, accuracy, crafting speed, crafting quality, crafting bonus chance, resistances, critical chance, critical damage boost, etc.

She let out a loud laugh and startled all the pups as she saw "Molecular Reformation" speed, range, AOE, control and power in there as well. She gave them each a scratch to calm them down and then looked at the sheet some more. What she had available was 110 points to spend, with probably ten of those points a sort of achievement freebie like "hey, congratulations for not dying after hitting level 10! Keep on doing the living thing! We're rooting for you!" This meant she received ten points per level. Given that she might not have a level ceiling at all, there was no telling how high she might be able to get some of her stats, except there may not be a reason to level some of them beyond a certain range due to it not having any effect. It wasn't that there would be a soft cap or even a hard cap, it just felt like some things might not work beyond a certain amount.

Accuracy, could this go passed 100 percent? She knew of one game that just added extra base damage onto ranged attacks, but it didn't really affect critical attacks. There were so many she'd have to work on, and each one seemed to be a percentage. All her stats were at zero percent, which probably meant there were no bonuses or debuffs for her. That was helpful, as it meant that it gave a boost to whatever she had now or if she say, increased strength and worked out to become a muscle fitness amazon, they'd stack. She might be able to swing a sword and cut through a building later if she fed points into it and worked out.

She also remembered there might be potions, healing potions to be specific, probably mana potions as well. This also meant there could be stat potions like some games had to move past any restrictions from a level cap, and buff potions. She might need an alchemy station to brew up all of this, and get more stat points than her level allowed, provided she had the ingredients… if she could find the ingredients. No, she couldn't think that way. She would find the ingredients.

Below the stats, there seemed to also be a skills list with what she had already learned. Each one was again at zero percent, so while she knew what to do, there was no guarantees she was any good at it. They seemed to be universal skills as well, making them not useless as she continued up the Eras. "Farming" was there, as was "Metallurgy." Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Cooking, Armor Proficiency, Gathering. Gathering seemed especially important, as combined with upgrades to the Molecular Reformation ability and its stats could drastically increase yields she found or gained and would speed up how quickly she dug. Finally, below skills was perks, which was empty. That was definitely an eye raiser, as she knew exactly what that was.

The perks system was a crafted "bonus" that Divine Apocalypse had created. Basically, it helped with a somewhat significant buff to a certain action you were performing, or skill. If you were cooking, and you had a perk that increased quality or yield of any meat by ten or twenty percent, then when the food was prepared you had extra. She had no idea if that would work in a real-life situation right now, as that seemed to break a law of physics. Given that she was looking at a floating character sheet in front of her, and had a special power, and was on another planet without using a spaceship to get there, and recently fought goblins, she decided to stop thinking about what couldn't or could be done.

Selene was so happy she could burst. There would need to be some testing tomorrow, but for now she wasn't going to use the points. There might even be an extension of her food and water bar, her stamina bar and her health bar making it difficult to kill her. She looked up at the hp bar and it was still a little lower than full. Her arm was still healing with the poultices, as well as her cheek. It would be back to full in no time. Her only problems now seemed to be getting a steady source of food, figuring out how to work the forge or any other crafting assistance stations, and getting a steady source of minerals.

She flicked from the stats to the inventory with a grin and stared at the forge. Still one hour and not going down.

"Why are you frozen… frozen… wait, stasis!" it hit her like a Mack truck. Her inventory was creating a stasis field on everything that went into it, so nothing would rot or waste away. She needed to figure out how to make it not have a stasis field.

 _If the inventory has a stasis field, and it's connected to the Spider Radial menu… can I make a separate bubble for a different inventory with different rules?_

She had never thought about that before. The dev quickly built a new bubble and linked it to the original inventory, then tried to figure out the specifications on what was allowed. As she focused on removing the Time Dilation Field for the new secondary inventory space, the bubble went red.

"Shit! Did I break it?" she was now anxious. Nothing seemed to happen, so she tested moving the forge over to the new storage bubble without the TDF. Immediately the timer started to go down. It was working! In the morning, her bronze knife would be melted down into a bronze ingot. It was a small price to pay for figuring out she wasn't using all of her "tools" to the best of her ability.

 _Tools. Tools. Use your tools. USE YOUR TOOLS!_

She thought long and hard on that idea. Her tech tiers were constantly giving her tools to use, like a hand axe or a wood drill or a blacksmith hammer, even a workbench to craft equipment on, but she had Molecular Reformation. Why would she use the tools unless… they had some effect on anything she did? Her mind was moving a light year a second. The cutting speed for her power when she made a knife had increased, so she didn't have to prep the food for as long to feed the wolves. It was all making sense. She's had so many features piled onto to her to help her out, but nothing was forced on her. If she wanted to screw up and not explore what was available to her, that was her prerogative. If she wanted to make things harder on herself, she could accept that challenge. She sighed as she realized she'd been doing this all wrong, from the get-go. There were no tooltips beyond the training on how to us technology she learned, nothing was holding her hand and telling to actually use it. She was a developer. She should be smarter than this.

Hell, she might be even crafting the items themselves wrong and not just what she was crafting them with; she could probably have passed trash tier if she just kept making it. It might have followed the same route as teching up, requiring one hundred actions or creations before she'd see anything of shoddy quality. The crafting quality stat would obviously help, but she figured that would only affect the stats of the quality tier, not the tier itself. A trash tier piece of chest armor would have higher armor rating and better durability than a regular trash armor piece, but shoddy was probably still better. In order to do that, she'd just have to keep scrapping the old ones for spare materials to keep costs down until she had some perks that dropped the material requirements or crafted some specials that helped with that.

Tomorrow would be different. Tomorrow, she was going to improve herself, and she was going to use everything at her disposal. She wasn't going to feel sorry for herself anymore, as the only one who was making it difficult… was her.


	5. Ch 4 You're Not Alone

_**The Seventh Day**_

Selene woke up to the first rays of light well rested after everything had happened the past two days before. She had a full schedule to work with, and the pups would be able to finally help with parts of it. The dev was going to build four more forges to keep going inside inventory number two, as well as improve her stats a little bit as an experiment. She was also going to prioritize for the whole day crafting tools to assist with all daily tasks. For all she knew, she might be able to have a portable herb garden in her inventory, maybe a vegetable garden as well? It might be a nice thing to have. She'd make a second one of each and leave the originals, as they added something to her boring little fort. Since the forge was sitting in the second inventory, there was now even more space for her to put something else there. She'd just have to figure out what. Also, there was no stopping her from expanding in the future, producing more walls and stronger gates.

"Ok, breakfast first, then other stuff. But…" she trailed off as she looked at the target dummy. Time to test those points out. As her character sheet opened, she also noticed her skills list had a separate point listing which seemed to be double that of the stat points. That seemed to make sense. She had eleven perk points to spend as well, but she didn't have any created. She didn't even know how to make them.

 _Writing?... if you wrote some sort of perk acknowledgement… magic? Ooh! You need to make a desk and paper, with ink and a quill! Then you could write up some sort of perk contract for yourself. If it somehow got enchanted, like if you somehow found out how to make magical scrolls, then that would work!_

Technically, she already knew how to read and write, but there might be some unknown magical language that allowed her to craft those. She just had to reach whatever tech tier allowed it. The next tech tier, Protohistory, allowed basic writing. That might be where she can at least create X minor scrolls, probably even perks. They might not be that powerful, and she had a limited number of the points, so until she had a decent quality level, it might be best to hold off for a few days. She wondered if paper was considered a material when she teched up. It was crafted from wood, so crafted items shouldn't disappear. Potions and poultices as well. The ink should also stay as it was crafted from charcoal and ash. The problem with that was ingots disappeared, so did cooked food.

"Glass. I'll need glass bottles, and a quill… birds. Wow, sooooo much stuff I'm going to have to get… hang on Selene, don't get ahead of yourself, you haven't reached that tier yet" she said to herself. She needed to focus on the task at hand. The woman put five points into the skill Ranged Weapons to see just how much of an effect it had. As she notched an arrow into her trash tier short bow, it felt easier to handle, quicker to bring up as well. It wasn't a huge boost, but it felt like she knew where to grip, she couldn't quite place it. The accuracy still hadn't changed much, which was a shame, but this could mean she could get more arrows out faster without whatever enemy getting too close before she had to switch to melee or running away.

"Alright, lets see some accuracy then." She put five points of her precious stats into Accuracy and tested again. She was a little better, still not great. The problem was, she didn't have a huge pool of them sitting around. Although she had now one hundred points remaining, they were supposed to work in coordination with armor, weapons, buffs, potions and skills, among other things; she wasn't even considering training to have a factor in this, which it would if she just kept practicing. She just didn't have the time right now. To shove everything into one stat would be foolish just to get those high benefits.

She pushed another five more points into accuracy, just to make it so that she'd hit a bit more, and five more skill points into Ranged Weapons. This would increase her ranged "speed" to get an arrow aimed on target by ten percent, which did not include the basic stat of attack speed with all the other stats and attributes. It might at least allow her a second chance and fire off another arrow if she was hunting with the pups. That could mean the difference between food and going hungry.

Selene then put another ten points into Molecular Reformation control and ten into power, then another ten into its "crafting time" that was separate from regular crafting speed. The normal crafting speed stat was probably for things like how quickly she can get an ingot made compared to how quickly she could combine all materials in her inventory with her MR power. This would help if she had to build anything anymore around her fort, or repair stuff. Thirty-five stat points spent, she now had sixty Attribute points left over. Those would sit around a bit longer. There was a stat that interested her, stature, but that would wait until she got a decent boost to what she needed. It might influence her height, even make her more intimidating.

"That's right! The hole!" She bonked herself on the head. She had forgotten yet again. The dev started to search around the log walls for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Ash noticed this, and followed, then barked. Her head turned and saw the wolf sniffing at a certain spot. "Good girl." That was the opening she needed to fill. The best way to make sure nothing else tries to dig through would be to build a stone runner under each wall. It would be like a smaller wall below it. This could potentially be upgraded into a more solid foundation in the future if she didn't want to keep the outside floor as dirt and grass.

As she tested out the new speed of the ability, she noticed it hadn't had a huge effect on time to extract any materials but combined with power and control it was easier to pull stone from the mountain and get it where it needed to be without sitting there trying to force a headache on herself. This could make it feasible to upgrade the log walls to stone, or potentially far in the future, when she had more materials, metal. If she did upgrade to stone, she'd have to add some extra reinforcement, as it might not be as strong as anyone would expect. If there was a goblin party that showed up, for all she knew they could bring siege weaponry. The stone would just crumble unless there were additives.

"The crafting improvements, I'll have to wait on those until I've got better equipment." All the sewing, the sharpening, the modifications to weapons and gear would have to wait. The hole was fixed, and stone was below it, so now they had to get breakfast. Ash and Blue followed her out with Luna barking at them from the middle of the fort.

"Ok you guys, let's get this pack fed." They headed out further away from the fort than she normally would go, but now she had two wolves watching her back. They were still adolescents, but they had already proven they could hold their own at least against goblins. That might not matter much if they found a bear, but then all of them would just run if that happened. They scouted the surrounding area on the other side of the lake, watching and listening. Ash seemed to be better at tracking than Blue, but he was a lot faster when it came to taking something down. Within the hour, they had caught three weevils, two mice, a squirrel, and a deer foal with the mother running away. The thought crossed her mind that it was wrong to kill the young animal… for about a second. This was survival, and while her morals hadn't changed much, food was food. Hide was hide.

Blue wanted to chase after the mother, but Selene stopped him. "It's ok. It's ok, you did good. We'll have another chance later, don't worry." He looked up at her and gave a light woof, then glanced in the direction where the doe had run. All three headed back to camp to eat. Once they were fed and officially ready for the day, she headed to the second cave and stared at it, with a newly crafted wood torch.

"I know there has to be more in here, I couldn't have just drained the damn thing dry in five days. Most mines go on for years before they dry up." She concentrated on the difficult task at hand and worked to tear through the rock and stone, looking for any minerals she could use. She could see very light specks here and there, but nothing that could be a vein, at least she thought. "I might want to just pick what I can and grab at least a small amount. It might not be much per stone, but if I could get a huge amount, it might work." She continued to concentrate carefully on where she was seeing any Malachite, Zinc, Tin or Lead. She had collected the swords from the goblins the day before, which were rusted iron. Those could be melted down for a few more tools, which would help.

Just as she was about to turn around after breaking off a chunk of what she thought might have some Lead in it and towards another location in the new "mine", she noticed a brown spot just below it. As she moved the torch nearby, she recognized what it was. She started to tear the stone away with her power and saw it was a full iron vein, and a pretty big one too. Intertwined with it… was Cuprite. It had a much higher copper percentage than the Malachite she had been looking for. Her mouth grew into a big grin. There wasn't a great amount of it, but what she found would be useful. What she noticed was the vein was growing downwards. She rolled her eyes.

 _Yeah, stop digging forward into the mountain and dig downwards too. You might have missed some deposits._

She started to tear out the ground from underneath herself and dropped to her knees in astonishment. The iron vein curved under and turned into seven more larger veins just below her feet. There was a tiny bit of lead mixed in, a large chunk of tin, but it was mostly iron and Cuprite surrounding it like pilot fish following a shark in an ocean. This was a good spot to mine. Once she gathered it up and placed it in her inventory, she made sure the iron was in her first bag due to stopping any rust with the stasis effect, and then started building four more forges. She'd need more ingot casts, and she'd need more crucibles, but this was going to be fantastic.

Once she built one crucible and more were on the way in her inventory, she poured her first iron ingot after melting it in the first forge. It had taken an hour, but what she made afterwards she hoped would help her out. The crucible tongs increased ingot speed by ten percent for each. She no longer had to use two branches, and it was more effective. The second ingot that came out of each helped craft half of a pedal pusher for the bellows, acting as a modification to it. Once she had a third ingot, and a second pedal made, that increased the ingot creation speed by another twenty percent due to the faster heating. Despite it looking somewhat modern, all it did was allow two pipes to push air into the forges instead of one, with a split of the bellows into two pieces. Iron ingots, and for that matter copper and bronze ingots, were no longer taking almost an hour and instead cut down to forty minutes each. She also expanded each forge to be able to carry three crucibles, expanding how much raw material she could melt down at any given time. It burned through charcoal quicker, but that was easy enough to get now with five charcoal huts in her inventory as well. She had a constant flow of ingots that were now in her inventory, at least while she had ore, and while the ingots were still considered materials if she teched up, she could always go digging in her official mine.

She investigated her skills list and checked on Metallurgy. She hadn't put anything into it, but what she had also noticed was prospecting just below it. That could be used for anything so that she could find more resources. There was also tracking she could improve for finding animals and gathering which she already knew was there to increase yields of just about everything. She still had two hundred ten skill points to spend… Selene decided. Twenty points into Prospecting to help her find more mining materials, twenty points into tracking to help find game, twenty points to gathering to increase how much she would get from anything she collected, twenty points into Metallurgy so that she got more ingots from the materials she melted down. She finally put another fifteen points into Ranged Weapons and twenty points into Farming. There were ninety-five skill points left until she leveled up again. This use of points now would increase the amount of resources she was going to gain by twenty percent, and crafted materials by as much as forty percent. That was a huge boost to what she would have available. The dev thought about even using another twenty points for cooking to help feed all of them with less. She'd have to wait and see if they got more meat and other edibles from the land before she spent any more. She had felt a little odd when she put the extra points into Ranged Weapons, improving handling and control of the bow most likely.

 _Alright, you have a decent supply of ingots right now, not a huge amount, but decent. Now might be a good idea to upgrade your equipment._

She had time just before lunch hit to start making new armor and weapons, and finish crafting all the mods and tools to help speed things up. A blacksmith hammer was immediately created to drop the crafting time of her trash gear. She then crafted an iron sewing kit, and a pair of ancient pliers. The woman finally crafted an equipment bench to get all this working together. The combined drop in crafting time was almost forty percent. It normally took one hour per piece of equipment, as she plainly remembered from crafting plant fiber clothing. Granted, that was with her MR power with no improvements. Now, it might be thirty-five, maybe thirty-six minutes, which was almost half the time it previously took if she used the Equipment Station and available tools. If she could eventually make better tools, then this would make it go even faster, both with quality and tech tier improvement. The blacksmith hammer was itself considered trash tier, but that would change soon once she made a good hundred pieces and used those to research Shoddy. The way it worked was the one hundred trash tier pieces would be "sacrificed" to learn what went wrong in the crafting process, allowing the quality tier to go up. She had no idea what the length of time it would take yet, as not all one hundred pieces had been finished, but hopefully it wouldn't take too long.

Selene figured she could leave everything in her inventory until after lunch; meanwhile, she needed to check on her gardens. They were watered well and didn't need much care, with no chance of animals coming in to chew them up. There were very tiny sprouting plants coming out of the ground, with little stems of green appearing. She realized some of these would turn into bushes, which might crowd the garden. The dev would have to transplant them afterwards to their own plot. The restorative herb seeds she had found were growing as well. Now she would have lemon grass and lavender to finally get some soap. She was almost craving it now to clean her body. They just had to find a boar. She would also need to eventually build an aqueduct or piping from the lake. Maybe rain storage?

She whistled to get the adolescent's attention, with both wolves looking at her and trotting over.

"Interested in one more hunt? I think we can get a lot if we find a boar and bring it down. If it is the same one as I saw, there will be a piglet too. As much as that sounds mean, we could use all of that. Come on, let's go." The wolves followed her panting happily as she tried to track down where she last saw the boar near the lake. Her new equipment was crafting, so she wasn't going to get a chance to use any of it, but it shouldn't be that bad with a few arrows and two fine hunters with strong teeth. She found the prints early, but they were old. They followed them haphazardly as she only had tracking at twenty percent. Ash picked up a scent quickly on the other side of the lake, almost half a day away from the fort. It was past afternoon, so they needed to be careful to get home before dark.

Once Ash stopped, Selene leaned past her head and tried to follow her sight direction. There were more than two boars now, looked like four adults and ten piglets. That was a lot of meat and animal fat. The tusks looked to be useful as well, with very little chipping.

"There's no way we can take on four adults though… unless…" she needed to think tactically instead of direct fighting. She hadn't made any traps yet, she just didn't understand what to do until now. Now, she was going to make sure they couldn't get away. She slipped as quietly as she could to a position much further back from the pups as she pulled grass from the ground to turn it into strong rope, and then continued combining that with even more rope made to create a large net with stones on the ends. She'd maneuver the net with her Molecular Reformation over the spot where the boar sounder was settling down and basking in the sun. Technically to her, it was building a trap, which meant placement of the pieces.

Once the net was set up and slowly hanging between multiple trees, with the boars not noticing at all, she got ready to drop it on them. The boars had no natural predators that came from the skies, at least she hoped they didn't in this world or she'd be in big trouble. Ash and Blue were wondering what their job was, and she smirked.

"Take out the piglets first if possible, but back away if the parents rush in to defend. They'll be stuck there and easy pickings" she whispered to them as quietly as she could. The sounder was unevenly placed, and she wasn't certain that she could get all of them into the net. Boars were, despite being a pig, very fast and had great reaction time. If they sensed anything bad happening, they'd split. Selene would never be able to catch them, even with Blue being a black blur, he'd have to contend with some adults.

The woman waited for a second just for an adult to settle down on the ground before pulling the trap. The net came down… but didn't catch all of them. Two adults shot off quick as a bullet and escaped, and six piglets, despite being caught, were meandering near the edge and somehow wiggled their way out. That left two adults and four piglets stuck unable to move well. Ash and Blue shot forth and started taking out the piglets while Selene fired some arrows at the two adults. It took at least fifteen arrows to drop one of them, meanwhile the second adult was pushing under the net to try and protect the piglets. Ash backed off first, then Blue as they tried to tag team and keep the second adult under control. Once the first adult was down, she focused on the second. The piglets were almost all down as well, but Ash and Blue were having a hard time getting any bites in with how it was wiggling around and throwing hooves everywhere. Ash finally got a hold of the neck and did what she could to keep the adult from moving, and Blue went for the throat. It wasn't going to stop the boar though, as it continued to do whatever it could to break away from the two predators.

The final piglet caused her bow string to break with the last arrow, so she resorted to pulling out her spear and diving in, slamming the spear tip through the side just under the front hoof, near the armpit. The action caused the boar to try and kick out, knocking her legs out from under her, but the boar quickly stopped moving from that action. Selene got up and rubbed her back, happy at least with the results. They had meat for the next two days it seemed, and animal fat for some soap. She also didn't really get hurt, as the padded armor she still had helped with the fall.

 _This is a lot of stuff, and it seems I can reach tier 9, Protohistory now. If I tech, this all goes away. I don't think I need to rush this, we could use a day off from running around trying to survive._

All the improvements so far allowed her to hold off for a while longer, so she could rest for once. She now had a decent number of ingots that she was using to craft equipment, she now had some tools to help with any activities back at the fort, there was plenty of food for the next two days it seemed, and she had some supplies for soap. That meant one thing.

"I need a bathtub. I'm going to have a wood fire bath. This is going to be so awesome!" she was giddy as the piglets were being carved up by her MR power. It must have seemed a little warped, but by now she was used to the event and didn't even bat an eye at the gruesome action. Once the boars were cleared up, she packed the net into her inventory and looked off towards the fort's direction. Right now, it was just past lunchtime, but Selene figured she needed to explore a little more.

"Hey, let's head around the other side of the lake, I just want to have a walk. You two with me?" Ash gave a little a woof while Blue remained silent. As they headed through the wrapping forest, she noticed some medium sized feathers she could collect compared to the smaller ones she had been using on her arrows from bird's nests she found and decided to pick them up. If she collected them now, she'd have to find some way to use them before she teched up. They continued on, enjoying not running everywhere and even spotting some colorful birds flying in a synchronized group. It was an interesting display of coordination and a welcome deviation from what she had been doing. Her eyes dropped to the ground and she stopped mid step. Further up ahead, just barely past the edge of the middle of the forest, was a decent plain clearing. There were two hills, and one of them had something sticking up from the ground that looked familiar.

"That couldn't be… could it?" She wondered as she broke into a jog and headed for the hill. She nearly ran into a large spider web that had been abandoned, but she finally got to see what the plant was. Teosinte was growing wild out on the hill, at least three stalks. It was wild corn. Surrounding all three was a decent amount of Flax growing tall.

"Underwear and clothing." She looked down at herself, at the hide clothing she had been wearing. It was somewhat comfortable with the fur, but it did get a little hot at times. She also hadn't changed her clothes for the past few days, so this was probably a good time to get another pair, so she could do her laundry. The bathtub could help with that once she made one. However, lady luck would smile on her again so soon after. Ash was listening carefully to the surroundings, and her ears were picking up sounds from some nearby animals. The wolf started to stalk past the Flax with Selene noticing and slowly following.

As they made their way through the large plants, she saw what Ash was tracking. Four wild sheep with full wool coats. It wasn't very cold outside, but she was wearing hide clothing. She wondered if she was in a colder climate area. A thought crossed into her head immediately after.

 _What if I showed up during the summer? Or maybe fall? I don't see any leaves dropping yet, but then it might not have really started. It could be spring too for all I know, but I doubt its winter yet. I need to find out what season it is around here. It could help me figure out what to plan for._

She heard the baas from the sheep as they grazed. Ash looked to her for orders. "No Ash, we aren't killing those. I think I know what I can use those for." Ash whined a little bit. They had plenty of food, she might just be thinking her alpha wanted to go after everything. There was a time and a place for hunting, and this wasn't it. She needed that wool, and a supply of it after. They'd come back tomorrow and pick them up, as there were no trees to string up the net. Selene had a great idea for the poisonous berries that were still near the fort. Until then, she grabbed some bushels of Flax from the first hill, some Teosinte and made sure there were seeds.

 _ **A Few Hours Later**_

Selene had crafted two new work stations to use what she had now and what she was going to use for tomorrow. She had made a clay bathtub that was enameled now with a melted tree sap glaze, allowing it to hold lots of water without any issue. The bathtub was thicker to make sure she didn't get burnt from the fire heating up any water. The dev had also created a loom that she stuffed into her second inventory with a very old-fashioned shuttle. This would help craft some linen clothing for her. The second new piece of equipment was a basic alchemist table. That was where she was now making a very light neurotoxin from the berries so that she could poison some darts to shoot from a blowpipe. The poison was light enough to not harm anything permanently, but it would knock out the sheep once she headed back out tomorrow. Once they were asleep, she'd bring them back to the fort and try to domesticate them for their wool. She just needed to make sure there was a small pen. That seemed to be a bit of a problem with the size of the fort right now, as once she built it where the forge used to be with an overhang, the area got a little crowded.

"I'm gonna have to expand soon or I won't be able to move around well." Now that she had better tools and knowledge of her stats, it would be far quicker and easier to make new walls, preferably extending to beyond the mining cave. She already had an idea of changing the three walls into five, half of a decagon. She'd also reinforce the gate so that it was harder for anything to get in. She didn't want any other predators to take out the soon to be her property sheep… or Luna. The little one was stuck there until she got bigger. It afforded some special privileges though, as she got a prime spot curled up next to "momma" and a lot of attention. The white wolf always greeted her once she entered the fort too.

"Ok. Linen clothes are being made, ingots are finished, soap is…" she trailed off as she checked the second campfire she made just to cook the fat. Once it was done, she'd add the lye that was sitting in a pot, and some lavender. She'd have to stir it for a while until it thickened up; once it was starting to change color, she'd put it in some tin bowls she made with leftover metals. There was no chance at having a relaxing bath today, but it would be possible tomorrow. She couldn't wait, as she wasn't just looking forward to it, she stunk. The hide clothing, all the sweating for the past week, had made her probably pretty ripe. The hair on her legs was starting to grow, as was her armpits and her privates. That reminded her. At the equipment bench she made an old-fashioned single edge bronze razor. Selene didn't want to use that until she had soap, or potentially was able to put it in her inventory and "use" it to remove hair on her body. If it worked, she wouldn't have to do a thing as she was trimmed, almost like getting professionally waxed. She just didn't want to attempt it until she had some soap and water ready, as it might hurt regardless of how she did it, and in her inventory, she wouldn't be able to stop it she believed.

One final thing she had crafted with one tree felled was a bed frame, and it had a basic linen mattress filled with hay, dried plant fiber. She would have liked to have some straw, and dreamt of a memory foam mattress, but this would do. There was also hay dropped into the pen for the sheep tomorrow, which she again wished she had some straw. Maybe she'd find some wheat in the future, and start growing that. Two troughs were set up with the pens as well.

The ingots she had crafted were being used to make trash tier blacksmith hammers, as the original hammer would eventually break down. She had a good one hundred of them made and kept them organized for the "sacrifice". She had reached shoddy by the time she finished setting up the hay mattress and put a torch sconce on the wall, which surprised her as it only took an hour for the research to complete. Granted, the creation of the hammers took the whole day. She had more animal fat than just the stuff boiling on the campfire, which she was going to use to make tallow and candles. This would lighten the place up in her little cabin now, and she could finally move from the cave to a better sleeping spot with her wolf kids. There were even night tables placed on both sides of the bed. By the time she would upgrade to tech tier 9, Protohistory, she would use up all her resources so that the fort would be even more self-sustaining.

The dev heard a slight beep that only she could hear from her inventory, an auditory warning she set up telling her each Shoddy tier piece of equipment she would be using on her person was ready. She now had a Shoddy iron short sword, medium round shield with an iron reinforcing band on the rim and heavy studs on the front with softened leather straps and iron strips reinforcing the back, a new belt with scabbard for the sword, a reinforced recurve bow with iron tipped arrows, an iron tipped spear with reinforced wooden pole, and some Shoddy Leather armor. To her, this was a massive improvement, and while it would still break after some use, it was going to do more damage for the weapons and she would be able to ignore more hits if she ever got into a fight again.

She also checked her character sheet and noticed she had hit level eleven from the day's work. As Selene opened her stats page to look at the numbers, she saw that the "Attribute" points had gone up by ten, now sitting at eighty. Did it do her any good to let any of it sit around? She might need to rapidly upgrade in the future before a fight and find herself too specialized, therefore "pigeonholing" herself into a certain strategy or tactic. At least the Molecular Reformation was useful on numerous things, so she decided to add ten more points to control, power and speed. Thirty points down, fifty left. This would help with the expansion she knew she'd have to do on the fort. Now it was twenty percent on everything except AOE and range. Ten meters was perfectly fine right now, with one hundred meters max range decent as well. It wasn't as if she was getting into some wizard fight that she'd need to sling stalagmites everywhere.

"Maybe I should add some skill points somewhere too." Selene decided from the one hundred five points she had available to add twenty to Melee Weapons and immediately started to feel odd as knowledge of stances and parrying, blocking, reposts and standard strikes entered her mind, not just for swords but for several weapons including polearms. What she saw added under Molecular Reformation were two brand new abilities, Leg Sweep and Shield Bash. From Ranged Weapons she had also received Rapid Fire and Take Aim, she just never looked at the abilities list to notice them.

"Um… would that just be better training? Those are actual abilities?" she whispered to herself. If they were abilities, they might have a cooldown, but they also might have special effects. Being able to knock someone off their feet, especially a goblin, could turn the tide in her favor drastically. Being able to shield strike someone, assuming they don't jump onto it and use it as a platform to ruin her day, would be nice as well. She had tried the Shield Bash before she had the ability, but maybe this augmented it? Maybe she might cause more damage now? Knock them further away? The only way she'd know is to use it on someone. She prayed that didn't happen, at least until she was a bit stronger and better prepared with some practice.

Rapid Fire was probably a temporary increase to arrow reload speed and attack speed, while Take Aim was more than likely a drastic increase in her accuracy for… maybe one shot? A few shots? A time limit? There had to be a test of these abilities on the training dummy. There was enough time as dusk hit to start an experiment with the grass-built target. Once she had her bow ready, she engaged Rapid Fire and Take Aim at the same time. Apparently, there was no Global Cooldown for her. That was handy. The first few shots hit the head, while the remainder struck center mass. She hadn't missed once. Granted, she was trying her best to be careful, but the effects were noticeable. Selene watched from the corner of her eyes towards her stats after shooting. Accuracy, Attack Speed and Reload Speed had all gone up by twenty five percent. Given that Ranged Weapons skill already was at twenty percent, her reload speed for the bow was boosted to forty five percent. It felt as if the arrows were sliding willingly into her hand each time she drew. Her Accuracy was boosted to thirty five percent, which seemed to make sure she didn't miss if she aimed for a few seconds. If she tried to fire faster just because of Rapid Fire, there was a good chance of a miss. Both lasted ten seconds, with cooldowns of ten minutes, which seemed harsh.

Now was the chance to test Shield Bash and then Leg Sweep. The woman equipped her shield and sword and prepared to slam into the target dummy. As she activated the ability and struck, the dummy simply blasted backwards off the hitch. It didn't explode, but it was damaged. It was only made of grass fiber, however. "Damn!" she laughed out in surprise. She'd next use Leg Sweep, which knocked the pole the dummy had for a stable leg up into the air and landed clattering on the ground. Definitely useful.

Once training was over, dinner time and checking on the Lard. It was complete, which made the pot disappear from the second campfire and into her inventory to craft soap in less than a second. She wanted her lemon grass and lavender bars badly. She could swear she was seeing flies gathering around her.

 _ **One Week, One Day**_

The sheep were having a nice time wandering around and grazing on the hill. There was plentiful food for them, they could easily see most predators coming, and for the most part the temperature was just right. Surely their wool coat would keep them nice and warm for the remainder of the –

An odd "FOOMP" was heard, followed by one of the sheep falling over, zonked out. The other three came to investigate, but another FOOMP was heard and the second one went down. The last two ran as fast as their hooves would carry them, but they didn't get far as two wolves started weaving through the tall grass and Flax heading towards them. They decided to flip one hundred eighty degrees and head back the way the sound had come from, and that was when another "FOOMP" was heard. The third one went down hard, rolling a bit. The fourth was alone now, with no idea what was happening. Some unknown creature was killing its family! How could it possibly –

Another FOOMP was heard and it dropped to the ground asleep.

"Sheesh, these are more effective than I thought" Selene said in astonishment as she looked her blowpipe over. She had one more dart she could use, but it wasn't necessarily. All four sheep were loaded into her inventory, allowing the three of the hunters to start heading back to the upgraded fort. As they passed by the lake, Selene checked her brand-new fish traps she had placed, and some held fishing lines tied to a tree with bone hooks at the end. It was better than using up her metal reserves, but those would go away with the tech up soon.

As she finished checking each trap, Blue started to get fidgety. Selene looked up and saw what he was watching. A doe slowly picking her way through the far forest to the East. With that hide she could finish making a large blanket over the bed, or an undercover for the mattress. The meat wasn't really something she needed right now, as there was plenty of boar meat still available. Ash was ready to go as well.

"Ok… the sheep can wait, that could disappear soon. Let's do it." All three headed to a better position to track the deer and get a good spot to strike. Once all three were hidden, they waited carefully for the doe to tentatively walk through the forest towards them. As soon as she caught view of the quadruped, she used Take Aim and fired. The arrow hit it in the neck, but it didn't stop it. The doe took off quick as Blue and Ash tore after it. Selene tried to keep up, but it kept being just barely out of view each time they went around a tree or a bush. The chase was on, and the doe was leading them out of the forest and towards open plains of the rolling hills.

Just as they exited the forest, Blue caught up with the doe and leapt, grabbing onto the back and riding her for a few more feet as extra weight. Ash caught up just behind him and went for the rear legs, knocking the doe down and ending the mad dash. That was it, the hunt was over. Selene caught up and saw how well they both did as they waited for her.

"Great job you two, didn't really have to go… that… far…" she trailed off as she walked towards the doe… and passed them. What she saw in the far distance was something she never expected to see out here. There was light smoke coming from what looked to be the far-off thin forest line, with what looked to be the barest hint of building outlines. It wasn't a mirage, that was really there. She didn't yet know if it was humans or the goblins, but she had to find out. Ash and Blue were confused at why she started to jog away towards the smoke, but they followed her for a bit anyways. After another twenty minutes and once she was closer, she tried to see if there were any figures she could pick out from this range. She noticed one near the forest line cutting down a tree. The fact she could see it at all meant it might be humans, and the fact they were using a woodcutting axe might mean middle ages? The color of the figure looked to be brown and green, which could mean the skin or the clothing. That could potentially mean Linen or Wool if human, but she couldn't be sure.

She was about to start walking some more but stopped and looked down at herself. Hide clothes, hadn't washed, rumpled and tangled hair, two wolves following her. If she headed there now and they were human, they'd think she was some savage coming to raid them. The village seemed to be almost half a day's journey, which would leave only a few hours to do anything there before she'd have to run back home. Given that it was almost lunchtime right now, and the fact she looked like something that crawled out of a cave, it was best to hold off from meeting anyone until she was better equipped. Her Linen underwear were now complete, which would be comfortable after she had a bath. She didn't want to dirty them before she was nice and clean.

"Come on guys, let's head back. That's… interesting. I guess I'm going to have to make a trip somewhere now." It didn't look like much, but that was either a goblin camp or civilization, at least the closest she was going to get to civilization right now. Thatch houses, maybe a farm or two, hopefully a blacksmith. Her mind was swiftly thinking up what the village might have. What was the village name? She'd have to ask, if it was at all friendly. She had to keep in mind, it might not be humans.

 _Don't act crazy! Do not let them see your character sheet! You need a backpack!_

She groaned as she realized not everyone would think her pulling items out of thin air was a good thing. She'd have to probably bring a pack, stop halfway and load it up, then carry the pack into the village to see if she could sell anything. Spare resources would mean money, which could mean buying things she didn't have access to right now.

 _Don't be stupid and bring plant fiber clothing… Seriously. They won't buy it. Bring resources, your crafted stuff might be horrible compared to what they are used to._

The dev started to build a mental list of what she'd need to bring there. Could she bring her wolves? The trek wasn't exceptionally far, but she had no idea how they'd react. She could say they were a specialty tame from her people. Her people. Who the hell were her people? She couldn't tell them she lived in a fort near the mountains, she'd have to lie. A town hidden up in the mountains to the far North? She could say they were isolationists and just started to trade. That could explain away any issues with how she acted in their presence, and the wolves were her protection during the trading trek.

First thing, unfortunately, was to get cleaned up and make sure she had some wool clothing to at least look like them. She also didn't want to walk in without being a little closer to their tech level. Despite it being a Middle Age village, they may have steel equipment, wheelbarrows, domesticated animals, the list went on. If she walked in with not even pre-Roman equipment, it might make them look at her funny.

 _ **That Night**_

Selene was now in heaven, or at least the closest she could get to it right now. She had a chance to make a bath, as the soap was complete. Her new underwear, and some wool she spun from the sheep into some Shoddy tier clothing, were ready. She'd probably salvage the materials once she tiered up to just before Early Middle Ages, but that wouldn't take long. She just lounged in the hot water with the scent of lavender surrounding her. The bathtub was placed outside so that she could also wash any clothes and not soak the log cabin floor, or burn the house down. The hair from her neck down was completely removed with the new razor she had "used" in her inventory. It worked perfectly, with all of it disappearing before her eyes without any cuts or irritation. She had used up the lemon grass bar she made, which was interesting that it used a whole soap bar as "ammo" for the razor, but it was a small price to pay. She did use it from her inventory after all, not the regular way everyone else shaved. It was interesting that the inventory tended to use whole chunks of resources when she needed to craft or use anything, but then of course she wasn't lifting a finger for the benefits, and it was doing all the work while she sat back and watched.

The night was peaceful, with nothing happening anywhere near the now larger fort. She had made a catwalk to the larger walls, so she could see outside without opening the gate, as well as a crude watchtower. She figured she could somehow make a spyglass telescope later to help scout out the area before she even went past the gate even. She looked through her character sheet and saw the light blinking of her T icon, telling her that she had been ready to tech up since yesterday. She was also level thirteen now, with an extra twenty points available for stats and forty points for skills. She dumped thirty into Melee Weapons to bring it up to fifty, and twenty-five points into Ranged Weapons to equal it. That lowered her available to eighty. Her fighting style would be much improved, but she figured that was the limit she would put in either of those now. While being maxed in each could potentially make her the best swordsman in the world and a better archer than an elf, if they existed, it didn't make her accuracy better or make her hit harder. Melee Weapons also didn't increase attack speed, nor did Ranged Weapons. She would just pull her sword and shield faster, react faster to attacks against her in close range, and notch an arrow and aim at someone very quickly without any fatigue priming the bowstring. To be more effective, she'd need accuracy increased, dodge, block, parry, deflect, counter, attack speed and probably perception increased to see what was coming at her or to study the enemy while she fought them for any new actions so she could change tactics. Having movement speed increased as well might be a good idea too, not just for combat, but to run away or simple travel.

The dev must have gained some new abilities from that addition to the skills, however she'd check later. She still had points she wanted to add into accuracy. What she had now helped a little bit, but she needed to not miss right now. It didn't matter if she hit a vital spot, just wanted to make sure the arrows were always on target. Did she need one hundred percent? That would take all the remaining Attribute points, and she still wouldn't be topped off. She'd have to level two more times to get it to one hundred. She swore she wouldn't use all the points, but if she didn't hit each time, that could spell the end of her in any situation. Gear would fix that soon she hoped.

"Crap… to do or do not…" she sighed while soaking in the tub. Selene bit her lip. There would be plenty more levels ahead of her. Accuracy was suddenly increased to fifty. She now had a damn good chance of hitting if she was careful and aimed well. She didn't have super accuracy, and might miss occasionally, but fifty percent was impressive. It might not be on par with an elf ranger, if they even existed, but she was no slouch now. She'd also be able to strike with a close-range weapon a lot more, with goblins having a lot of difficulty dodging her attacks if she saw them again. She figured after level fifteen she'd start to get some block or parry, maybe some dodge as well. There were so many stats she needed to improve, she was having difficulty wrapping her head around how to get the levels to upgrade them.

Her eyes widened, and her hand shot out of the tub, snapping her fingers. "Alchemy station. Potions." She had made a poison dart that knocked out the sheep before, there was now a way to make healing potions and maybe upgrade potions. They were probably specific to the points she was trying to get, so she'd have to make a lot. What did it take to craft them?

She slowly got out of the tub and dried herself off with a linen towel, then got her new underwear on. After getting ready, the woman checked her inventory and looked at the alchemy station she had created that morning for the poisonous berries. She had crafted an aludel, for condensing vapors, a "Moor's Head" still, a clay vessel, an alembic for distilling, a retort, a bronze mortar and a crucible. All of them increased crafting in the station by seventy percent in total.

A list appeared of what she could make right now and the required ingredients. "This is helpful" she whispered to herself as she checked through what she could make right now. Extremely minor healing potions, Extremely minor mana potions, X minor stamina potions, X minor antidotes. The list continued with low end drinks, even a way to craft the potions into food. There were also primitive versions of the healing and mana potions. Everything was low tier due to her being… low tier right now. She'd get better over time, with better recipes. It was the same sacrifice of the potions to research a better one.

"Wait, what? Primitive? What's the difference?" her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Both would heal the same amount, but the primitive potions took ten times less ingredients than the standard ones. She was now curious as to the effects they would cause. She had enough for a few right now, as the herb garden was slowly getting on its feet still, so she was using what she had gathered on the walk back along the lake. Her first creation would be a primitive healing potion, but first she needed glass vials. Some Balsa wood could be turned into a cork, and the stone she collected from the second cave could be turned into sand. That could be melted into glass, she just needed to make a blowpipe or blow tube, a mandrel, a Marver bench, some tweezers which would have to be replaced eventually due to the spring of the metal failing due to low quality, and some shears.

Once those were created, which only took twenty minutes due to the upgrades she had made to her stats and skills as well as the equipment bench, she made her first vials. They were made of very cloudy glass that was thick, but they'd work at least. She threw them into her inventory and started to craft one primitive healing potion. What came out was not what she was expecting. The color was blue and a little viscous.

"Wait… aren't healing potions supposed to be red, to signify blood and health? What the… did I do something wrong?" she double checked the crafting requirements. It didn't screw up the recipe, this was what would pop out. Her head was in a blanket of confusion as she kept glancing between the filled bottle and her inventory, a slight twitch of her head as she tried to wrap her head around it. Selene popped the cork on top and sniffed it. It smelled awful. She figured no one ever figured that their player was drinking something that might taste like toilet water.

 _Snips and snails and puppy dog tails… Don't you dare! You don't hurt your kids!_

"I'd… rather not drink this… unless I have to…" she replaced the cork and threw the potion into her inventory and noticed something interesting. There was an expiration timer on it, but it wasn't going down due to being in her first inventory. "Wait, it can expire too?! Why would I make this again?!" she looked dumbfounded as she looked at the crafting cost. It was cheap, much cheaper than the normal X minor healing potion. She crafted one of the standard ones to check if all of them had the same issue. The regular one popped up and it had the standard reddish color she was expecting, with no timer.

"So, wha… that's… ok, so if I'm in a jam, make the primitive ones, but normally make the… the standard ones for long term… but my first inventory makes it not expire… huh…" Selene pulled the standard potion out and popped its cork. The smell seemed almost like orange juice. It seemed a lot more palatable than the primitive swill. However, she did realize if things got bad, you took whatever you could get your hands on if it staved off death. Her next experiment was to make a primitive mana potion. She didn't need it yet, as she didn't know any spells, but she wanted to see if it was the same junk in the healing potion.

What came out looked completely unappetizing. The color was a brownish muck, that didn't move much if shook. "Maybe… maybe it tastes better than it looks?" she said to herself, hoping that it wasn't as bad as she thought. As the cork popped off, she gagged almost immediately from the smell. It was like someone dumped dog shit inside and called it a mana potion.

"Nope! I'm not touching that, ever. Damn that is disgusting." The bottle was flung into her first inventory, with the timer again halted on its expiration. That was never going to be swallowed by her. She had wasted valuable resources on making those. As she drank some water to help cleanse the smell out of her nose and tried to breathe the scent of lavender, so she wouldn't empty her stomach, she figured she'd complete the experiment by making a standard mana potion. She didn't have much more supplies for very many more potions, so this would be one of the last ones. As it crafted, it had gotten late into the night. She needed to wrap this up and start teching up tomorrow and hunting again now that the boar meat was almost gone, with the deer meat holding them over until lunchtime tomorrow.

The standard mana potion appeared in the inventory, bright blue, no timer. "Yup, worth the extra effort and resources." The dev pulled the potion out and sniffed the contents. It smelled like nothing, but there was a slight sparkle of mist that puffed out of the top when the cork was pulled. She tried to sniff it again, but again no smell. "It couldn't hurt to drink it right now, I know the mana bar is full." She took a small sip and noticed the flavor was like drinking carbonated water, almost tasteless but fizzy. "Hmm, kind of refreshing, but I doubt I'd drink it just for that effect." She popped the cork back in and put it back in the inventory. Her final potion was to see if she could create either a skill point potion or an Attribute potion.

As she checked through the recipe list, all she found were recipes for exact skills or stats, with horrendous crafting costs. Just one skill point, an X minor potion, would cost the remainder of the supplies she had. "Holy shit" she whispered. It was for Gathering, and it would only increase the skill by one point. She let out a deep breath and looked around expecting something or someone to tell her it wasn't worth it and decided to craft it in silence. The thing was going to take twelve hours to complete. There was also a chance of it breaking a tool on the alchemist station. "How the hell is it gonna do that?! What, does it explode in the crafting process?!" She gawked. A loud groan escaped her lips as she looked up at the night sky and prayed nothing broke when she woke up the next morning.

 _Some labs did explode when chemists tried to figure out what reacted with what. I hope my inventory doesn't wake me up with one hell of an alarm…_

 _ **One Week, Two Days**_

Selene slowly woke up the next morning and looked around. Ash and Blue were lying near her feet on the bed while Luna was sleeping next to her head. The whole set up was a lot more comfortable than her previous bedding on a stone cave floor. She took a deep breath and sat up, trying to wake up a bit more as the others opened their eyes and yawned. Time for another day. She opened her inventory and checked the potion crafting. It was complete, but that was a lot of work for one little skill potion. She knew that was still pretty powerful, but twelve hours in real time was like half a week for a player in a game. She figured she'd have to shorten the crafting time somehow. Considering she had already added seven tools to drop the time by seventy percent, that might be the improvement she was seeing. That meant that it would normally take almost two days to make one without those.

"I've gotta craft more stations" she mumbled out to herself as she rubbed her eyes and slowly slid out of her bed. The day started normally, with breakfast and feeding the sheep now living in their pen, but now she had a way to raise a stat or skill without trying to level. If she felt the need, she could hole up in her fort and just grow stuff to craft more potions. It would take longer than she would live to get anywhere meaningful, but it was an option. As she checked the recipe list for the alchemy station one last time, even though she didn't have enough resources to make anything beyond one antidote, she noticed a new recipe that had appeared at the top in its own section. It was a universal skill potion. Her mouth dropped, as well as the hay she was about to put in the second trough. She knew she had a zero percent chance at a crafting bonus as she had not put any points into it. The stat was like a chance at getting a better tier than the one she was trying for, but the zero percent she had right now meant she had no modifiers to what was normally allowed. It was probably point one percent chance that she would get a better tier as a starting point, just to allow by some miracle for her to get something better.

This, however, might have worked on her recipes, almost like she had done research and development on a new potion. She happened somehow, through perfect luck, to get that recipe. Most players would be screaming at her fortune, annoyed they wouldn't get the same thing in her shoes with a huge bonus to the crafting bonus stat. The problem was the universal skill potion costs fifty times what the regular specific potion costs in resources. It would only go up from there with the larger vials beyond X minor.

The thought occurred to her that the X minor only gave one skill point or a universal skill point for the better recipe, but if she made an Ultra… fifty points? A hundred? She was whirling from that day dream. Being able to one hundred percent a skill with one potion would be fantastic. Or even one of her stats.

 _Oh, I don't know enough about this thing here. FWOOSH! I know everything! Do all the things!_

Sadly, that would have to wait until much, much further down the line. She had just made her first potions, and that was a great achievement.

Once she had gotten everything maintained inside the fort, and had whittled down some of her resources, she prepped Ash and Blue for another hunting trip. The Teosinte and Flax had been planted now, so she would have a source for that, and sheep for wool. The lake could provide fish if she used fishing lines and traps now. There was plenty of wood with the forest, which she was thinking of trimming back a bit as the front gate was almost in front of an oak. That thought made her chuckle, as if the forest was now a hedge bush that had overgrown.

"Oh, right, tier nine… um…" she focused on the upgrade and received… writing. There were a few improvements, but the main gain from the tier was being able to write. It seemed very lackluster to her.

"Almost no new tools, few material changes… this is it? I thought… I thought I would get something a little more… well… meaningful… I guess being able to write the perks should help…" There was a writing desk she could craft, and a decent chair, and oddly a research station. She noticed a new ability was just under Molecular Reformation now. It was the same color, with a golden shine and everything. It was called Magic Revision. Selene looked confused for a moment, but then it hit her. Hard.

She might have access to spells and enchanting now.


	6. Ch 5 Prep Work

Selene had started to craft a writing desk as soon as she tore down a tree, which happened to be the very same one that was in front of the gate. She tore down another, and another, then made a pulp box. Unfortunately for her, she hit a snag. A really big one too.

While she could pulp the tree fiber to turn it into paper, it didn't seem to do what she needed. As she put the first handfuls of bark, hemp and water with a little flax linen to help, it immediately changed to disgusting goop, and not the goop she needed. The woman couldn't figure it out as she scratched her now clean long auburn hair, confused. She kept glancing at the Research Station craft, and finally pieced it together. Her head sunk towards her chest, defeated.

"Until I research paper, I'm using the old stuff aren't I." She made the new recipe list creator and quickly opened it alongside the pulp box in her inventory and opened the alchemy station just in case. Sure enough, she saw "bleached bone tablet" and "bleached stone tablet" as items to make. She sighed and looked up at the sky. "Why me?" she said to no one and shook her head, closing her eyes. In order to start making paper, she'd need to discover it. It probably went from stone and bone, to papyrus, to paper, to… she honestly didn't know. Would that be going digital? Maybe there was an in between she didn't know about yet.

She walked to the mine and tore out some stone as she didn't have any bone in her inventory, dropped it into the newly crafted writing desk while walking back to the log cabin, and… nothing happened. "Of course, chisel and hammer… stupid of me…" she exhaled loudly and turned around mid-step, heading back to the mine again. She dug through a healthy amount of stone to reach some more veins of ore heading downwards, but by the time she was finished it had reached almost noon. Blue came by and woofed at her, wondering why they weren't hunting to feed everyone.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I just wanted to get this started while we're out there. Go get Ash and I'll see about getting this smelted while we're out and about." The black wolf disappeared from view to do as she wanted. She was honestly wondering why they were so smart, as even talking to them they seemed to understand her requests, probably at a basic level at least. There might not be total communication, as they were speaking via woofs and barks, growls and snarls, but at least Blue knew "get sister, we go hunting." There was a small theory in the back of her mind creeping up, but she wasn't going to be able to prove it until she had made her trip to the newly found village. Then, and only then, would she be able to get some evidence, even if it might be considered circumstantial.

She popped the metal ores into the forges to smelt and headed back to the log cabin to gear up. For the most part, she walked around in just a thin wool shirt and pants with linen underwear and some light sandals inside the fort, as it was pretty comfortable. Now that she had some leather armor that was at least shoddy quality, wearing hide clothing was starting to get a little heavy. She also hadn't washed any of it last night, as the bathtub had been exclusively for her use. If she wanted to wear something like chain mail or plate armor in the future, she'd need to probably start working out, or throwing points into strength and carry weight. The carry weight itself would probably do the trick to reduce fatigue or any back problems due to her large bust and carrying more stuff, but the strength probably allowed no mobility issues while wearing any of it, probably helped for jumping too. She was happy and unhappy with the stats, as the pro was each was useful, while the con was each was useful, and she wanted all of it.

 _I want it! I want it now! Whine whine whine! I mean… yeah… I would like to have all of it, verily…_

Blue and Ash came out of the log cabin, wagging their tails and panting happily. Hunting time. As they walked outside to go get some more food with Selene putting her hair up in a hanging ponytail, the first ingots were cast and quickly crafted into a chisel and hammer for use on the stone. Just as she had finished checking her fishing traps, the stone tablets were finished being crafted and ready to be chipped at. That was when she saw the large catfish looking monstrosity that had stolen her copper tipped spear head. "Oooh, I've got your number now, you little… or big… whatever, you'll be feeding us for the next two days!" She grabbed a fishing line and made sure it had decent hooks on it, then checked the dirt for worms. She found two about one hundred feet from her and stuck them on, and cast the line, waiting. As she sat, with Ash and Blue playing a little and basking in the sun next to her, she threw the stone tablets now crafted into the research station and told it to research papyrus.

"Twenty-Four hours?! Oh no… fine… I guess I don't really have any better tools to use to help speed that process up right now…" it was true, as there didn't seem to be any sort of tools that could help at the research station. Everything else had its own modifications, but that particular work bench seemed to just be as is and made her wait for the time being. Crafting time in her stats might help, but she hadn't put any points into it, nor did she seem to have a reason to just yet. It was frustrating that it wasn't faster for her, but she knew she could wait. The dev had at least one more stone tablet she could test when they got back. Just then, the line pulled, hard.

"I've got you this time!" she yelled with a big grin on her face, both wolves watching. Blue saw Selene slowly lose a few inches of ground as she was being pulled closer to the lake and grabbed the line trying to help. Ash grabbed her alpha's belt and tried to help pull her back. The struggle was incredible as they gained a few inches and lost a few every couple of seconds. Just as the woman saw its head come out of the water and victory was almost assured… the line broke. All three flopped on the ground, with Ash backing out of the way just in time for Selene to come crashing down on her rump.

"Damn it! Grrr…. I'm going to get you, mark my words! You stole something that's mine! I have better now, but that's not the point!" she raised her fist in anger at the lake as her eyes caught the fin of the fish swim away and dive off into the deeper part of the water. She had lost yet again to that blasted creature. A small sigh popped out as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That thing needed to get eaten, she'd try her luck again in the future.

 _Maybe I should build a boat?_

The thought crossed her mind of building one, but another thought also appeared right after of her capsizing the thing due to the strength of the swimmy thief. The only way she was going to catch him was to get stronger lines. She'd have to get at least common tier to make sure it didn't break very fast. Before she could do that, though, she'd need to hit Petty tier. Her Prospecting skill along with Tracking was helping immensely with finding resources and animals, as she was getting gut feelings to make turns in the mine here and there; Tracking was helping her find paw, hoof and footprints on the ground. She wasn't great at it, but she could find the general direction of something to hunt. With Gathering and Metallurgy, the dev got a healthy amount of metal ingots, even if she only found a small vein. If she increased it further, she'd get even more.

As she looked into her inventory and verified the amount of fish that were caught by the fish traps, a grumble came out of her mouth as the three of them turned around and headed towards the fort, but passed by and continued along the mountain range a bit more to see if they could find a particular place to the south. Selene had no idea if one could be found near her, but there was always hope. Going too far North would probably just be snow or colder areas, while going South she hoped to find… a swamp, or at least a river. As they walked for two hours, they finally found one, at least a small one. There was almost nothing connected to it aside from a small river, but the mostly oval swamp marsh area was teeming with bugs and small swamp creatures. Frogs were seen peeking out from plants. She could easily see different Rushes like Cattails, moss, long grass, some algae and what she was looking for, reeds. The swamp was a lush place, nothing black and oozing like movies or tv shows tried to convey to their audience.

 _Are there… alligators?_

Before she stepped any closer, she looked around to see if there were any other creatures nearby that would be unhealthy to her continued living. Ash had her ears turning in all directions, acting like radar for any sound. A light woof was heard from her, followed by a soft growl from Blue. On the other side of the swamp was one alligator, however its back was turned from where she was, and from what she could see popping out of the water, it wasn't especially large. If she was careful, she could get some cattails, moss, reeds and maybe some algae for the alchemy station and to make papyrus for the next stage of writing research. Then the reeds would just be used for the alchemy station if it required them for a recipe.

"Careful… very careful…" she grabbed a few globs of moss, some handfuls of reeds, a few cattails and a tiny bit of algae.

 _ **A Few Moments Later…**_

All three made a beeline for the fort, with both Ash and Blue trying their best to follow their alpha just to escape the alligator and stay near her in case it caught up, to protect the pack leader. They were zigzagging as much as they could to keep the lizard from catching them. The size of the scaled beast wasn't what she had thought it was at all, with its full hulking form flipping around and heading through the marsh to go after them quickly.

"Holy shit! This bastard didn't skip leg day! Hoof it!" she yelled in a panic while her legs were in a dead sprint shooting around small isolated trees on the hills and trying to keep away from it. Once they were a sufficient way from the marsh, the alligator stopped with a hiss and backed off, returning to his watery home. They had run a good two miles, with Selene almost collapsing on the ground gasping for breath. Her stamina wasn't all that great, and there was no modifier to it in her stats right now. Her hand quickly shot into her inventory and pulled out a waterskin she had made from the scraps of the deer. The remainder of that deer hide was able to complete a blanket used on her bed.

As she lay there looking up at the sky drinking quickly from her waterskin, she realized there was nothing for the pups. They were just laying next to her panting happily from the run, but she didn't want them to be dehydrated.

"I'll… I'll make… I'll make some more of these, don't worry… and I'll bring… some bowls too…" she panted out as she watched the surroundings while pouring a tiny waterfall for them to lap from. After a few minutes, they were able to get up and head back to the fort for lunch. She didn't have much energy after that mad dash and it showed in her stat bars, with her stamina bar being almost drained but slowly regenerating. The food bar and water bar were both at about halfway. Also, of interesting note, she was surprised by two new types of bars running vertical next to the food and water bars. They had to be connected to the new ability she had now, Magic Revision. If she had to hazard a guess, the first one which had a slime green outline might be basic magic essence, while the second silver outlined bar was specialty essence of some kind. She just needed to figure out how to fill each one and how to use them.

Once they reached the fort, the dev cooked up some of the fish they had, saving the rest for dinner. There would be nothing left for breakfast tomorrow, but they could always head back out and catch some smaller game later today. Ash and Blue had found large rabbits and she knew very well that rabbits bred like crazy. There had to be a warren somewhere.

"Ok… let's try using this stone tablet…" she muttered to herself in between bites of cooked fish. The words she slowly chiseled into the tablet were pretty basic due to how long it seemed to take… in her inventory. She could only imagine how long it would take for her to actually use the chisel and hammer and break whole chunks off the tablet before putting one letter down.

"I, Selene Cordel, craft this perk to provide twenty five percent increase to accuracy when using a bow." As she finished the chiseling, she sat satisfied and finished her food. Once she took a sip a water and tried to use the tablet, nothing happened. She seemed confused, for about a second. She wrapped her knuckles on her forehead. The dev now realized there was more to just chiseling, she'd need to craft the ink and paint it into the letters. The writing desk apparently allowed a recipe list for different inks, depending on what she was doing. There were regular inks she could make of different colors to simply write a diary, or a letter… if she knew anyone around to send one to. Then came specialized inks, which seemed to be used for scrolls, probably to make sure they were magical. Finally, there was… perk ink. She seemed to look at the name funny, as if nothing else could be thought up to call it. The others had names such as "Briarwood ink" for a regular one and "Dusk Rose Ink" for a special. "Perk Ink" seemed o boring compared to them.

The crafting cost for it wasn't very special either, some of the herbs she was growing and had collected, a little charcoal, some water and a little algae it seems. Thankfully, she had all the requirements, crafted it, and painted it with the provided small paint brush. It seems it provided its own paint brush tool, which was useful, but odd. Nothing happened once the tablet was painted.

"What the hell do I do with this then…" she grumbled out as her hand pulled it from her inventory. It was heavy and awkward. Selene hoped she hadn't misspelled anything, or somehow whatever unforeseen force brought her here wasn't a grammar Nazi. She sighed and started reading what she wrote out loud again, trying to figure out what she did wrong. As she spoke each word, it started to glow. That was it! She needed to activate it via speech! It was like a contract in a way.

"I, Selene Cordel, craft this perk to provide twenty-" before she could finish, the twenty-five percent disappeared from the tablet. She cocked her head back in confusion and blinked. "What the hell." As she put it back into her inventory to chisel and paint the twenty-five percent back on and tried again, it disappeared a second time.

 _What if I'm making it too large for the tier it's on? I'm using a stone tablet, which might mean there is a limit it can use before it might break. That's probably a safety feature._

She tried a third time with twenty percent, then fifteen percent and finally ten percent.

"I, Selene Cordel, craft this perk to provide ten percent increase to accuracy when using a bow." As soon as she finished reading it, light bloomed from the tablet towards her with electricity sparking off the sides. She let go of the tablet and it started to float and spin on its own.

 _Shit! I made the Necronomicon's retarded brother! I must have said the wrong words! Was I supposed to sneeze?! Um, klaatu barada niktu… I dunno! Pleasedon'tkillmeoraraiseanundeadarmy! I don't have a boom stick yet!_

The tablet started to disintegrate before collapsing onto the ground, the dust it turned into disappearing. The dev blinked at how big of a light show that was, but then realized she needed to check her perks list. There it was, in bright white letters "ten percent accuracy bonus when using bows." It had used a perk point, which worried her a little bit as this was a low tier perk. There had to be a way to remove it, otherwise people would have to start up new avatars just to get anywhere if this was just a game, which could discourage players. That's if this was a game. She tried concentrating on moving the perk out of the perk list, which worked, except it didn't go to her inventory like she hoped it would. The perk just vanished, the words dissolving in her perk list. Her perk point added one more right after.

"Ok, so, I can place and remove perks at will for better ones later. I just wasted a perk right now, but… eh, it's not the end of the world." As much as that had cost resources and time to craft and chisel, then paint, and read, and it was a ten percent accuracy improvement while she used a bow, it wasn't as if she lost a top-quality perk just yet. If she had to hazard a guess, since this gave ten percent as the highest amount, then papyrus would probably give twenty-five percent, paper or a book/tome would give maybe fifty percent, and if it was digital, one hundred percent. If the end tier was digital, a computer would be pretty expensive to have dissolve, so it better be a really good perk. She highly doubted it would just delete a word document.

Almost on que, her tech tier was ready to go up again to Ancient History.

"Damn it! I just got to tier 9! Wait. What the hell am I getting annoyed for, that's awesome." As she looked at her inventory, she figured it was not a good idea to tech up until she could get those reeds used to make papyrus. Otherwise the dashing escape from the alligator would have been for nothing. As her eyes looked at the timer on the research station and saw it had gone down a few hours. "Fuck… tomorrow that is gonna be done, then papyrus… another day… so… two more days before I can actually tech up. Fine. I can be patient." Her blue eyes rolled, a little irked by the time it was going to take just to get to use old fashioned paper. It would be easier to work with for sure, and she wouldn't need a chisel and hammer. What she most wanted to do with it wasn't perks, however, but to figure out how to make a magic scroll, if she had any way to make one yet. She still didn't know any spells, which seemed to tell her she had two options: learn from someone she meets… or throw lots of crap into the research station and hope something sticks.

Interestingly enough, she much preferred the research station, as for all she knew it would cost her something else to learn some simple spell. She didn't want to meet some crabby old wizard who wanted her to learn the intricacies of the spiritual and magic realms, doing chores around his home until he finally decides she's ready to learn… that the magic was with her all along.

 _If I meet a wizard who says it's the "power of friendship or love" that allows magic to work, I will throw him into my inventory and continue to beat him over the head with thrown unchiseled stone tablets._

 _ **That Night**_

She did it. She finally found more edible plants. After lunch and her experiment with perks, she had taken the two wolf pups out and while they hunted for small game, she had found a very small amount of wheat and peas growing. She even found Sorrel and radishes. While she still didn't have barley or hops, cabbage, carrots or potatoes yet, she now had at least the basics for bread. If she could get some barley or hops, plus somehow get the tech for a still and even find potatoes or carrots, then she'd get some ale and have authentic middle age food. Granted, she knew how to boil water and didn't have to constantly drink alcoholic beverages just to not get dysentery. She wasn't there yet in the tech tiers at all, but at least eating in a similar way would prep her for how things tasted, if she ever decided to eat lunch there if they have an inn. This was all only if there were humans living there, and not goblins.

Selene checked her inventory one more time, working through the pile of ingots she had and doing her best to work them into equipment that she could then sacrifice for Petty tier. It was getting a little tough, as once she threw away that equipment it upgraded her quality tier, but then she had to replace all her equipment on her person again. This left her with old items she either could salvage for materials or just sit there in her inventory. The dev figured she could take off everything that was old, but then she'd be sitting there naked crafting new higher quality clothes, potentially catching a cold.

"What do I do with the old stuff then…" she whispered to herself as she watched the pile of shoddy blacksmith hammers slowly building to one hundred. That's when the idea struck. She needed to figure out how to enchant. She hadn't received an enchanting station as a tech unlock though. Did it require the alchemy station instead? No station? As she took off her scabbard and placed the sword on the alchemy station now in the real world and not in her inventory, her eyes kept floating back and forth between the two empty bars and the sword.

"How the hell do I get the required ingredients to fill those to do this in the first place?" her eyebrows furrowed then cocked as she looked up, trying to think this through. "I could try using Magic Revision on the sword, see what it does and adapt accordingly." Her hand motioned towards the sword as she attempted to use the new MR power. She had noticed there were brand new stats that had appeared as well for it, which seemed to imply there were hidden stats and skills that wouldn't show up until she reached a certain tech tier, personal level or achievement. They were same stats as for Molecular Reformation.

A soft green mist seemed to emanate from her hand towards the sword, almost tranquil. As if it was all a ruse, as soon as the mist touched the sword the mist turned an angry red mixed with blue, lightning sparking throughout the sword as it started to do what she didn't want. It was imploding, bending in on itself to crumple into a little ball. She tried to stop it, but one of the lightning sparks zapped her finger and she pulled away. The crumpled metal ball disintegrated into a pile of sparkling dust.

 _Whoa, did I just go all Emperor Palpatine on my own sword?!_

"Shit, so all I did was rip apart my sword into iron filings? God damn it…" she sighed and started to push the pile of dust into a small linen bag she had made. As she touched the dust with her gloved hand, she noticed there was very little friction or sound coming from it. The dev decided to take her glove off and gently touch the substance. If it was just glinting iron filings, she'd know it and just put her glove back on. What happened instead was the soft green mist sparkling up wherever her fingers touched it and seemed to lightly dissolve with the feel of flour almost. Was she supposed to touch this?... was she supposed to eat it?

 _If I even breathe this in, it could shred my lungs up or give me some sort of breathing condition. Why would I eat it? It could tear up my throat too._

As she silently asked herself the question, her eyes glanced back and forth between the dust and her green outlined bar. It might be the only way to get it to go up. For all she knew, there was no station because she enchanted the item herself through her own… enchanting energy? The woman didn't have another name to call it. She started to get antsy as her fingers picked up a small pinch of the stuff.

 _Please please please be like a pixie stick… please…_

The pinch of dust went into her mouth. She wasn't expecting it to taste… like absolutely nothing. The dust dissolved on her tongue immediately, with no after effect. Her green outlined bar now had a tiny bit of neon green color in it. That solidified the theory. It was now fact. As her fingers kept grabbing at more of the dust to put in her mouth, the bar kept raising until there was no more dust left. The neon green bar had reached a quarter. Considering it was a low-quality sword, that was a pretty decent amount in her eyes. Selene took a sip from a bone cup full of water out of habit.

"So, do I have like an enchanting list or something or- never mind that's it right there" she interrupted her own train of thought a little bit as she found a small arrow pointing to the right of Magic Revision. Once she focused on it, a list appeared with every enchant she might want, but all of them seemed to be low quality. One percent, three percent, five percent, seven percent, ten percent. To her, this wasn't all that strong.

 _Maybe there is a way to research a higher tier?_

She decided to risk breaking down more equipment just as the hammers reached one hundred in her inventory. The sacrifice completed, and her new Petty Tier was now ready to be used in crafting. Her shield was broken down along with her bow and arrows until she had a full bar. Once it had reached its maximum, and she could tell there were no side effects, a new feature appeared in the enchanting list. It allowed her to craft an enchanting gem.

"I wonder what that does…" once it was created, her entire "General Enchanting Essence Bar" was empty again. She looked it over as her hand pulled it from her inventory. It was green and glowing, with well over twenty facets. What seemed to captivate her eyes though, was that on the inside there were more, as if it was hollowed out and cut to house something else. She placed it into the research station… and nothing showed up. The timer kept going down for getting to papyrus, but nothing for enchanting.

 _Do I use this to figure out magical spells or? Do I eat this too? It'll probably just give me my essence back._

Selene popped it in her mouth, thinking if it didn't work, she could just spit it out and throw it into the alchemy station. The gem almost popped in her mouth like a juicy grape with no flavor. Her enchanting list changed from one three five seven ten to three five seven ten thirteen. It pushed it up a notch each time she did this, but it was sacrificing made gear and essence. This time it wasn't that bad as she had just hit Petty tier, but in the future that could be a lot of resources she gets rid of just to raise the quality level by a few percent.

 _Or, I could just make a whole bunch of low-quality equipment, rip it apart, and use that to raise it. It'll still take some resources I don't have right now, but I should consider it once I have a stable supply. Or wait! What if the quality affects how fast it fills? This could mean Petty increases it by, maybe, one third each time? I highly doubt it would give half. Common, maybe half? Uncommon would be three fourths and Professional would be full. So… does that mean Elite and above would build up the silver bar?_

That thought disagreed with her. It meant she'd have to tear apart an Epic tier piece of equipment to fill her silver bar to full. Granted, by the time she could even make a Legendary tier item, she probably wouldn't care about destroying an Epic. The problem was it more than likely would take some of both bars for anything beyond a fifty percent enchant. That was a lot of power being used on one item, hence two different essence.

Why was she even testing these features out if she wasn't going to make use of them right now? In her eyes, its better to figure it out early and know what she could use it for later than to test it later with a gnawing thought in the back of her mind and find out it was better than she expected and could have made so many issues much easier to deal with. This opened her options. There just weren't enough materials yet to use those options. Petty seemed to increase the requirements of what resources were needed by one hundred percent from Trash tier. She was worried it would keep raising by fifty percent each tier, but most likely it would cap off on some material costs and start swapping out common materials for exotic ones. Her guess was the cap would hit at Common, so two hundred percent from Trash instead of one hundred fifty, then Uncommon would introduce exotic furs or cloth, with weapons using potentially… Titanium? Orichalcum maybe? Adamantine? She'd have to figure out what other metals there were here beyond the periodic table allowed on Earth.

Ash came up to her as she finished up her experiments. "Hey girl, all ready for bed?" Ash sniffled and woofed. "You know, you and your brother and sister are probably going to need a bath tomorrow. I can't have you follow me to the village if you aren't cleaned up." A whine and warbled whimper popped from her muzzle as she lay down on the ground, covering her snout with her paws. "It won't be that bad, it's hot water and then I'll dry you off."

 _ **One Week, Three Days**_

Once breakfast had been eaten, the dev had decided to clean all the pups. Both Ash and Luna were now clean, sitting and watching the spectacle as Selene chased Blue around trying to get him into the bathtub. Each time she got him in, he struggled and found some way to escape. "Get back here you little… I need you prim and proper when we go into that village, otherwise you're staying here!" she snapped at him as he tried to hide. For him, that was the better option. For her, she would like for him to tag along with the rest of the group. Even Luna was going to be coming with them, riding along on top of the new leather backpack she was crafting in her inventory. It was using the remainder of her old, and cleaned now, hide clothing.

 _God damn it, cue the Benny Hill Music! How do I stop you from running!_

"Blue! Listen to your alpha! I need you clean!" Blue barked and ran around the fort with the woman in hot pursuit. After what seemed like forever trying to catch him, she was hunched over panting. He was too, but he wasn't tired, instead happy with the outcome. "Blue… please… the bath water is getting cold… please don't make me waste that wood… the whole thing will take maybe five minutes… I promise…"

Ash barked at Blue along with Luna adding in. The black male flopped onto the floor and groaned, as his whole body went limp. If she wanted to give him a bath, she'd need to carry him. "Fine, if that's how it is, I'll do it." As her arms went around his body to lift him up, she struggled a little bit. Had he gained weight? Ash wasn't as large as he was now, and they'd been with her for less than a week. How old were each of them? Since she had been feeding them well and having them help her hunt, they were coming into their own as adults now it seemed. They were still considered adolescents, but their size was starting to show they'd be almost on par with their parents, maybe a little larger. Luna had gotten a little bigger as well, now that she was being fed and taken care of. She was still a playful little pup, but something seemed to tell the dev she wasn't exactly a runt, she couldn't quite place it. It was possible her growth was just temporarily stunted due to being sick and not being fed well. Third World countries tended to have smaller citizens due to less high-quality food. The little white wolf was still adorable, now fluffed up a bit without any greasy or dirty fur.

"Oof, Blue, maybe I should watch how I feed you. Or maybe I shouldn't, I don't know. Cut me some slack here buddy, just do this one thing for me" she grumbled out as she took a few steps awkwardly towards the bath, finally getting him in and putting his head on the lip. A huff came out of his mouth as she got to work and cleaned him up with some soap. Within five minutes, it was done. "There. That wasn't so bad was it?" he leapt out of the water, splashing her in the process and ran over to the others, shaking to get any water out of his fur. "Fine, but just you wait, this is going to be a regular thing each month!" Selene took a linen towel and dried herself off.

Just as she was dry, the research station finished with the stone tablet and allowed her the next step. As she opened the inventory and checked on it, the provided upgrade was as she expected, papyrus.

 _Thank god, at least I don't have to go running off to find some obscure material to make it now. I don't want to go near that alligator again unless I have some much better gear._

Once the reeds were cut up and the papyrus was finished being made, the sheets were placed in the research station and told to do its thing. Another twenty-four hours. "Ugh… I'm never getting to Early Middle Ages." Despite telling herself that she was patient, Selene really wanted to get a move on. As she sat down on her log chair up on the catwalk for the East South East Wall, her eyes kept looking towards the village.

"Maybe… maybe I could scout it out right now, before we actually go there… I just have to be stealthy and careful no one sees me. If it's human, then great; if it's goblin, then I'm not losing out on anything and can head home." It wasn't noon just yet, she had maybe an hour. Given the time it would take to get there, she would probably make it back by nightfall. If she could just get a peek on what was there, it would assuage her curiosity somewhat. Once she was geared up, she told the pups to stay in the fort while she went for a quick scout of the village. Ash and Luna were lying on the cave entrance ramp sunning themselves. Blue was on the North East catwalk with his belly aimed up at the sun doing the same.

As she headed for the village, her eyes kept roaming the rolling hills for anything predatory or for new plants. Potatoes and carrots would be difficult to spot but hops or barley she hoped might crop up somehow. Unfortunately, there was no luck this time, but she got a good lay of the land nearby. Once she was close enough to prove if there were humans or goblins in the homes, Selene went prone and lay on top of a hill just barely overlooking the dwellings further away. Smoke was coming from multiple chimneys, with sounds of chickens and a few dogs.

 _Dogs. Do goblins domesticate dogs?_

Her eyes wandered each dwelling, searching for something that would tell who lived there. Finally, after a few minutes, she saw one. It was a woman wearing a brown dress with a blouse underneath, with a green work veil holding up her hair. She was carrying what seemed to be a hoe. Two children ran by an alley she could barely see. There was her proof, she had all she needed. There was what she thought might be a blacksmith with an open front, a very small inn, what she thought might be a general store but could be wrong, as well as some sort of stall stationed in front of a house. There also seemed to be some weird podium towards the front with a clearing near it, but for what reason she couldn't tell. The whole village had fencing around it, but no walls. That might mean it wasn't that difficult to live in the area, with few threats. Selene backed off and headed towards the fort, barely arriving as the last rays of light left the area. She lit some torches and settled into her routine of cooking dinner and checking on the sheep. Now that she knew there were humans there, this meant she might be able to trade.

There was almost no need for anything crafted there, no weapons or storage, if they made any of course. This was a small village it seemed, with maybe enough homes for just under one hundred people? What she might want to buy was any animals for sale, ingredients for food she didn't have or seeds, or potentially any tools she didn't have for blacksmithing. There was also the issue of not quite knowing where she was at any time, and just following land marks she remembered. That meant she might want to see if they could give her a map. The last thing she might get was maybe food as there would be no time to hunt, and while the garden was coming along nicely, it would be a while before she could pull anything from the vegetable garden. The herb garden was allowing bits and pieces, including the newly found Sorrel. There was a possibility of hunting well the day before the trip, but there was no telling how well they would fair.

"Let's see, cattails if I remember correctly from one job in Florida bloom mid-summer to early Fall… so I'm just at the start of fall? I might want to insulate the cabin a bit more later. That could also affect what I might be able to buy at the village." The thought occurred to her that she'd need to dry or salt food in the future to hold her until past winter. There might be spices she needed to investigate, maybe the village had some available for sale. Spices tended to be expensive though in the old days. Pepper or chili powder were especially difficult to get unless you were rich. If she did have to save up for the winter, it could stop any tech ups for a long time due to the resources disappearing. That could leave her and the wolves starving during the winter.

 _Stop worrying about what to do! I'm fidgeting right now due to impatience! Just get everything under control here, I still have three tech tiers to go through before I can even think of waltzing into that place!_

As she got ready for bed with the wolves jumping onto the blanket to sleep at her feet and head, her eyes just stared up at the ceiling of the cabin, as she was going to bed at an earlier time to get up for foraging. She needed more patience. Was that a stat she could put points into?

 _Ha ha, very funny about the patience Selene… but seriously, do I have a patience stat?_

 _ **One Week, Four Days**_

The dev heard a thump and woke up bleary eyed to look around the dark cabin. Blue had fallen off the bed and woke up on the ground. "You ok?" she asked him. He just looked around, wondering what happened. Her eyes tried to find the torch in the room, slowly feeling her way around as she finally lit it and placed the handle into the sconce. Ash looked up at her and met eyes. "Is it morning yet? Do you guys know, or did I just wake up too early?" Luna stretched and hopped off the bed after yawning, with Blue pushing the door open. Ash whined a little as she got up and followed. "I guess not. Time to start." This would be her first time to hunt just before dawn, but with Ash and Blue next to her, it wasn't going to be any real issue. Once they were outside, they slowly made their way through bushes and trees, with Selene mostly following the wolves to figure out where she was going. It was very dark, but that meant dawn was just on the horizon. Ash caught a vole almost immediately, with Blue finding a snake that was hissing. Both of them took it out due to Selene's accuracy significantly taking a hit due to not being able to see the danger noodle well.

As they continued further and further away, their direction was meandering North to North West, heading towards the mountain range. They stopped as they saw a moving mound behind some bushes. Ash and Blue didn't go forward, waiting on her go. As she peeked through the bushes, hoping to find a boar, what she found was definitely not a wild pig.

 _It'sabearIt'sabearIt'sabearIt'sabear…_

It looked to be a brown bear of some sort, pretty large, but it was still dark outside. The first rays of dawn were starting to come in, allowing a slightly better view of the size. She stepped on a twig which broke, and the bear looked in her direction. She didn't make a move as it just watched for a second, then ignored it. As she moved to a better position, he turned around and looked right at her.

 _Fuck! Um… yell at it and try and make yourself look big!_

"Growl! Grrr! Uh… Gao!" she tried to scare it away, but then the dawn sunlight showed a little more. The bear stood up on its hind legs and stared at her.

 _IT'S A GRIZZLY!_

Selene very nearly lost bladder control. She backed off carefully, not running as it dropped to all fours and grumbled. It wasn't roaring at her or being aggressive, so it might mean it wasn't going to go after her. Once they were a sufficient distance away and saw it turn around to go further into the forest, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "That grizzly has more sense than I do."

The three continued on a wider birth from that area, trying to find the rabbit warren that Ash and Blue had found before. As they caught a few, a fourth one started running. Before Blue could even start chasing, an owl dropped from a tree majestically with no sound and grabbed it. It carried the small rabbit up into the tree, away from all of them. She was surprised it was still awake and not hiding due to dawn peeking over. Once they collected a slow-moving lizard and caught a fat mouse, they headed back towards the fort.

"Ok, I have to admit, that was pretty awesome." Her mind kept going back to seeing the owl come swooping in with no sound, no movement of dirt due to how the wings and feathers worked for it. The owl she just saw was a silent predator and knew exactly what to do for a meal. The grizzly was extremely intimidating too. They checked the lake traps on their way back, found two fish in six traps, then went to eat breakfast. Luna, astonishingly, had something in her mouth when they got back. It was another mouse. There was a new hole that happened to be hiding just to the left of the gate entrance, just before the stone runner. As she sealed the hole with more stone, she kept glancing over at the white pup.

"You are officially a little hunter now huh? Glad to see it, welcome to the team. Soon you'll be taking out lions and tigers and bears, maybe an alligator, right?" Luna barked in accomplishment, trying to look proud and regal. Once breakfast was done, Selene checked her research station. Almost complete. She was sitting on a tech up this entire time, she needed to use it soon as there was no information on whether spare actions were "saved" or just lost. She decided to do some clean up of the fort, changing out the hay for the sheep who didn't seem to mind her being in their pen anymore as they were getting constant food with a perfectly protected enclosure. The woman had to make a shovel to get rid of their feces and had to move them into the second set of stalls just to wash down any urine. The fort had gotten to a decent size, at least in her eyes. For a normal fort, it would probably be a bit bigger to house more utility features that she hadn't built in yet. There was no barracks for extra soldiers, no blacksmith or other utility buildings, no defensive emplacements or artillery siege systems, but it did protect both caves with decent log walls, the ability to look outside without going through the gate, a cabin and…

"I need a filtration spot for water." There was actually an ancient way to create a watering hole that flowed into an old filtration system to create clean water. The fort already encompassed some spots she had removed tree trunks. Her Molecular Reformation ability kicked in on some dirt close to the cabin and dug out a dry pile and finally mud. Dirty water was seen on the bottom, but she kept going further until it was just a good ten feet below the water line. Once that was complete, she crafted a water well above it with a bucket on a hemp rope. The water well was sealed with quick dry mortar she created from the alchemy station. There was regular mortar that could be crafted, but it wouldn't have worked under water. Next to the well she built a water filter with brick, with a two-tier box system on top of each other and a water drain that rose up to the well. Inside the top box there was charcoal covered in gravel and sand followed by dirt ash and large stones to keep all of it from being displaced, along with a spout to drain clean water into the second bottom box. When she poured water from the well into the top, it would filter through all of that into the bottom box that was water sealed with a sap glaze. There was enough space in the design below the bottom to put wood under to create a fire to boil the water, with a slant two-fold roof over the bottom box for steam to collect and drop back down.

Within one hour, she had clean water pouring out. Within another half hour, the clean water was boiled.

Just as she was finished getting her new water source made, and found the taste to her liking, the research station completed. Paper was ready to be used. "Finally!" Her character sheet flipped open instantly and the tech up was started. Ancient History completed… with actions left over. She gawked for a few seconds before a smile crept up. "So, it carries over and doesn't waste… so technically, I could sit around at tier one for weeks or months, then teched up all at once. That would be a huge waste of resources and materials, but still… also, who the hell would want to live like a caveman for that amount of time…"

She was a quarter of the way to tier eleven right now, Classical Era, which meant if she gathered what she needed for paper, ink, and some quills, she could test the magical scrolls right now… if she made a second research station. The woman figured that as soon as she put paper in the first one, it would give a timer of twenty-four hours yet again. Sure enough, once she had mulched a tree and pulped some up in a pulp box, then created low quality paper, it provided that very time. She brought her hand up to her forehead in a facepalm.

The second station she put paper in, regular inks, special inks, perk ink, a quill from some feathers she found near a tree just outside the North wall and checked the recipe list. It grew into a huge list… all of which required an alchemy station connected to it. It took some effort as she headed out to gather more materials to build the second alchemy station, the tools, the spare resources it was asking, and picked some herbs from the garden, to get the second alchemy bench up and running and "plugged in" to the second research station. She wasn't going to lose access to potions while this thing did its job.

"Extremely Minor Teleport, that sounds useful… Spark Finger, maybe for starting fires… Extremely Minor Lightning Bolt, what, like static shock?... Extremely Minor Fire Bolt, light someone's pants on fire… sheesh there's a lot… Extremely Minor Light Orb, so, a magic candle or Taper?" The list was massive now, providing a very diverse number of spells she could research. All of them followed the same quality tier as potions it seemed, which meant they could be upgraded. This probably meant if she researched one, put it on a scroll, researched that, she'd get the next better version. The problem was, she had no idea how long it took.

"Well the X Minor Teleport sounds like a good idea to get right now… wonder what its timer is gonna be…" as she started it, twelve hours. That wasn't bad at all in her eyes, that meant if she woke up in the middle of the night and started a new one, she could get two spells per day. Yggdrasil had over seven thousand spells to its list, but this seemed to follow "Arcanic's Wizardry" spell school with Divine Apocalypse's tier list. The work involved, including some of the spell names, seemed to match. Also, she could change the names of the spells to whatever she wanted just for her. The research of a magical scroll into a real spell took "General Essence Gem." That meant she needed to use her enchanting essence for both enchanting and learning new spells. Definitely Arcanic's Wizardry.

Arcanic's Wizardry was a game almost entirely about magic, with almost no regular fighting beyond players goofing around and swinging their staffs around in lightsaber duels or jumping around with the staff between their legs acting like it was a giant phallus under their robes. She couldn't believe there was an emote for that. The list of spells in it easily dwarfed Yggdrasil for a good reason. It had well over ninety thousand different spells, with overcharged versions of those as well. There was no way anyone could learn all of them, though some tried. The scary fact was that anyone could try to learn all of them, with no restrictions to how many the avatar had available. The question was how many the player would remember they had to use. Some players had scrolling hot bars added to the sides of their Hud with a combo bar that rotated through a spell list to the bottom. Huge macros were made just to get anywhere with chain casts. Divine Apocalypse and Yggdrasil might have been great games, but the spell slinging in Arcanic's Wizardry looked like World War III for a basic battle. That wasn't even bringing out the big guns. Quite a few fights took place in other dimensions or pocket realms just to make sure they didn't wipe out the landscape in the main realm. Nukes? Those were pop guns compared to what some players could use.

One spell was called "Collapse." It didn't crash down a building, that was for sure. Pocket Dimensions could be collapsed on themselves if someone was trapped inside. She remembered one other dev comparing the end result to "Gorey Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches flattened to a molecule thick." The power of all their spells came from the fact that they didn't follow a tier list for their spells. Yggdrasil used up to tenth tier with super tier just above it as special abilities. It encompassed categories of Arcane, Divine, Spiritual and Alternative, with further break down. Arcanic's Wizardry simply built the list by dimensions of reality, starting at first and ending at… well, scientists are still trying to figure out where that ends, so the developers kept making new dimensions. The players of that game were nowhere near as low as children's stories like Harry Potter. They wanted to win. To gain the prestige title of Battlemage meant you were one of the elites, with no one wanting to fight you on the field. Planetary destruction would be considered mid to low tier damage. Armies and minions, no matter how powerful, were cannon fodder to delay the opposing force.

The problem was getting to some of those really powerful spells. There were a lot of them, but she needed to first research the lower tiers up to that strength. Also, of note, in a separate list, were physical crafting items beyond magical scrolls. One caught her interest, Research Notes.

"If that is what I think it is, this could be faster." She requested the crafting of it immediately. Another twelve hours. If it worked like she thought it would, this meant it was a tool to use to increase research speed. The next tier beyond paper might be a tome then instead of a computer. Getting a research tome made afterwards would be nice.

Once she had both paper researching and research notes being crafted in both stations, she set the spare alchemy bench to create more mortar for later. Her forges were now separate stations from true smelteries, with the forges now used in concert with the Equipment Bench. It sped up the creation process by leaps and bounds. She had no idea that the forge could in fact be used as a "tool" for another station but considering the alchemy station was attached to the research table, it might mean they could be interconnected to allow different lists. It would be like an addon building to a space sim or RTS game, with the main building doing the standard stuff, but the addons allowing extra features you didn't normally have. Those addon buildings would probably be on wheels, tracks, rails, hydraulics or winch arms to move another addon to that airlock. The thought was mind boggling, as there might be combinations she hasn't tried yet with recipe and crafting lists she doesn't know about. It could be she just has to wait for one of the stations to request to be connected.

Her problem now was feeding those smelteries. As Selene headed to her mine and started to dig down, she was maybe five hundred meters in and two hundred meters down through the twists she made… before the floor collapsed under her. She tried to jump back but still lost her footing, falling with the stone. She landed, luckily, without any broken bones, but she was in pain from how high she fell which was a good fifteen or twenty feet. As she looked around where she fell, she noticed that she had fallen into an enclosed cave with stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. There were multiple pools of water, with fluorescent mushrooms sitting around providing decent light with almost no shadows. There seemed to be a cave network connected to this area.

 _Fuck, this is where giant spiders come around and eat me, isn't it?_

There didn't seem to be anything else besides some aquatic life and mushrooms in the cave or moving in the tunnels further ahead. Selene slowly got up and winced due to the fall, her eyes looking up at the hole she had come from. She immediately crafted a stone ramp to get back up, then lit a torch. The walls were covered in ore veins, with what looked to be some salt deposits near the pools. Algae seemed abundant too, with some glowing fish living in the pools. Nothing looked hostile at all. Her curiosity got the better of her as her feet started to move towards the tunnels. She built stone sconces on the walls and lit a torch at each one to find her way back. Each tunnel was like the cave she fell in, with plenty of ore lining the walls and lots of mushrooms

 _Don't eat those. If they glow that much, they'll probably kill me._

 _ **Three Hours Later**_

As Selene came back to the ramp and exited her new-found super mine, she realized it was nightfall already. She had wandered the cave tunnels trying to find other entrances to the place that would allow mushroom spores to fly in. She never found a single one. The whole place was an enclosed ecosystem that probably sealed itself off after unknown centuries and tectonic shifts. For all she knew, the mushrooms were producing more oxygen from the salt deposits that were sitting nearby them somehow, or the mushrooms ate metal ore. The resultant waste residue that they produced might be what allows the algae, which feeds the fish. There were no spiders or weird cave dwelling creatures that weren't aquatic, just a sealed off biome no one knew existed. Even the fish came to look at her fingers when she poked them into the pools, which seemed to show there were no predators that they feared. It also wasn't musty at all, even smelled quite nice given how dank it should have been. There might have been small openings in the pools for more water to flow in or fish to swim about, but no underwater opening large enough for a basketball to even fit.

"Guess I have an abundance of metal now, provided I can get the time to mine it. Plus, salt. Thank you thank you thank you." Luna was whining for food, and Blue was looking down the ramp to the underground cave. "No eating those fish or mushrooms! I don't want to see you getting poisoned! Glowing is bad! I'll know if you ate one when you grow a fifth leg!" He turned around and looked at her, then took one more glance down the ramp and followed her out.

The remainder of the night went by without complaint, even having some entertainment when a meteor shower was seen in the night sky. "Once the tome is done, tech eleven and Classical. Roman period? Marble pillars, maybe new stuff… plumbing… ooh, plumbing!" as she went through the motions and spoke to herself about her plan, she quickly perked up as soon as she realized she'd get plumbing soon. An outhouse would be fantastic with some sort of septic tank or waterflow to get rid of the waste. As she got slowly up and winced due to the fall from before, hobbling like an old woman, she walked carefully to the gate and made sure it was locked carefully before heading to the cabin. Once she was in bed, her thoughts kept switching to the village. She almost couldn't take it anymore. Maybe she could make it there at tier twelve, Post-Classical? Fall of the Roman Empire, start of The Dark Ages. She'd be close enough to their tech level, at least to trade and not make a fool out of herself.

 _ **One Week, Five Days**_

She almost couldn't wait for it. There were twelve minutes left on the timer for paper to allow tomes to be made. Ten. Eight. She had spent that morning working her ass off in her mine cutting around veins of ore to gather some useless stone. She found out after reaching tier ten tech that the amount of actions taken had gone up to two hundred now. Six.

 _Don't you dare say you have lag!_

Four. Three. Two. One. Ding! The Tech tree was open almost immediately, followed by the tech up. All resources disappeared, but she had picked out two oak trees just for certain occasions. Plumbing had been gained, she was now going to connect her fast built new outhouse with intricate stone piping to… the lake. The affectionately nicknamed "Big Bastard" was going to be seeing some interesting submersibles launching his way very soon. It wasn't the exact revenge she had planned for him, but this would do.

 _Eat shit and die Big Bastard._

The second tree was pulped up and used to make a research tome among other things, including a lawn chair near the lake and a kitchen table for the campfire. Her new quest she set for herself? Find marble if possible or granite. Also hops. She really wanted to at least try to make ale, at least just as a hobby.

The Classical Era had begun. Soon, it would fall to The Dark Ages. The village was waiting.


	7. Ch 6 Gold Pine Village

The preparations were being started, at least partially. Selene had decided to try and craft some X minor stamina potions, and by that it means two. One for the trip there, and one for the trip back so she could run a little ways. This could speed the who thing up and make sure she got there earlier and come back without it being nightfall. She had also made a second X Minor Healing Potion and an X Minor Anti-Fatigue Potion. The Stamina potions would regenerate her stamina a bit, while the fatigue would take the edge off while she's carrying anything heavy in the backpack.

There was no Post-Classical Era yet, but the dev had at least reached level sixteen, sweet sixteen. That afforded her some extra Attribute Points and Skill Points, with three more perk points as well. Given she wasn't crafting any perks just yet until at least the tomes were ready to be made, it could take some time. Fifteen hours were left for the research to be done. During the remainder of the day, she had sent Ash and Blue on their own this time to go hunting for small game, in which they had gathered six voles and two weevils. There was even a snake in the mix. Meanwhile, Selene had spent time gathering a little more ore from the mine and tried to get some salt from the large formations. She also spent some time expanding the fort a tiny bit more, with a full size of four hectares. She was going by the sizing of Roman forts now to standardize her layout, except she really liked having a half decagon wall setup. This provided her with more space to move the sheep pens near the mine entrance with a spare set next to them, as well as doubling up on the gardens and sliding them over near the log cabin. She also dug a loop into the mine with the original cave, finding some iron ore and some lead along the way.

Now that she had "organized" her updated home, she found that there was quite a bit more area to put things in. She just didn't know what to place. Her log walls were now spaced evenly and far more streamlined, with no spaces to peek through and slat paneling with no spacing on the outside for something, or someone, to climb up. The catwalks had reinforced stilts as well. The outhouse was less of an outside toilet now that she moved it to the side of the cabin with a door to it from inside and sealed a bit more with some mortar to keep any "smells" from emitting into the cabin despite the water flow, the plumbing being realigned after. It was starting to look like a proper fort. There just weren't any defenses set up. She didn't yet feel there was a need to build anything, as the goblins seemed to have up and disappeared outside. It's possible they were just a scouting force to figure out the lay of the land. Until then, crafting an onager or catapult or any other defensive emplacement wasn't required, unless she just wanted to sling some rocks. Perhaps in the future she would maybe build a Scorpio or a light ballista if things actually came to attack, but until then there didn't seem to be a need.

She had reached the point where she could make a primitive crossbow, but it might make her look threatening if she walked in geared for war for the village, despite it being for protection. Selene decided to keep using her trusty recurve bow, which was pretty decent for hunting. Since all her equipment was now Petty tier, it looked a little pathetic compared to Worn. If she didn't know any better, she might come off as a bandit to the people there with the mish mash of materials in her armor and clothes. She'd definitely need to upgrade to Worn tier. She'd look like she got hand me downs from a seasoned soldier, but at least it was better than looking like a miscreant trying to steal stuff with hidden pockets.

Her attempts to find granite by creating branching tunnels in the mine resulted in nothing to be found. Selene would obviously have to get a quarry set up to get any headway in that department, for marble as well. She did find enormous amounts of algae though for the fish and growing on the ceilings of her special ecosystem, as well as limestone which she figured could be used as a special mortar paste in the future. She had received the unlock for Roman Cement, which was materially different from modern cement.

By the time the pups were back with another two small animals, it was night time. As she cooked up dinner for everyone, her mind kept nagging her about the lack of exotic resources she had available.

 _I need to explore a bit more in this area. What am I going to do once I reach Common? Uncommon is probably going to require special materials, there could be unlocks in the future that will require things I just don't have or can't mine here._

The remainder of the night had her grinding up wheat she hadn't planted to get some grains to mix with water and make old fashioned bread. It wasn't that bad given she salted it a little and made a mix of cut up cooked roots and some peas with the meat, it was just flat bread. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. She'd finish the research on a book/tome, finally speeding up research even more. The research notes were finished now, which sped everything up by twenty percent. The tome would be finished by early tomorrow morning, probably before she woke up… if she didn't set an alarm for it. There would be a warning informing her the work was done.

She now had an X Minor Teleport scroll in her inventory, along with an X Minor Light Orb scroll… at least she had them until she made an enchanting gem and learned both as normal spells. She had now learned, it turns out, if she just "disenchanted" some stuff for enchanting essence, then drained her whole green bar on something new that she doesn't have an unlock for or not in her tech tiers, it destroys it… and makes her learn everything about it. She found this out when she did this on an ore piece she had mined, giving her the total metal content via an impurity analysis she could read in her character sheet. Her enchanting essence was like a learning tool in a way, giving a tooltip where no tooltip existed. She made a mental note not to do that to anything that didn't belong to her. At least now, however, she had access to two very basic spells for use around the fort or when she didn't want to walk too far. The X Minor Teleport was like a "blink" spell right now, allowing her to appear anywhere she could see within one kilometer. While that wouldn't shave off much travel time heading to and from the village, it might help if she got in a fight she couldn't win.

The X Minor Light Orb was just as she figured, a magic candle orb that gave off enough light to read a letter or book, but that was about it. It did make a nice night light right now however, without any harsh brightness emanating from it. If she could get it upgraded to Very Minor, it might be able to light a whole room. The Very Minor Teleport she hoped would allow her to teleport anywhere within ten kilometers if possible. For all she knew it might be stronger than that like one hundred or one thousand kilometers given the power behind Arcanic's Wizardry Spells, but right now that was the minimum she needed for the next tier. That would definitely help getting back to the fort.

Right now, Selene had one hundred mana points available to use, with the spells using one mana point each time. She regenerated one mana point per minute, which was quite a bit faster than Yggdrasil's way of doing it. Most games wanted you to play more and having to wait around for mana to regenerate was a great way of turning hardcore gamers away. Also, not having mana potions can affect how people play magic casters. She never understood why they took that out, despite she and one other dev had created them from a recolored healing potion. The files were just not added to the final product, as that was the way the company wanted it to be played. It wasn't her problem, she got paid for her work, and now she had access to mana potions, so it wasn't a big deal right now.

As she got ready for bed, giddy due to knowing the research would be done early, she checked her character sheet one last time. Level sixteen, with sixty points available. While it would be beneficial to throw points in different areas, she wanted to hold off even more now that she learned things can unlock if she reached new levels, tech tiers or achievements. If she spent everything right now, then leveled more, and found a new ability that would be really handy upgraded, then she'd be stuck beating herself over the head.

 _ **One Week, Six Days**_

Four in the morning, the alarm went off. Her eyes bolted open as she looked up and focused on her inventory. As she rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath to wake up, her vision focused on the research station. Tome completed, now available for crafting. She had also reached just barely the tech up for Post-Classical Era. Selene knew if she just made the tome, shoved it into the research station and made a Research Tome, things would go even faster. She'd have to craft it after the tech up, as if she did it during, the tome would disappear and there would be lost time.

Once the upgrade was complete, all resources were gone. She looked over at Ash who was still asleep, along with the rest of her pack. "Come on, time to get up and get some food to cook." Ash woke up and looked at her. Blue tried to curl up a little bit until she gave his head a pat. They knew what they needed to do. Once they got back, they could lounge around and have all the puppy naps they could want while she worked on getting to Worn tier equipment and got ready for the trip. They would probably not go today, as all the final preparations would take some time. She wanted to make sure there were things she could trade. One of those things could be gold.

Selene had found a small gold vein in the special cave down one of the branching tunnels via her Prospecting skill giving her the "gut feeling." There might be more, even silver, but this seemed like enough for right now. The whole vein looked to be able to give a few ingots, not many. The woman wondered if it was worth it to disenchant some gold ore, so she could see how pure it was. It wouldn't matter much in the smelters, but it might tell her how much she was really going to get. Being able to analyze each ore would be helpful, but not needed.

 _Oh look! That ore vein will give me this many ingots. So? I'm still mining it and melting it down. I'll know how many ingots I got when all of it gets casted anyways._

She hadn't mined any of it, as there was no guarantee anyone would buy it off her. Then it would be somewhat wasted. She could try and craft some jewelry right now, but she didn't have any gems yet so it would be basic, she'd need to craft a jewelry bench which she didn't want to do right now, as well as the fact she didn't know how much of the precious metal she'd use before she'd need to tech up again, which meant wasted resources that she really didn't have a lot of. The other problem was enchanting or adding stats to them, which might be given via gem stones that there were none of in her inventory or that she knew where to get, again wasting the metal on a low-quality tier. For all she knew, there might be four, maybe five gold veins near her. That might sound like a lot to some people, but if she was going to make anything that required it, that was a problem. In her head, the dev was already working on ideas to open up new mines where there might be specialty metals and materials, small quarries for granite or other prized stones.

Right now, her immediate concern was getting up, getting dressed, equipping her gear and heading out with the wolves to get some breakfast.

 _ **Later That Day**_

Worn had been achieved. As Selene disenchanted all her old equipment and made a General Essence Gem, or GSG now in her eyes, she kept reviewing what she had made so far for the trip tomorrow. She had a long bow now that she enjoyed quite a bit instead of a recurve bow, with a short steel sword now in her new scabbard, a steel reinforced wooden shield to cut down on weight, leather armor and a cloak made of linen and wool. What was interesting to her was the quality of the linen and wool influenced how soft or scratchy the clothing was, with no armor rating obviously given. Both her underwear and clothes were comfortable before, but now they were actually pretty nice. They were nowhere near new mass-produced Levi's or specialty store items, but she felt she could even sleep in the wool clothes without itching all over now. If she found cotton though, it was all about that. Polyester could be a material in the future as well.

The items she was bringing with her were two X minor stamina potions and two X Minor Anti-Fatigue potions, two X minor healing potions, two X minor poultices, five tier zero bandages, some soap she had made in both lemongrass and lavender smells, five bronze ingots due to the lower cost of copper to mix together and afraid it would be considered too close to copper coins if they used those, five iron ingots if the blacksmith is willing to buy, five wrought iron ingots. She really, really wanted to make some steel later, but that was going to slow down her tech ups, specifically… Damascus Steel. It was going to take a week at least to get enough of the Wootz Steel made to craft and refine into a Damascus sword. The only way she was going to get that down was to drop a lot of points into Crafting Time and dump all tools on one smelter she had, focusing all her effort on Molecular Reformation or using some new furnace. It was possible to upgrade her smelters into that new furnace probably.

Considering she now had access to blast furnaces, this might be achievable earlier than a week if she could get her hands on some better-quality plant material for the carbon, maybe from the reeds at the swamp. She'd have to contend with the alligator again, or many alligators, which made her wonder if she needed to sneak in, grab all of it with her power, then bolt at a longer distance. That was a goal for another day. Right now, she just wanted to make sure what she was bringing wouldn't get her in trouble. She had some tanned leather that could be sold, but that might be better at home making some rugs for the cabin.

Finally, once she had the basic items, she added some cooked and bagged up meat for the trip, filled the three waterskins and stored all of it in a glazed pot that was stuffed at the top. There was a wool blanket wrapped around it, so it wouldn't break if any ingots touched it, but the clay was fairly thick, and it was kilned well, plus it didn't have a quality level, only how much design she wanted to paint on it. The ingots were going to be carried on outside pockets of the backpack, with extra space on top of the pot for the potions and Luna to ride in style. This would be her first time outside the fort.

Not all the ingots would be kept in the backpack, as smaller harnesses were crafted for Ash and Blue to walk along. Blue didn't exactly like wearing it, but it was necessary given there was no pack animal around. The packs were all made with brand new boar hide. They had caught another Adult and two piglets. The previous sounder had joined a new one, with a total of ten adults and thirty piglets roaming around that she knew of.

Once they left the fort tomorrow morning, she needed to make sure nothing happened to the sheep, so there were preparations to block the gate with new log posts from some cut down trees. If everything went as planned, she'd have some money to be able to buy some things she couldn't find. If it didn't, she'd have a sore back and a wasted day. Two new spells were learned, Spark Finger and X minor Sense Hostile. With Spark Finger, she was going to be able to light the campfire now without much issue. This was saving her time with cooking, so a quality of life improvement. The X Minor Sense Hostile spell allowed her to sense anyone looking to do harm to her within one hundred meters. This would help if she was hunting in the forest and could detect goblins or predators that could hurt her. It wouldn't work on deer or animals that chose flight vs fight.

As she went to bed one final time before the big day, she double checked, and triple checked her inventory for anything she might have missed. "Primitive healing potion… I'm never going to use that… I might be able to sell it…" her hand pulled it out as she got out of bed and put it with the rest of the potions in her pack. The primitive mana potion might need to go too, but that might only sell if there was a magician or wizard that lived there, and even then… that stuff is awful. Both primitives needed to disappear, and not down her throat.

 _ **Week Two, Village Trip**_

"Luna, stop biting at the blanket, you're going to fall further in if you move things around." Selene had closed the gates and they were on their way just as dawn was breaking. Luna seemed to be trying to make a small nest, but it was disturbing the potions and pot it was wrapped in, shifting weight around. Once she got a decent amount of blanket under her, she finally settled down as they headed out towards the village. Breakfast was quick but filling, the sheep were quickly fed and made sure their pen wasn't dirty, and the gate was sealed so no one or thing could come in before they got back.

The trip was mostly uneventful, as the four of them walked across the forest and out to the rolling hills. They stopped halfway and drank some water while eating some snack food, then continued on. Her shoulders were getting a little sore from constantly shifting, so now was the best time to use one of her anti fatigue potions. Once the cork was popped and she swallowed it, her shoulders seemed to not hurt. The flavor was similar to coconut water. Once they reached the village, they walked to the entrance and stood there, looking around.

People were moving around, doing their daily chores and airing clothing or rugs out their windows. As they started to walk into the main street, Selene's eyes darted from place to place trying to figure out the layout. The buildings were thatch roofed with what looked like dark brown wood used in the construction, but there seemed to be a slight shimmer to the wood itself. As her hand tentatively touched a wall to examine it, a woman was walking by with a small urn looked at her.

"It's called Gold Pine. It's what the village is named after." Selene's head turned around as she looked at the woman talking to her. "You must be new to the area, I'd know you're face if you lived here. By the size of your pack, and-" her voice trailed off a bit as she looked at the two wolves.

"They're trained, don't worry." Her face seemed to wash with relief. "Are you a trader? We don't really get many of them right now."

"I… am? Kind of. I'm trying to see if I can… um… well… get some coin if possible, by selling some spare materials." The woman looked her over. "Hmm, anything in particular you're trying to sell? We have a general store here, but if-"

"I have some ingots I'd like to try and offload." The woman's eyes seemed to squint, and her eyebrows furrowed. "What sort of ingots are you trying to sell?" Selene was worried this would happen. "Some bronze and iron." The woman seemed to settle as she heard that. "Ah, so that's what you need to get rid of. Well, you're in luck. My husband is the resident blacksmith here." The dev grinned a little as she shook hands. "My name is Abby. Yours?"

"Selene." "Well Selene, let's bring you over to him, he probably just finished with the forge now." Both of them walked down the street while people watched her pass. Two kids giggled as they saw Luna sticking out the top of the pack, with a few men looking at the Auburn-haired woman and smiling with perverted thoughts. They quickly changed their view as their eyes roamed down and saw the two wolves following along.

"Giles. Giles!" Abby yelled at her husband as he hammered away at a horseshoe. It took some effort, but she got him to look up. He was a squat older man, maybe in his thirties with a black short beard and short trimmed black hair, roughly about five foot nine or ten; he was definitely taller than she was given that Selene was five foot eight. There was a little rotundness noticed near his abdomen, but his arms were bristling with muscles. As he put down the hammer and walked over, he had an annoyed look on his face.

"Whaddya want?" he snapped at Selene. She cocked her head back in surprise as if she got blasted in the face by wind. "Don't be like that Giles! She's looking to trade! Go on miss, show him what you have." The dev looked between the two momentarily before slowly lowering her pack to the ground and taking Luna off her royal seat. Abby looked like she was beaming over how adorable she was. The pack opened, and multiple ingots were taken out one at a time, along with the remainder from the packs on Ash and Blue. The black wolf was especially happy to get the ingots off his back.

"Hmm… lemme see." His hands flipped one bronze ingots around, whacking it against the bench she had placed all of them on.

 _Hey! Watch it! Don't damage the goods!_

"Are you… doing that for a reason?" she asked him, glancing back and forth between his face and the ingot. His eyes looked up at her, his face still stern. "I do that to see if anything breaks off or scratches the outside. It tells me if you're trying to lie about what your selling." She was getting annoyed now.

"Hey, this product is good. Why would I lie?"

"Because people have tried to do it before miss fancy pants. The ingot might have been a fake. I'm a respectable blacksmith, I'd say a damn good one, and I don't want my reputation marred by trying to make something with the wrong metals because I got scammed, understand?"

 _Calm down, you need him to trade. Don't lose your cool._

"Fine. Whatever. Is it good now?"

"Very good. Too good. Where the hell did you get any of this?"

"I made it. I worked some smelters where I live."

"Hogshit. Tell me the truth."

"You don't think a woman can work a smithy?" She tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's not what I'm saying! Did you steal it? From where?" He was getting annoyed as he looked right into her face, with her doing the same.

"I didn't steal it! I made all of that! Look, what the hell is with the third degree?!" Selene looked over at Abby.

"Where are you from miss?"

"Why does it matter?"

"It matters to my husband miss. Whatever answer you give would help tell how you have these."

"I live up in the West mountains, we don't have a name for our village."

"Wait, you came from the West?" Giles asked, calming down a little.

"Yeah, what of it?" Giles took a little step back and sized her up. "Mountains huh? Snow lands? How high?"

"High, and we don't like intruders. We tend to isolate ourselves, and from the looks of it, for damn good reason." She was pursing her lips and glaring at him, still irked by his aggressiveness. Giles looked at his wife, who nodded with a long blink. He calmed down, at least a little bit with his gruff personality. He sighed.

"The ingots are clean with no impurities. This is pure metal, not some scrap mashed together. There's no mottling, no dents and no holes, so they were made in decent smelters. If you are from where you say you are, you must have a damned good technique lady."

"Where else would I get this?"

"The trade city of Silvinholm for one." Selene looked at Abby again. "I have no idea where that is."

"To the East miss, you follow the main road just past the Gold Pine forest as it cuts off and turns East with both mountain ranges, the Azaltos mountains and Boramar mountains. The road comes up to Glass dale Township, then continues past to Silvinholm. You really don't know where it is?"

"Not a clue. So, you call the mountain range that I live in Boramar mountains?" Abby nodded quickly.

"We don't know anyone who has settled past us. This is a first to hear about this" Giles said gruffy.

"Giles! Don't be like that! She said she didn't know, so just let it go."

"So, Silvinholm has what, high end furnaces and smelteries?" Giles busted out laughing. "The company that owns the factories has the high-end furnaces and smelteries woman. The city is just known for the quality of its resources. Here." As Giles turned around to go looking for something, Selene was really bristling for being called "woman."

 _I have a name jackass. I'm not just a pair of tits or a gender._

Giles returned with a bronze ingot and dropped it on the bench. It was stamped with some symbol and name. Unfortunately, she couldn't read it, with the writing looking completely alien to her. Luckily, the blacksmith was going to answer that question.

"Gold Bloom Forges. Your ingots and theirs look almost identical." Her hand slowly moved to pick up the ingot with the stamped symbol on it, then looked at her own. They looked almost exactly the same, bar the stamp. Her inventory production was crafting top quality material, at least the common stuff. There were no exotic resources to refine yet.

"Well that's new. Do you know their refining methods?"

"Lemme ask you a few questions, just a few." Selene was getting pissed at this guy, but she wanted to sell the ingots. Of course, if things got too aggressive, she could just take her ball and go home.

"Look, if I'm going to be interrogated, I might as well just head home."

"Just a few and I'll be willing to buy them." She pursed her lips, fighting back her anger. "Fine."

"What do you use to smelt these." "A smelter or a forge. I was thinking of upgrading to a blast furnace." His eyes blinked a little in surprise. "What do you place in them to do that." Selene sighed a little. "Are you asking about the tool or the metal?" He paused for a split second, realizing he hadn't be specific. "Fine, tools." She thought for a moment. There were a few tools she had to use, but inside the forges was different from outside. "Crucible and tongs." His final question was about to be asked. "What are the ingredients needed to make bronze." She was getting frustrated with the questioning and it showed. "I think you should be asking me what the ingredients are to make steel." That shut him up quick. He looked at her carefully.

"You know how to make steel?" Abby asked.

 _Well shit. That was dumb of me._

"Yes, and I'm not going to share it. Look, the requirements for bronze is a trick question, as there are many mixtures you can work with." Giles looked shocked that she knew that.

"Can you name one?" She figured it was best to start from the bottom and work her way up so he didn't get any odd ideas and think they were friends yet. "Arsenic and copper, though only if you wanna poison yourself. That's the old-fashioned way. Copper, Lead and Zinc for the architectural form of that. Do you know what the hardest form of bronze is?" Giles was taken aback a little by her question. "Of course I do! You use Tin bronze!" She looked unimpressed. "Nope." He looked at her quizzically. Abby was smiling, watching both of them talk shop now. "What is it then?" The dev rotated her left shoulder and stretched a little. "Manganese Bronze. You don't have the materials to make that." He looked genuinely impressed by her answers and the fact she questioned him back. He turned to the bench the ingots were on while still looking at her, glancing down at the metal before him.

"Only certain people ever carry these to sell, and they only sell in Silvinholm. No wandering trader ever brings them out here. I was luckily enough to get one ingot before the price went up. I don't know what I'll ever make with it."

"So, you won't use these types of ingots?"

"I didn't say that. I just didn't know what would need such high quality with no impurities. Look…" he didn't know what else to say and his eyes glanced over at Abby.

"What are you asking for the price of these miss?" Selene looked between both of them and thought for a second. "How much are you willing to pay for them? I don't know what type of currency you use around here and I don't know the going rate." Giles's eyebrows raised as a slight chuckle escaped his lips.

"Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum and in some cases jewels miss. But… well…" Abby looked towards her husband. He closed his eyes to think for a bit before answering. "I can pay two silver for the bronze, and three for the iron. That wrought you've got there-" he pointed to the wrought iron ingots "-is impressive. Could be useful for Darryl's fencing he needs." His hand waved towards the darker ingots as he looked at his wife.

"Is… that alright with you miss?" Abby asked. That equaled forty silver she was getting.

"Um, wha… uh, sure. I mean, yes, yes, it is. That's satisfactory." Giles snorted and walked further into the smithy and through a door. "Sorry about my husband, he just… he doesn't like being taken advantage of. It's happened once in the past, and it took a while before he could restore his reputation. It's why we both settled out here. He didn't like having to fight for work to support us." Abby seemed to be fidgeting.

"So, out here, are there other villages and towns around?" Selene asked looking behind her at Ash and Blue.

"Mmm, none that we know of. This is pretty out of the way already, for anyone to try and settle further out would be inviting problems with traders. The fact you even showed up, from a different route, was a god send. Anyone way out there would have to be very self-sufficient."

 _Ha! You have no idea._

"So, traders don't come out here much?" Abby looked around a bit.

"Sadly, they tended to come once every two or maybe three months, but with the difficulties of the road now…" there was a hint of something more in her words.

"I take it this doesn't mean avalanches or falling trees." Selene's right eyebrow arched in curiosity.

"You guessed right. From what I've heard, it's gotten a bit more dangerous with some brigands hitting caravans that aren't guarded well."

"So, is that raising the cost of materials as well?" Abby glanced up at Selene as she seemed to look bashful. "My husband is an honest man, he'll pay what you've asked for, do not worry." Selene just looked at her for a little bit before Giles came back out with a small purse. "Ten, twenty, thirty, forty. Forty silver." The purse looked a lot lighter.

"I'll tell you what. Give me thirty and it's fine." Giles looked up at her in astonishment. "Don't you insult me thinking I can't pay for these goods."

"I'm not insulting you, you prideful prick, I'm lowering my cost!" she snapped right at his face. They both looked at each other for a little bit. Giles broke out laughing and took ten silver out of the pile and put it back into the purse. He was smiling. He hadn't heard anyone talk like a smith in a long while.

"Bless your heart miss" Abby said quietly with a large grin on her face. "You need any advice or directions around here lady?" Giles asked. He didn't call her woman anymore. She might have got on his good side for doing that.

"It's Selene, and yes, I could use help finding your general store, and hopefully a map." Abby was beaming with happiness that Selene had dropped the price. "Also, um… some advice would be when do you think you might need more ingots?" The dev looked around being a little embarrassed by the fact she was trying to make some money that probably wasn't used at her imaginary village. Giles laughed. "Tell you what, you come by once a week, bring what you have made, and I'll see what I can do."

"Um… one a week… ok… so not earlier… got it." Giles tilted his head a bit and cocked back. "Are you saying you'd like to come more often? Cause I could use the metals if you can you make the trip."

"How often do you get resupplied by traveling traders?" Selene asked.

"We, well, sometimes we do but it's always low-quality goods. The trips we used to take to Silvinholm would allow us to bring back what was needed for a few months, but… well, you know about that." Abby tried to explain the situation, but the dev was getting the jist of it.

"Aren't there guards or private security that can help protect you on the way? Mercenaries or… I don't know, adventurers?" Selene asked, surprised there wasn't anyone with a sword walking around behind them. Giles just snorted.

"What guards? Artinia doesn't care about us and hired swords are expensive. They just want our taxes to fill their pockets-"

"Giles, please! Maybe, maybe they don't have any guards to spare right now!"

"Wake up Abby, they don't care whether we live or die. We're lucky we've lasted this long."

"So, I take it no protection going down that road." Both Giles and Abby turned back to their seller.

"That's right. I hope you don't intend on going that way." Giles's deep booming voice seemed easier now, worried his new trader was walking into trouble. "Not at the moment, no."

"Well, sorry to take up too much of your time-" Abby started to say. Selene waved her hand around in front of herself. "No, no, that's fine. You gave me plenty of good information, I appreciate it. Um… which way to the general store?" Abby and Giles both pointed down the street to a small corner shop with a sign at the opposite end of the village they had previously come from. "Thanks." Giles peeked past the front as she started to leave. "You sure you are coming a second time this week, Selene?" The Auburn-haired woman turned on her heel a little and walked backwards. "Count on it." Giles laughed and nodded, walking back inside his smithy.

Selene left the smithy and headed down the street, watching her surroundings and trying to see if there was anything else she needed to do. There was an inn close by the general store, that might be a spot to look into for more information about the area. As she walked to the store, she heard a loud scream and tried to figure out where the sound had come from. A young boy was holding his hand and trying to keep it low as he ran part ways out of his home while his mother seemed to be trying to cover it with some cloth. Upon getting closer, she noticed his hand was bleeding.

"I told you not to touch that and look what happened! By the gods, Jamey, you're lucky it didn't take your whole hand off! Here, let me wrap it for you." As the bandage went on, Selene noticed the cloth was dirty. Not only was this going to cause infection, but it looked like it wouldn't stop the bleeding well.

"Um, ma'am, you really shouldn't use that cloth on his hand." The mother looked up at her as she pointed to the child's hand. "Well what else am I going to do? I have to stop the bleeding." Selene walked over and took the bandage off his hand while others watched the entire scene nearby. "That bandage is just going to cause infection. Here." The dev dropped her pack again and pulled Luna out a second time, then pulled out a clean bandage as well as a poultice. She also decided to pull out the primitive healing potion.

"Whoa, she has one of… those… ouch…" the boy seemed awed by the fact she was carrying one of them in between wincing in pain and crying. She popped the cork of the potion and looked at it. "You willing to drink this?" He nodded and opened his mouth. "Oh miss, you don't have to-" he gulped it down, puckering up his mouth as he did so. The taste must have been awful, but the wound was slowly healing before their eyes… until it stopped at a small gash. It wasn't bleeding anymore, which was good. "Alright, this might sting a bit so bear with it for a few seconds ok?" he nodded as Selene opened the small container and started to push the gooped up poultice into the wound to protect it and help with the healing process.

"Are you a healer?" the mother asked in astonishment at how well she was treating the wound. "Nope, I'm just a trader with some knowledge of medicine that's all." She finished the hand off with a clean bandage and tied the ends together. "Better?" The boy nodded smiling. "Oh… no… but miss… I… I can't afford what you just did for him…" The Auburn-haired woman looked up at the mother. "Um, don't worry about it. If someone didn't help him more, that hand might get infected in the future. It would have to be cut off." The boy immediately held his hand close to his chest, scared.

"Don't… worry? You mean I don't have to pay for the healing potion? That must have been expensive though." Selene just looked at the empty vial. "Um, it's… yeah, don't worry about that. Um, what would be the normal price of one of these anyways here? I'm not really accustomed to the prices yet." The mother raised her eyebrows a little bit. "Well, that one might go for ten, maybe twenty silver."

 _YOU PEOPLE PAY TEN SILVER FOR DIARRHEA IN A BOTTLE THAT HEALS?! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!_

"Oh, well, thanks for letting me know. Again, it's not a problem." The mother looked embarrassed in front of all the onlookers. "There must be some way I can repay you." Selene just looked a little dumbfounded that there were so many eyes resting on them. "Well, I'm kind of looking for some seeds I can plant in a garden-" "What seeds?"

"Well, uh, hops, barley, potatoes, carrots, maybe some lettuce and-" the mother dashed into her house nearby for a few minutes. "Ok, well, fine then." Selene just stood there awkwardly as people were commenting on how nice the new trader was, the young boy Jamey trying to pet Luna. The little wolf was enjoying the attention. As the mother came out, she had a small cloth pouch in her hand. "Here, I have my own garden behind our home. I took an assortment of seeds. I also added some hops for you. I'm an alewife." The dev seemed surprised. "Oh! Well, you didn't have to, but thank you. That's interesting to know."

 _Alewife means a woman who brews ale right? Helps support the family with a side job? This lady makes booze!_

The mother smiled and looked at her son. "Bless your kind heart for helping my boy. It was the least I could do to repay you. Safe travels wherever you go." Selene picked up Luna and her pack, then waved goodbye and nodded, trying to not look at anyone else who was staring at her. She could hear people trying to whisper to each other about how nice she was to do that for the kid, or the quality of her goods that she brought were top notch for Giles. As she entered the general store, a small bell rang just over the door. Her eyes roamed the room she entered to see assorted goods of all shapes and sizes. There was some dried or salted food, two grain bags, a very small bale of hay, some clothes in the corner on a table, some pelts, a few tools, two daggers that looked more like upgraded butter knives than real weapons and some paper on the front counter. There seemed to be one box of what she could only figure was candy or chocolate, she couldn't tell due to the box being closed.

"Welcome, welcome to my store." A scrawny man with circular glasses came out of a back room to greet her. "Is there anything I can help you find?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, I just traded a little bit with the smithy today already and I was wondering if you had a map available to buy? And a sack of grains?" The man rubbed his stubble of a goatee and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds. "I do have one map, but… well… it's out of date I'm afraid." He pulled it out from a cabinet behind the counter and placed it on top. "That's fine, I just needed to know the basic lay of the land." She looked at the unrolled parchment for where any markings of cities or forests might be. This was a continent map, not a world map she was looking at it seemed, as the surrounding outline seemed to tell her there was ocean. Unfortunately, that was all she could figure out. The words were unrecognizable to her.

"Ok, so, what would be the cost?" The man clicked his tongue a bit. "Due to it being outdated, and I apologize for that truly, I'd say… five silver?" To her, that seemed fair, given that most maps were probably hand drawn by a cartographer each time. "Alright, I can do that." She pulled out five silver from her pocket and dropped the coins on the counter. "Thank you, a pleasure doing business with you. Is there anything else I can provide?" she looked over the continent and tried to find out where she was. None of the wording made sense.

"Um… where are we if this is outdated?" she asked embarrassed. "We would be… right here." He pointed to the Western area of the continent. She figured the Azaltos and Boramar Mountains were the ranges that were flanking both sides, with the Boramar Mountains having one side just fall into the ocean. The Boramar curved down and East while Azaltos stopped about halfway south. The village she was in had been pointed to right at the tip of the top bottleneck between the two mountain ranges, opening up to a large valley with the lake. She now knew at least where her fort was placed, to the far West and a little South of the lake. She already knew there was a forest that took up that surrounding area, with a small swamp to the South flanked by a smaller forest East of it. This Gold Pine village was right next to the edge of it, which coincided with what she saw coming here.

There was no road drawn, or village at the location he had pointed at, hence the outdated information. There was a small cluster of drawn buildings that started right before Azaltos mountains curved, with roads connecting to a city. That city must be Silvinholm.

"Um… what does this say right here?" she asked pointing at the city. "Oh? Oh! I see, you… I completely forgot that some people don't know how to read and write, I'm so sorry…" Selene looked a little insulted. "I can read and write, just not this language of yours. Is this Silvinholm?" He looked up at her in shock. "Oh my, many apologies! I didn't mean to insult you! I just thought that… well…" "That a woman couldn't read and write?" Her head tilted to the right. "It is entirely my mistake, that was so stupid of me. Please, forgive me." She sighed and looked at the map some more. "What's this city here, to the far East." "Well, that is the imperial city Aureos."

 _Oreos? Seriously, it sounded like he said Oreos. This place was named after a cookie? Either that or I'm not spelling it right._

"And I suppose a king lives there?" "Yes! Yes, good eye. Um, his name is… oh what is the newest one now… King Teiyan Erelius II. I believe he succeeds his father, who died… when… um… one year ago? Oh, he was a… well I don't know if I could say a good king…" He seemed to fidget a little. "Bad king?" The man was very quick to answer. "Worse…" he winced while saying. "Evil?" she asked. "Getting there." His eyes looked around at the windows in a paranoid fashion. "I'm starting to get the feeling the government that supersedes all local control is not a good one?" He ran a finger on the side of his counter, trying to pick up any dust with it. "Oh! I… wouldn't say that… but you said it not me…" he looked away from her at the wall, ever so occasionally glancing at her.

"I'm getting the picture pretty clearly. Does the Artinian… kingdom? It's a kingdom, right?" she asked. He nodded vigorously.

 _So, kingdom… kingdom smaller than empire… so… they might not have fully expanded… it looks like it barely covers half the continent if that, with some patches in the "East side" not even settled on yet. The West is almost undiscovered from what everyone seems to say._

"Alright, so, the Artinian kingdom own this village?" He looked around a little bit more. "Well, they do as we're a part of the kingdom…" "So that's a yes." "Well, Gold Pine was founded by people that were trying to start anew, but… well… coin was hard to get to build up the little economy out here and…" "They had to get investors?" "Ah! You are a smart one! Yes, a Baron…" "Baron what?" "A Baron von Scholence. He's dead now, but his son now takes… our money…" he trailed off as his hand slowly picked at some handkerchiefs next to the counter. "Is the son backed by the king?" "Yes, very much so. They have a council that the new baron is a part of."

 _So Evil Nobility Club?_

"Well, thank you for all of that… information… I'll… just buy the grain and be going now…" Selene glanced at the door as she rolled up the map and paid for the grain sack. "Wait! I have some salted and dried foods if you're interested in buying! Surely a trader of your caliber would want to have some snacks for the road?" "Uh… ok. How much?" "Mmm, one silver for the pack?" "And the pack contains?" "Some salted pork, dried fruits, some nuts and some homemade jam. There's even a piece of cheese!" Her eyelids closed half way, looking unimpressed. "Just the one piece?" He looked giddy and nodded in excitement. "Fine." "A pleasure doing business with you!" She started to step backwards. "Oh! Do come again! My stock might not be so strong right now, but I assure you! Once more traders come in, I'm sure we'll have more you'll be interested in!" As she backed out of the door and closed it, a long sigh escaped her lips as she blinked. "What a weird man… still, at least I have a lot of information on what is going on around here, and I got my shopping list finished." She looked down at Ash who was sitting and looking up at the rolled-up map and sack of grain hefted over her shoulder. "We have another hour or two, how about we check the rest of the place out guys?"

Ash barked in approval, with Blue just ready to move on. The village was definitely not large, maybe even could be downgraded to a large hamlet with added amenities, specifically the smithy and store and inn. It wasn't her place to decide how it was rated compared to other "locales" as maybe there was some hidden reason behind it. As they walked through the roads and looked at everything, she could see some farmland cultivated with chickens roaming, a rooster or two, even a donkey. There was a man pulling on the lead for the pack animal, but it wouldn't move.

"I'm telling you dear, she's willing to move if you just be gentler with her!" An old lady came hobbling out of the house with a cane as the man kept pulling. "Damned beast! It moves for you maybe mother, not for me! We need a new one if this keeps up! MOVE!" The donkey was braying and pulling backwards away from him. "You can't be serious son! I raised her myself!" "And yet she won't listen!" "She follows just fine if you just stop that!" "They won't let an unleashed and untrained ass walk through the streets of Glass dale! She won't even carry the supplies!" "Because you are loading her with too much! It hurts her back!"

Selene saw the man let go of the lead and throw his hands up in frustration. He stormed back into the house to argue with his mother for a few minutes. The dev walked up to the fence and put her hand out for the donkey to smell. The pack animal sniffed her hand a little bit and accepted a pat from her. "No one wants their back broken, do they?" The donkey didn't respond, just enjoyed the friendliness and attention. Just then, the man came right back out and stared at her. "You interested in buying an ass?" Maybe. I've got twenty-four silver, is that enough?" "Are you kidding me? That's not even enough for us to buy an old worn out ass. No sale. Now leave."

He waved her off as she stopped petting the animal and walked off.

 _Asshole._

Her small trip took her past a coop with plenty of chickens, and an old man willing to sell at least one of them. Unfortunately, she didn't have anywhere to put the cage except in her inventory. "I… um… maybe? How much?" "Oh, uh, well, seeing as this is a new hen here… ten? Ten silver? No, five! I'll take five even!" The fact he dropped the price so quickly told her people might be at or just below the poverty line here for the kingdom. He needed money, so did Giles and his wife. How high were the taxes for this place? She wondered. There were very few traders coming here right now due to supposed bandit groups making unorganized attacks on unguarded caravans along the Glass dale road, which meant they were hurting for decent supplies. There might be a few well-guarded traders that made their way as Abby said, but that was few and far between.

"Um… uh… deal?" She put the silver in the old man's hand and a cage was handed to her with a young hen inside flapping around.

 _Source of eggs, if I can keep it fed and taken care of. Shit, where am I gonna put it?! I need to drop this grain sack as well, it's really hurting my shoulder._

She walked away and down one road, looking around to see if anyone would notice if she opened her inventory and shoved the chicken into it. There was an alleyway next to the inn she could hide in temporarily so that was her best bet. Once she was inside, she took her pack off to make it look like she was trying to put the map inside. As she opened the inventory and pushed the cage in along with the map and grain sack, Abby happened to come just around the corner and saw her sitting there.

 _FUCK!_

"Oh! You're right there! I was hoping to find you again. I suppose you found your map?" she asked as she looked down at her. Selene glanced at her inventory sheet floating in the air next to her head and blinked with a suspicious grin on her face, her left eye slightly twitching. "Yes. Yes, I did. Uh… I can explain…" Abby looked a little confused. "Oh? Is there a problem with your pack? Maybe Giles could look at the buckles if there's an issue." She looked at the inventory again.

 _Am I the only one who can see my sheets? Huh._

"Um, no! No, I'm just trying to put the map inside and putting everything back on top." "Do you need any help packing it?" "No no no! I'm fine, really, I uh… I have a few potions I didn't want anyone to see and think I was selling them, so I… ducked in here to reorganize. It's in there now." "Well alright, nice to see you again. Have you met Moira at the inn yet?" "Um… no, not yet. I'll go see her." Abby continued walking past as a sigh of relief popped out Selene's mouth. As she picked up her pack and headed out of the alleyway, she left her inventory open to test the theory further. Her eyes dropped onto the sign for the inn after a few seconds searching for it and headed to the door. She wasn't hearing anyone talk about the floating inventory list in front of her, or the Spider Radial menu. That was a good sign.

As she walked inside, it smelled of old smoke and stale ale. There were a few men drinking at tables, not many. It looked as if the inn was the bar as well for villagers to hang out. The fact there were any guys there before the end of the day seemed to tell her they were drunkards trying to get away from work or their families. There was a woman with hazel brown hair tied in a long braid over her shoulder with freckles on her face. She was wiping down a counter with a candelabra on top. Multiple casks were seen behind her. To the left was a small hallway heading to what she thought might be the kitchen, along with a small podium left of that with keys on the wall hanging from a board. There was a stairwell heading straight up to the second floor left of the podium. "How can I help you luv?"

Selene looked at the woman and walked up to the counter. "Are you Moira?" "That's me luv. I run this 'ere inn. What canna do for ya?" A drunkard sitting at the counter tried to reach across and grab at an open bottle, but a quick right-handed punch from Moira settled him back into his chair, clocked cold. Despite seeming a bit small and petite, her arms belied her strength, probably from lifting or moving the casks often enough or cleaning the bedrooms.

"I was told to come talk to you by Abby." "Ah, she's a wonder. You lookin fer a room now?" "Uh, no, I just thought, maybe, I could get a little more advice about what's happening around here. I'm a trader that just drifted in today, heading back out in a little bit back to my home." "Well, gabbing will have to cost a pint from me, otherwise I have chores ta do. Gotta keep me customers fed and liquored after all."

Selene pulled some silver from her pocket and looked at it. She was now at nineteen silver, but if Giles was true to his word, she could resupply him or even the general store owner twice or even three times a week. The entire time she deliberated on this, her inventory sheet just casually floated in front of her. Apparently, no one could see it but her. "How much for a pint of ale then?" "That's a bit much for a pint luv. Here, I'll get ya swapped now." She grabbed one of the coins from her hand and walked through a door behind the casks down some stairs. Once she came back up, she handed Selene ninety-five copper coins back. Moira grabbed a pint glass from behind the counter and turned the tap on one of the casks, sliding it a little bit to the dev. "Now, whatcha be wantin ta gab about?" the Auburn-haired woman looked at the size of the glass and the amber drink inside of it.

 _Please don't tell me I'm going to get drunk off this._

She took a sip from the top, a little foam coming with the liquid. There was almost no burn as it went down.

 _Nope, that is piss water. Fruity piss water. What accent is that from Moira? Is that Welsh? Cockney? I used to know this when I did that stint in the UK when I got that history lesson from Gavin._

"How many people live in… in Gold Pine?" she asked. "I never did a head count luv, but I'd say around a hundred. A few of these taffers though I don' think 'ave a home besides THIS INN 'ERE!" She ended snapping at the group of men drinking their lunches. Some of them groaned, others just ignored her.

"So, does this place have a mayor?" Selene asked between a few more sips. "Yup, ol mayor Stafinson. Good fellow he is, tries 'is best with what he's got. Can't imagine the hell he has to go through when the bloody tax collectors come around. Blasted vultures." The drunkard next to her had woken up somewhat and was looking at her with a grin, a slight giggle coming from him. "Ya want him down a second time?" "That would be nice, yes." Moira socked him a second time, dropping the man to the ground. "Appreciate it." "Cheers." Moira had a big shit eating grin on her face after that.

"So, do the tax collectors come every month or week or… what?" "Every month, but ah guess they canna come now with the brigands around on that 'ere road. Thank gods fer small favors." She was cleaning another pint glass, and the rag didn't look too clean. Selene's eyes glanced at the sides of her glass hoping she wouldn't see anything floating around.

"No protection?" "Ha! they aren't so high up that 'ere be a need ta send some guards with em. Might change in the future, who knows?" "Well, if they haven't received payment in a while, they might do that to see what's up." "Possible, but that won't happen until the road's open more eh?" "Point taken." "Ya."

Selene couldn't see well through the dark room and shaded windows, but she had a feeling she needed to start leaving. "Well, it's been nice talking to you." "Ya don't want to finish yer ale?" "I'm on a time limit right now. Sorry. Can I come back for any other tib bits you hear around through the grape vine?" "Ya willin to drop a few coins as well next time?" "Yup." "Then sure. Always willing to hear ya if you want to sit and drink."

The dev got up and put her pack on then walked out the door. The sun was well past noon, showing that she needed to head out. She'd be back though, that was for sure. It seemed she made at least a few friends so far, as well as figure out the layout of the village. She headed to the side of the village and climbed over the fence, headed through a second fence, and started heading back to the fort.

By the time they got back, it was barely dark with the help of the stamina potions and anti-fatigue potion. Selene had to use the Light Orb spell to help see around the area and light torches, but once they were lit up, she could start making dinner. As all of them ate, she checked the inventory and pulled out the chicken that was flustered and wondering where it was now. The woman quickly crafted a coop and a fence around it to keep the chicken in one spot, then dropped her into the small opening and poured a little ground up grain she now had. The grain was originally for some decent bread or mix feed for the sheep compared to what she could make now, but that would get better as she added some tools to the grinding stone or made a windmill.

As she put the cage back into her inventory, she noticed something was missing. The map was gone. "Fuck, where did I put it?" She checked her second inventory, then looked into the pack. Nothing.

 _I swore I put it in my inventory! Did I leave it in the alleyway? Fuck! I need that!_

Selene brought a hand up to her forehead and ran her fingers through her long hair, frustrated. Then, her eyes glanced over and saw a new Map bubble next to the Tech menu bubble on her Radial. She focused on opening it and saw it was much larger than before, with dark areas surrounding the continent she was on. The map had expanded to a world map, but most of it was unfilled. She zoomed in on her location and noticed a small arrow icon pointing a certain direction. She turned around and the arrow moved.

 _That's me then. It's telling where I am and which direction I'm facing. Helpful!_

She also noticed every named icon for a village, town or city was now in English, along with all the forests and mountain ranges that were previously on the map. Some areas were not named yet, probably because it was not updated and because she hadn't been there yet, so that land was an unknown. What she did know was her continent only took up an eighth of the map. That meant there was more ocean and other continents that could be explored. That was pretty far into the future, however. At least she now had an icon named "Gold Pine Village" at the exact spot the general store owner had pointed to.

"Estimated one hundred civilians, no military… six pack animals, three work animals, probably horses… ninety small animals, chickens or ducks probably… damn this thing gives a lot of info…" It even showed a list of all available amenities and stores, whether it was the blacksmith, the general store or the inn. "Reputation level friendly? Already? Huh. I guess that's how well people know me or want me to come by besides Giles." She laughed a little bit in surprise at that. If she knew anything about the reputation level, it probably went neutral, friendly, respected, honored, allied, and below would be unfriendly, hated, hostile, nemesis. In her eyes, this was particularly useful for telling her where to go or not to go, whether to be prepared for a fight or to go hug people.

 _Real time map logistics. Nice._

It didn't seem to show icons of anything moving or living, but she never expected that. It did more than enough right now. Her mind wandered through the events of the day, the people she met. She had gained eighteen silver and ninety-five copper her first day, along with a chicken, some grains and some seeds to fill out her gardens. She now also had a place to trade spare resources she wouldn't need before she teched up, not losing many in the process. She opened her character sheet and looked at her level. It was level seventeen, which meant she had gained a decent amount of experience from the whole trip including preparations. It was going to take longer now that she had a routine of hunting and fishing and mining. It seemed she got more experience with doing long chains of the same work in a short period of time, like all mining for one day, or nothing but hunting. There might be a bonus she's getting for doing one specialized task for the day, kind of like a combo multiplier in a fighting game, she didn't really know.

"God, I need a Hud! That scared the shit out of me when Abby walked past!" she said to no one as she leaned back in her small chair. She was so worried others could see her inventory floating in front of her, thinking she might be some witch trying to cast some evil spell on the village. But no one except her could even notice it. That could change if they saw her hand enter her inventory though. That also still didn't stop her from wanting a Hud, however.

"Wait, I could… maybe?" she opened her Spider Radial completely and made a new bubble. She named it HUD and added requirements for it via heavy concentration. Her eyes were suddenly filled with all sorts of character info, clogging up most of her field of view.

"Whoa whoa, too much info! Gotta clean that up a bit." She cleared most of the information away to only have her stat bars with numbers attached in the upper left, an ammo counter for ranged weapons in upper right, status of weapon or item equipped in her hands just left of that, a location damage figure that showed if armor was damaged or she was wounded at that spot of her body below the bars, and finally a mini map with compass. Surprisingly she couldn't add a clock to it yet, probably because she didn't have a clock yet. The HUD wasn't floating in the air, it was overlaid onto her eyes.

"Now… connect access to inventory and Spider Radial with… character sheet…" she immediately had an experience bar at the bottom of her view, along with anything she picked up and put in her inventory would give a pop up text in the lower right corner telling how many of whatever is in there, doing the math before she even had to look inside. She was finally satisfied. Her HUD had all immediate requirements with only taking up ten percent of her view. The color was a little too bright white, which she toned down to a soft ghost blue. None of this seemed to affect her night vision at all, as she wasn't technically using her eyes to see through it, it was just playing in the back of her mind and she was using her eyeballs to see it, similar to a Dive Gear headset.

Her shoulders, despite using the anti-fatigue potions, was a little sore from carrying all that stuff to the village. She pushed on her lower back and winced, then stretched her arms out so they were completely horizontal. Her shoulder blades and collar bone hurt a bit due to the rubbing of the straps and she heard a little cracking as her body got to loosen up from the weight she had on her before. It was time to go to bed. Selene would go back to the village in a few more days, once she had some more goods to trade, as well as a few more tech ups throughout the trips. She'd also upgrade her carrying gear so that it didn't hurt so much, maybe create a small cart she could wheel along behind her. For now, she was fine with her routine, which would allow her some time to unwind and explore a little more, get some more coin. She didn't sell her soap yet, or the pot. The thought had escaped her for both while at the village.

Selene walked into the cabin and got ready for bed. The packs were already taken off Ash and Blue, with the sheep also fed and watered, the chicken settling into its new little house. Nothing had tried to get into the fort while she was gone.

Tomorrow was going to be just another regular day, the day after that as well. But she knew that by the end of the week, she'd go back a second time. Until then, she'd survive as best she could.


	8. Ch 7 Have Horse, Will Travel

_**Two Weeks, One day**_

Selene woke up and stretched a little later in the morning than she was expecting, with dawn already breaking. Blue and Ash were ready to go hunting, but the dev wanted to test a few things before she headed out. The sheep were fed and watered with the pen cleared; the chicken seemed to have already laid an egg surprisingly, but it was just one. If she wanted to have an American breakfast of two eggs and some bacon, she'd probably need to buy a second chicken… and go hunt a boar every day. The latter didn't seem like a great idea, as there was no telling when she'd hunt them out of the valley. To mix it up, she'd have to start reworking her diet.

She was eating a lot of meats and fruits, but now it was time to add in other forms from the healthy eating pyramid. She had no access to dairy unless she could buy some from the farms at Gold Pine, there were no beans yet but she had nuts from the travel pack she bought, fish was easy enough to get along with an egg from "Penny" the new chicken, Vegetables and fruit would wait a little bit until they were fully grown, grains was going to be what she would check now. As she opened the grain sack to check the quality of it, she winced and backed off. "That's not edible." Her eyes dropped onto Penny who was stubbornly ignoring the grain she had spread last night. "Of course, you don't want it little one, that stuff will kill you."

 _Ok, how the hell do I feed this chicken? The sheep will eat hay, but this little thing needs grain or corn meal or whatever. That stuff is not edible and moldy… I have a vegetable garden that isn't fully grown yet… is there a way to speed that up?_

The dev opened her inventory and used her writing desk and alchemy station attached to the research station. As she opened her spell list she could learn, she started using the search function to find any spells that worked on food. "Nutrient replenisher, that will be amazing… put that in craft immediately… summon campfire, already made those… aha! Growth Spurt! X Minor ho!" she placed that into craft as well with some paper. She hadn't reached the capability to get to tier thirteen yet for tech, Early Middle Ages, so she could hold onto what resources she had right now. If she could get Growth Spurt upgrade a few times, that would cover vegetables and herbs without any issue, at least she hoped it would. Now that she had the tools to speed the process up, getting the spells written would only take six hours, which meant that she could technically learn four spells every day.

"The next two… um… X minor Firebolt, I need at least some magic spell that I can use offensively… and… damn it! I need a queue system here." She checked her second inventory and focused on getting a queue attachment on the bottom of each station, which worked. It took opening each one up and then modifying it to get each one to have that capability, which was a little annoying and took some time. Once it was all set up, she now could set multiple things going at the same time with new orders right after. Her entire work list could be finished assuming she just mined or gathered now, without spending time checking to see if the ingots were finished to push more ore in. The final spell was an upgrade for Light Orb to Very Minor. At least she'd be able to see in the dark instead of just reading a book by candle light soon.

While she couldn't yet make any more potions due to the herb garden not growing enough yet, she already knew what she was going to start making. The first trip to Gold Pine needed more anti-fatigue potions, with potentially some speed potions added on. The speed potions she wanted to test to see just how effective they were, but anything in decent numbers might make the next trip very quick.

 _As long as I don't just blur into the middle of the village talking like I'm high and buzzing from coffee, I'll be fine._

"Ok, breakfast time. Hold on Penny, I'll see if I can't get you something." She opened her inventory and looked at what was available. There were nuts she could crush up, that would work. Once the nuts were crushed and dropped in, Penny spent no time pecking them up. Now that she was fed, the dev and the wolves needed their bellies full. There was still some salted pork available, along with some jam and "one" slice of cheese. She worried the cheese wasn't edible either, and sure enough, it wasn't. There was some dried fruit too though, which was nice. It curbed the hunger, but they didn't eat the salted pork as she was worried it was too much sodium for the wolves. It was definitely too much for her. The dev would have to boil it in chunks to make sure she didn't die from dehydration.

As she got prepared to head out with the wolves, she mulched one of the logs she used to block the gate the day before and sent it into the pulp box for some paper, now with a queue system. Once it was finished, she'd have a tome, and finally, a decent perk. She knew exactly what it was gonna be. Fifty percent accuracy while using a bow. A computer would give one hundred percent. The tome was going to take six hours to complete, which was fine right now. If she got one for accuracy with bows and one for Tracking Small Game at least today, it was going to be a win.

"Oh, wait, hang on… can I add that here…" she checked her Hud and noticed she didn't have a targeting reticle. It was probably because there was no way to know where she was going to be aiming each time. It was real life after all. She soon found out she couldn't add it. "Well that's a shame. Huh. I wonder if I can make a perk for that." As the pack left the fort, her mind started wandering about what she needed to upgrade. She had seventy Attribute Points, one hundred eighty Skill Points, seventeen Perk Points. At least two of those perks were now claimed or will be claimed, followed by a third if she could manage it. She pushed another thirty Skill Points into Prospecting to help find more ore if she ever ran out. That was a really big if. That was a drastic upgrade, as now she was no longer getting the "gut feeling" and realized there were markers telling her which direction to go while mining, including what she might find.

Two special abilities were now always on, passives now. The first one, "Support Walls and Canaries" seemed to both drastically lower hazards from happening as well as warn her if something was going to happen while in a mine. If the floor was about to crumble under her, that passive would somehow strengthen it via some unknown aura, while the Canary effect would tell her if she was about to break into a nest of evil, or spiders, maybe evil spiders even. The second ability was "There's More Where That Came From." It added an automatic increase in size to all veins by twenty percent that she was mining, which seemed to confuse her. She'd much rather just get twenty percent more ore, not make the vein bigger or harder to mine. She didn't even know how that worked, as that might cause structural integrity issues with the walls and make stone collapse if it grew. It had to be "condensed" veins, with more gotten out of the vein before it dried up. Combined with Metallurgy and Gathering, that might be far more than sixty percent gains each time though. If the vein was "condensed," and she got forty percent just from Gathering and Metallurgy, that might mean it was a lot more now.

Selene then added thirty more points to Tracking, allowing her to find prints almost everywhere, just not always know if they were fresh. Combined with the new special ability "Not Small Enough for My Eye" which gave her a twenty-five percent increased chance to find small game for one minute within one hundred meters, and she just knew they were getting food. That made her think that the perk she was going to make might need to be changed to large game instead of small. She now had one hundred Skill Points left. She'd come back to those once she finished hunting.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

Breakfast. Was. Served. Once she had a chance to use "Not Small Enough for My Eye" out in the forest, between Ash and Selene finding them and Blue nabbing animals before they could scurry away, there was no chance of anything small escaping. It was over before they even started, cutting down on hunting time by a massive amount. Once they got back, there were fifteen voles and six rabbits. There was no need to hunt for the next two or three days. Also, along the way, the dev had found multiple bird's nests with some small eggs. They weren't chicken eggs, but they'd do for an omelet. "I need a rooster" she casually said to herself as she thought back to the old man at Gold Pine while chewing on some cooked meat. She didn't have an alarm clock yet, and if it fertilized the chicken eggs, she'd have more chickens without having to buy them. They'd obviously have to grow up before they could make more eggs, but it was an investment. She had made a skillet now and a grill to put over the campfire, along with a few pots and pans.

Her view of cooking over the campfire was that it didn't need to be in her inventory despite it being possible. She liked the cooking, the warmth, and the smell of the food. The wolves liked sitting around with her while she did it as well, not because they were hungry, but because it was just the main spot to hang out together. It was the center of their home, their hearth. If she ever got a chance to upgrade to a nice house with a fireplace, that would probably be the next new spot for all of them, with some comfy padded chairs and a good book. The wolves would each have their own beds and blankets, while she had a night stand next to her with a glass of whatever strong liquor she could find out there that tasted good, a "night cap" before bed.

That was a far-off dream right now, but it was getting closer by the day.

 _ **Five Hours Later**_

Nutrient Replenisher was now a spell, which would greatly help the gardens stay functioning. She'd never need fertilizer, but if she doubled down on both, it might make some really large vegetables. X Minor Growth Spurt was now a spell as well, along with a tome ready for writing a perk. Her accuracy with the perk and using a bow quickly rose now to one hundred percent. Selene tested one arrow on the training dummy, launching an arrow right into the chest, center mass. A second arrow hit close by. Each arrow she fired was hitting no matter what, but it wasn't doing any "special attacks" to the dummy. There were no arrows splitting each other, there were occasional head shots, but nothing incredible. That must have been what critical chance was for.

 _Wait, hang on… I have one hundred percent chance with a target standing still. Does that go down on a target moving?_

She thought hard on that, then decided not to take the chance. She set a new tome into crafting for another fifty percent, just to make sure she would hit no matter what. She could always replace it later. It would be a while before she could make a computer, so using tomes to fill up the perks slots was beneficial right now. The writing desk was now open for another tome, but it wasn't finished yet. "Damn it… maybe… maybe I should…" she looked at Crafting Time in her stats list and narrowed her eyes. She bit the bullet, so to speak, and added twenty-five points in. That would increase speed in any station, regardless of tools, by twenty-five percent. Her Molecular Reformation power had a separate craft speed at twenty percent, which was only really useful if she was trying to build up the fort or move something emplaced. She could easily move the campfire without picking up a single stone, making anything "slide" across the ground as she shifted the terrain around below it. It was a little difficult, even with the upgrades she put into it, due to having to play one of those sliding puzzles to sift the materials below whatever she was moving around. It worked regardless, it just took some time to do it. That option was far better than tearing anything down and building it back up where she needed to place that piece of furniture or wall. She had forty-five Attribute Points left right now, so she saved that for "a rainy day."

Selene's view on constantly saving the points seemed to stem from dungeon crawlers she used to play, as some of them required a certain stat to be at a certain number to allow armor to be worn. If you didn't have that stat to the level required, the armor was red. This tended to make lots of players keep a hefty amount of points in reserve for when they needed to wear a new upgrade they found. There were also the gamer achievements they set for themselves, like speed runs or "how far can you get with just this." How far can a player get with starter equipment? How far can a player get just by being a pacifist and not attacking anything? The list kept going. Those gamers were the ones who started the creation of achievements, and in her eyes, were damned impressive, every single one of them. She still didn't know if there was an achievement every ten levels for doing things without a high amount of points used.

 _Time to test this X Minor Growth Spurt._

As she focused on the plants in the herb garden, the spell started casting. It took a good ten seconds to finally get fired off. She figured she'd need to add some points into casting time later. It could also just be the tier of the spell. The plants grew a little bit, not much. Her mana went down by twenty-five points from one hundred. "That's expensive for what it just did."

 _It's the bottom of the barrel tier. It probably increased growth by ten percent or something._

She cast it again, and again, with a final cast of Nutrient Replenisher. Her mana had completely drained, but from what she knew right now, her regen was one mp per minute. She'd have a full bar in an hour and forty minutes. Despite the wait, she had increased the growth of the plants by thirty percent, and they were almost grown now. A few more casts and they'd be flowering and harvestable. During that time, X Minor Firebolt and Very Minor Light Orb were being crafted on a scroll, now at four hours. She added Very Minor Growth Spurt into the queue, but it showed a red X over it. She was running out of herbs, and the garden hadn't fully grown yet. If she could keep casting the bottom tier Growth Spurt every two hours, she'd have enough to get the next step no problem by the time it was ready to be made.

While she was waiting, she figured it was best to go down into the mine, use Molecular Reformation, and gather materials she could use to finish upgrading to Common tier equipment. She'd need exotic materials after that, but at least she'd have decent "mid-tier items" compared to Yggdrasil. As she pulled chunks of ore from the veins in the cavern and tunnels, her mind slowly slipped to the walls and stone, along with the gold veins. She didn't want to mine up much more stone, as in her eyes there were ideas popping up of what to do with it later. If she could hold off on it, she hoped she'd get the full design on how to craft a castle. Her little fort would drastically expand to have bed rooms, living rooms, dining hall and armory along with some stone walls. If she could bore long holes into the stone and shove some wooden logs with Roman Cement, it would be like poor man's reinforced concrete.

 _ **That Night**_

With Very Minor Growth Spurt now gained, as well as Very Minor Light Orb, things were easier in the fort. She could put one large orb in the middle of the fort where she was, and it lit up a good size of the area. The Very Minor Growth Spurt now provided a twenty-five percent boost to the growth of a plant. It was taking large amounts of nutrients from the soil each time, but that was what Nutrient Replenisher was for. It might be possible to do it on an animal, but she was worried it would cause defects or abnormalities in a larger creature; plus, she didn't want to do that to the pups. They needed to grow up, and young animals or people needed that time to learn and enjoy playing. Screwing that up for them would be mean.

 _Everyone wants to be an adult, until they are. Then they want to be a kid again, so they don't have to do everything an adult has to do like taxes, and jobs, and grocery shopping, etc._

She was now breaking even with casting Growth Spurt and trying to use the herbs for upgrading her spells. If she could get Minor Growth Spurt developed, it might give a fifty percent boost. It always seemed to take twenty-five mana points from her bar though, which was fine right now. It wasn't as if she was slinging spells left and right to fend off a siege. There was a stat that lowered casting cost as well, which would come in handy later. Her X Minor Firebolt spell was… interesting. It took on the look of a small fiery bullet in size and didn't seem to do much beyond set a small fire at the target location. Her training dummy had already been riddled with holes, so setting him on a pyrrhic ride to the afterlife seemed like a good send off, before replacing him with a new one. At the moment, it was more like a stronger Spark Finger than anything else.

She already had some more spell scrolls in the works for the crafting queue, along with her second tome of accuracy now finished. Her accuracy with a bow would always be one hundred percent, even if it was moving. It only worked on bows, however, not crossbows. This could change in the future once she was able to make at least a Common tier crossbow that repeated, which was very soon. She was five hammers away from reaching that tier.

"Come on… I'm patient… I can wait…" they slowly ticked into her inventory one at a time until she finally had one hundred of them. Immediately she sacrificed them and got Common, then used the remainder of materials she had to try and speed up the process of making some Damascus Steel. If she was careful, given her crafting time was now twenty-five percent faster and with improvements to tools, she could make it in as little as a few days now. It would slow her tech progression, which she wanted. She had just barely gotten to two thirds past tier 12, Post-Classical Era, as the amount of actions required were going up. If she could just get to tier 13, Early Middle Ages, it might be a good spot to stop temporarily so she could get all steel equipment, and finally make some Common Steel chain mail. Having steel parts on her crossbow would be nice as well. Steel tipped bolts would be heavy hitters, her first armor piercing ammo. All she'd need to do is replace her two bow perks with crossbow perks or have two crossbow perks next to them. She had the points to spare for that.

It was decided then, at that very moment, she'd work hard to at least get to Early Middle Ages while spells kept being learned, then craft her steel, so she stopped any use of resources for making steel right now. Once that was done, second trip to Gold Pine. As she got ready for bed after spending so much mana that day, she looked at her stats, specifically Crafting Time. Her level was now just over eighteen, which was making her wonder just how much it would take to get to nineteen. Crafting didn't give her experience, doing things gave her experience, and she wasn't doing the crafting; the stations were doing all the work for her. "But if I shove another twenty-five more points into Crafting Time… fifty percent speed boost… some steel earlier… make it easier to move on up…" She looked at her fifty-five free points.

 _That would help speed everything up. Compared to other stats, that would make things easier to gain, new potions, new spells, new research, new gear._

She focused on throwing the points into Crafting Time, getting it up to fifty percent. Thirty Attribute Points left. Those she was going to hold off on. If she could reach level twenty, she wondered if there was some special effect she'd get for surviving that long, some new ability to help her out. That might be worth shoving fifty points into all in one go. Until then, the steel crafting would drop to two days. Tomorrow, Early Middle Ages. Immediately after, steel.

While she was going to be sleeping, the writing desk was going to be making an X Minor Lesser Heal, which seemed like an oxymoron in a way. There was also placed into the queue X Minor Lesser Resistance, X Minor Armored Skin, X Minor Trip which seemed to be a way to knock an enemy over if they were coming for her with the stronger tiers causing more enemies to do it, and what she could only figure was a Fus Ro Dah type spell aptly named "X Minor Concussive Blast." With these, she could keep things at bay, trip an enemy to give her an opening to attack or run away, heal, protect against both elemental damage and be more resistant to scrapes and cuts. If she could start upgrading those tomorrow while working on steel, they would be far more effective.

 _Wait, so… Extremely Greater Lesser Heal?... whatever, if it heals it heals. I'll change the name later if I feel like it. Not nearly as bad as Japanese Engrish._

The interesting thing she noticed was the spells at least seemed to give a general idea of what they did once learned. Lesser Heal probably would just be a small heal regardless of strength, but it might be fast. There was an instant heal spell as well, but that automatically showed a cooldown just in the creation alone. There was a Greater Heal, which had a really long cast time but probably healed a massive amount of health, a Halo Heal which seemed to heal everyone around the person casting it, a Chain Heal that probably cast around corners for a group that was out of line of sight, and many others. There was even a Heal Shield that seemed to heal each time someone got hit, ignoring some of the damage. The sheer amount of healing spells was just mind boggling. "Heals twice as much when it's night and half as much when it's day" she read from one, Shadow Heal. There was a reverse of that as well, The Sun Heals All Wounds. There were ailment cleansers as well, Cleanse Less Poison, Cleanse Lesser Curse, Cleanse Lesser Infection, Cleanse Lesser Evil. That last one made her wonder if she'd ever see a real-life version of The Exorcism, just faster due to the spell.

 _You're Exorcised! Now fuck off demon! I got stuff to do!_

Unfortunately, most of the healing spells were "locked" until she could get Lesser Heal to maximum quality tier. The interesting thing about the heals wasn't that it healed more health the stronger it was, but that it healed more wounds in the same cast, depending on how bad the wounds were. A Lesser Heal wasn't going to stop a sucking chest wound, but it would close it up with enough casts, or multiple stab wounds, if the caster was willing to drain their mana to do it. The stronger heals would just work more efficiently, on worse ailments. Magical Power, the stat that governed spells, would increase the effect of even the smaller magics. That wasn't including Flasks, Elixirs or potions either, or modifications to equipment.

She could make some Lesser Elixirs, but they were hideously expensive in materials right now, which would ease up once Growth Spurt was a little stronger. Elixirs were long term potions that lasted for twenty-four hours, she already knew that feature. Flasks seemed to last a whole week. There were Kegs, but that didn't seem like something to be drank by one person. The effects would last the whole month, as they should due to the long brewing of whatever effect it would give.

Selene already knew about interruption of spells that could be caused by interrupt spells as well as a certain amount of damage inflicted to the caster. She hazarded a guess that pain and light headedness from blood loss would also cause issues with channeling any spell. Suddenly, the firebolt looked like it might be effective against another wizard, if she met one, and he didn't have resistances to fire or a protective shield around him or herself.

As she fell asleep, her spells kept ticking along.

 _ **Two Weeks, Four Days, Second Trip**_

The dev had finished her Damascus steel for her sword, as well as steel for her new crossbow and reached Early Middle Ages. There were two new perks to add accuracy for the new projectile weapon, as well as chainmail armor for most of her body. Her shield was now fully steel which didn't add much weight, as well as steel tipped crossbow bolts. It wasn't a repeating crossbow yet, but her knowledge had increased drastically in the design compared to when she could first craft one. They had existed since before AD times, just not in a very impressive way.

During the two days, she had been casting Growth Spurt, now upgraded to X Greater, causing her herb garden to almost explode in materials each time. The X Greater form allowed a one hundred fifty percent speed increase, with the extra fifty percent apparently adding an abundance of extra flora. Each time she used it, the garden looked like a miniature jungle, but at the cost of the dirt becoming nutrient starved. To counter this, she always casted Nutrient Replenisher right after. Her Lesser Heal spell was upgraded to X Greater as well, which seemed to be able to make all wounds on a body heal to a certain degree. Again, it wouldn't stop a near fatal wound, unless cast multiple times, but if it was a lot of scratches cuts and bruises, all of them would be gone.

Her Lesser Resistance was also X Greater, allowing twenty-five percent resistance to all elemental spell effects. It wasn't a huge boost, but at the same time it gave those boosts to all elemental resistances. She wanted to increase Armored Skin, but there wasn't enough time, given she also decided to get Very Minor Cleanse Lesser Infection and Very Minor Lesser Cleanse Poison for if she ever ate anything that didn't agree with her.

During the past two days, she had also attempted to craft coins. Unfortunately, this was going to be a problem. Of the ninety-five copper coins she had, there were at least eight different symbols stamped on the front, and thirteen on the back. The Silver coins were similar. While she had access to copper, she really didn't want a bag full of copper coins with different stamped symbols, and she hadn't yet found a silver vein. She needed gold coins to figure out what would mint symbols look legitimate when she bought things. To do that, she'd need to make another trip to Gold Pine. Once there, she would get her hands on a gold coin, bring it back, and copy the stamped symbols. Given that any coins she had wouldn't disappear if she teched up, Selene had already mined a gold vein and smelted it into five gold ingots. These she was bringing with her to Gold Pine. Any other veins would be minted with the new gold coin she would get, or many gold coins if she could get them.

Not only would she bring five gold ingots to potentially buy a huge amount of materials if she could or trade to the mayor for gold coins if possible, but also twenty iron ingots, twenty bronze ingots, five copper ingots just in case Giles had something special he wanted to make, some Linen Clothing she had made, some ale she had crafted with her brand new still that was a far cry better than the stuff the inn was selling, some pint glasses, tableware, the pot she forgot to trade last time with some new designs and glazing on the inside, some more soap and finally some poultices with extra bandages and two Very Minor Mana Potions if she resorted to using healing magic. There were even some homeopathic remedies she was able to cook up in the alchemy station when a campfire was connected to it, like an old-fashioned cough syrup or fever reducer and some basic, bad tasting vitamins. The poultices were now at least Minor quality, and the bandages were tier 1. With the healing items she was hoping she might be able to run a medical shop as a limited healer. People couldn't afford healing potions, even the X Minor versions, so this might get her just enough to combine to get a gold coin in one day, if not more with everything selling. There was no guarantee all of this would be wanted.

How was she going to carry all of this? With her brand-new wagon cart. She'd wheel it around the hills while drinking Very Minor Stamina Potions and Very Minor Speed Potions. When she got tired, a Very Minor Anti-Fatigue Potion. The problem she now faced with any alchemical drinks was… each one had to be upgraded separately for the best mixture. She had crafted one hundred of each X Minor, then sacrificed those to get the Very Minors. This took more time than she expected, as it had to be done to all the potions she thought she'd need, even a Lesser Stamina Elixir she was going to use to increase her stamina by twenty percent and a Lesser Speed Elixir. It appears that the Greater Stamina Elixir would only unlock after she had reached maximum quality on the Lesser, which would be Extremely Greater at seventy percent. The Greater Stamina would start at one hundred percent, being a full thirty percent better than the strongest Lesser Stamina Elixir.

Combining the Very Minor Lesser Speed Elixir, which was a hell of a mouthful for her, as well as a Very Minor Speed Potion for small spurts, allowed a thirty percent boost to her movement speed, at least temporarily with the potion. She could keep running straight to the village and probably not get tired. She had only made ten of the V Minor Stamina Potions and ten V Minor Anti-Fatigue Potions, which was plenty to get where she needed to go and back again. The trip last time took half the day. This time it was going to take only a few hours, allowing her to get to know the people there and set up the little healing station. Once she got her gold coin, she was pretty much done with what she wanted to do and could putter around for the rest of her trip. To allow herself to pick up the cart with all her trade goods, she had made a Very Minor Lesser Strength Elixir, adding a twenty percent boost to her strength stat. Surprisingly, due to all her hard work the past weeks, she was able to move the loaded cart without much issue. It would be a problem going up hills, but she wasn't going over. The path easily weaved between them towards Gold Pine.

"Alright guys, let's go!" She drank a speed potion and picked up the cart handles, charging ahead with the wolves following. Luna sat on the cart, acting as if she was riding a carriage. Selene had chosen to only wear Common Leather Armor instead of the chain mail to appear less threatening to them, as well as cut down on weight. As she made her way to the village, she was downing a speed potion and a stamina potion every time she felt the need to or slowed down. By the time she reached the village and rolled up to the main entrance, she had only gone through three stamina potions and three speed potions, with one anti-fatigue potion thrown into the mix. She had forgotten that all the labor she was still doing hunting and running and fishing had bulked her up a little more. She was no amazon or muscle fitness woman, but she was a little more toned. Practicing with the bow and sword also helped a bit.

The villagers were surprised she was there again, but very happy after seeing the cart she brought behind her. What she noticed as soon as she wheeled the cart to Giles was there was a trader caravan that had veered off from the main street and had set up shop in the open area near the podium. One of them seemed to have a good deal of the villagers gathered around it as the trader talked about some special item.

 _Oh god, he's one of those._

"Hey there Miss Selene! I trust the day is doing well by you?" Abby asked with a smile on her face as she gave a piece of bread to Giles and a small cup of ale. He was sitting at a bench drawing out the specifications for some equipment he was going to make. "Ah, you, sight for sore eyes. Glad to see you again lass. At least I won't need to try buying the junk from those fools over there." He nodded with his head in the direction of the caravan.

"You mean the snake oil salesman is selling ingots too?" the dev asked with a cocked eyebrow. All three of them were watching as the salesman tried to entice people to buy his product. "Is that what your people call them? Snake oil salesman? I didn't think you could oil a snake" Abby asked as she looked confused. "You can, well certain types of them… that's not the reason we call them that. He's scamming them. What's the quality of his ingots like?" Giles grunted and took a sip of his ale. "Piss poor. Quite a bit of impurities, flaking, the bars don't even hold together properly. I dunno where he got them, but it wasn't from any smithy I know of. No one would be caught making that scrap, they'd be run out of business in less than a month."

Selene grinned a little and pulled out an iron ingot from her cart. Giles laughed. "Ah! There's some quality that I need! Hey, I made use of the last ones you brought me. Not one complaint, made forging a fence a synch, along with fixing that shovel for Daven, Repairing the hoe for ol Remmy, and tons of other stuff. A lifesaver you are girl." She started to stack her pile on his bench as he checked through a small list she had made on a piece of paper. "Uh… lass… I know you're helping and all… but I can't read these chicken scratches you call writing…"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You don't know my people's language after all, so it figures. twenty iron ingots, twenty bronze ingots, five copper ingots." Abby looked at the cart and saw something else glinting under a blanket. "What's that? Don't want to trade that as well Selene?" The dev turned around, confused for a second at what she was pointing at. She immediately got worried and jumped to the cart. "Uh, that's nothing! Um, I got some equipment made for myself and I just didn't put it away yet! Sorry, not quite for trading just yet. Got to put some finishing touches on it." A big liar's grin was plastered on her face as she hoped Abby wouldn't press further. "Oh well, maybe my husband might be interested in buying some when their finished?" The dev tried to pick her words carefully. "Uh, no no! This is for my village. Yes, they needed some new things made and it takes a bit of effort in a… we must use a much colder area to craft them, yes! The cooling effect on them." Abby shrugged and helped her husband count the ingots.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This right here can heal you of all ailments, I assure you! Just one swig of this and it will cure coughing, rashes, sniffling, it can even make people walk! You there, won't you come up to try this amazing concoction?" The salesmen pointed to one woman down below his cart and brought her up.

"That's clearly one of his own in the caravan that no one realized mingled into the group." Selene pointed to her as she got up stumbling onto the small stage and tried the drink while attempting to look like she had a leg wound and crutch. She immediately dropped the crutch and proclaimed "My! I'm cured! Thank you!" and stepped down, walking as if nothing was wrong.

"Such bullshit. That doesn't cure people." Selene had had enough of the salesman. "STOP TRYING TO FLEECE THESE GOOD PEOPLE ASSHOLE!" she yelled with her hands cupped over her mouth. Everyone looked down the street at her, including the salesman. "Oh ho! You believe this isn't one fine handy dandy medical remedy? Why don't you come over here and test it yourself!" Giles looked up at her while he picked at his much larger purse, due to the fact he was at least getting paid for the repairs around the village with the materials she had previously brought.

"One minute and I will!" She looked at Giles who counted out ninety silver for her, which she took and thanked him greatly. He put his arms up in a welcoming hug, and she received it. "Go wreck his day lass." The dev picked up the handles of her cart and wheeled it towards the caravan. "Look at this! She's another trader! She probably just doesn't like that everyone is over here instead of buying her faulty wears!" The salesman laughed out as he pointed towards her. "Hang on there! Her ingots are the best quality Giles has ever seen! Shut your face up!" One woman yelled out as others agreed with her. Selene lowered her cart and stood next to it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, this man is selling something that doesn't work. That woman there isn't from this village, is she?!" The dev yelled out as the villagers looked at her. She backed off towards the caravan. "That's right! I've never seen her around before." Some started muttering to each other. "I just moved here to settle down! I live in a small camp nearby!" The woman yelled out to the crowd. "Everyone, that concoction is a fake. It doesn't heal people; real medicine heals people. Like so." She pulled out some clean bandages that were rated by her as tier one now at least, along with her poultices. "You" she pointed at one man with two broken fingers on one hand "how much is he selling that swill for?" He stepped forward and looked around before answering. "Fifteen silver he is."

Selene laughed. "So more than a real healing potion? How about this. Come over here. Would you pay me five silver to heal those broken fingers of yours? Where did you get hurt? Farming?" she asked. "Cow pushed on me hand near the fence, couldn't get them away fast enough." She nodded and touched his hand. A slight glowing nimbus enveloped his hand for a moment as she cast Lesser Heal on it, completely resetting the bones and sealing the fractures. "She's a healer! A pure holy healer!" he gawked at his hand as he wiggled his fingers.

"Uh oh, time to go while their distracted…" the salesman behind them whispered as they packed their things quickly, shut down the stage and flipped the caravan, heading back down the road away from the village. The auburn-haired woman saw the mercenaries hiding in the back of the coaches, with ramshackle equipment worn. "Good riddance." Others came right up to her and just waited. "Can you heal my coughing?"

"Please! I have a nasty blister on my foot!"

"My daughter is sick! Please, cure her!"

"Ok, ok, I'll see what I can do. For the record, I never said I was a healer. I'm a trader here, selling wares. Let me see what services I can provide in the healing department. Remember, payment is variable depending on service rendered." Everyone started whispering as she started to tend to people. "That's amazing! So affor… affor…" "It's affordable, yes."

Selene started tending to people as they came up, checking their symptoms and providing care where she could. To those that had coughs, she recommended taking the cough syrup instead of paying for the regular healing, as it was even cheaper, selling for thirty copper. She used her limited magic where required for five silver each cast, poultices and bandages where she advised it wasn't required for one silver, and for low issue ailments less than that. The total cost of the resources she used to make the syrup was maybe a few coppers at most she figured, so she was making a killing for something that actually worked. "Drink this, it will help ease the symptoms. Only take two tablespoons every few hours. If it continues by the next time I come here or gets worse, let me know. I'll cut the cost of future medical assistance to nip it in the bud."

"Bless you kind woman. Bless you and all your family."

"What's her name? She's amazing!"

"She's really going to be coming back? We have a good trader way out here now? Oh, I hope she has something I could buy."

"I wonder if she's married. She needs a strong man in her life." That whisper immediately made her look up at the two men talking with half closed dull eyes and a very unimpressed face. "Not happening. You here to get fixed up or gossip like school girls?" Both men cringed at her annoyance aimed towards them.

While she was helping anyone who was wounded or ill, others asked if she had any wares to sell. She showed them the linen clothes she had made, the glassware she had available, the tableware for the kitchen tables. She even sold the glazed pot she had the previous trip, along with the soap that the women just loved the smell of.

By the time she had finished tending to the people that needed help and selling the remainder of her wares beyond the gold ingots, she had easily made well over three hundred silver. Combined with the eighty silver she gained from Giles, she just needed to convert it into one gold coin and keep the remainder. "Does anyone have a gold coin I can exchange some of this silver for?" She asked up to everyone slowly walking away. "A gold coin miss? I think the mayor is the only one who has one of those." Giles walked up behind her and clapped his hand on her shoulder. "I've got one lass. I'm willing to swap some coin with you, no worries." She smiled and patted his hand on her shoulder. "That's nice to hear."

Once back at the smithy, Giles pulled a hidden box under a stone behind the forge. Inside, was six gold coins and numerous silver coins. He even had one platinum. "Whoa…" she whispered to no one. She was wrong about how poor they might have been the last time, but on second thought, that might be all that they had saved up. "You just want one or you wanna swap the rest too? I don't have many." Selene snapped out of her stupor and looked at him. "Um… nah, just one should be fine." He picked a single gold coin up and handed it to her in exchange for one hundred silver. "You should check with Moira Selene, she might be interested in any of those glasses you might have left" Abby told her. "You know, I'll do that. Thanks." As she waved goodbye to both of them and carried her cart towards the inn, she noticed an amazing horse tied to the post outside. It was magnificent, easily a foot taller than a Clydesdale, with beautiful white mane and white fur hooves. Its color seemed a dark brown with a white mark on its forehead and muzzle. It was entirely clad in some impressive barding. It was incredibly calm just standing there drinking from the trough in front of it. "Wow, you're beautiful. Whoever owns you must be very proud."

Before she entered the inn, she looked around to see if anyone was watching her. A few were, convinced she was a fantastic trader, which was irking her a little. She needed to grab the gold ingots and shove them in her backpack. She used the blanket to feint the movements as she dropped her pack on her cart and opened it, carefully positioning them inside so they didn't break any potions. Once she was happy with how they settled, she picked up the pack and entered the inn with a few glasses she had hanging from both hand's fingers, using her feet to move the door.

Moira was cleaning her counter again, but what was new was the man sitting in the corner, dressed like a seasoned soldier. The drunkards were all asking him questions about his many feats of strength, but he seemed tired. His hair was salt and pepper colored and brushed backwards, with a mostly grey mustache. He looked well weathered, but his armor said otherwise. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was a man of high standing, maybe a captain of a military? The dev walked up to the counter and said hello to Moira. "Ah, it's you luv. Whatcha got there?" Selene placed the glasses on the counter and dropped her pack next to her, with the wolves sitting besides her. "Got any use for these?" she asked. The stout woman looked over the glasses and flicked her fingers against the sides, hearing a resounding heavy plink each time. "Good quality, clear. I'll give a silver for each." The trader agreed, handing over ten of them and receiving ten silver.

"I'm telling you, I won't go that low for him, ever! If you drunkards just want to hear war stories then get away from me, the lot of you!" the soldier pushed one man out of his chair and waved his hand around as if to scatter flies. They slowly dispersed, grumbling. Selene turned around and looked at him, then glanced back at Moira. "New traveler?" she whispered. "Some General apparently. Said he was just trying to get away, paid for his room with a gold coin. Not the nicest, but I think there's a reason for it right now." Selene just watched him as he brought his hand to his forehead and stared at his drink and stew bowl in front of him. His eyes glanced up at her. "You a trader?" he asked.

"Kind of." "What does 'kind of' mean? You are, or you aren't."

"I am when I need to be. Why do you care?" a dry chuckle escaped his lips. "I suppose I shouldn't, given I hope to not stay here." The dev turned a little to be more comfortable in her chair. "Heading out for a war?" He chuckled again, this time stopping quickly after. "Heading away from the wars the kingdom just won't fight, that it won't try to win to protect the people that allow this blasted kingdom to exist."

 _Should I sit near him or not? Eh, it looks like he's just drowning some sorrows. I'm not like the drunkards around him._

She got up and walked over to a chair nearby, letting her pack sit with the wolves. If anyone tried to touch it, Blue would be the first to rip their hand off. "Why do you say that? Is there a war they don't want to fight?" she asked quieter to him. He looked down at his ale and took a sip. "Yes. It's the war against the brigands who now control the road here. They've gotten bolder, combining forces under one leader now, and attacking guarded caravans. I'm not allowed to lead an army against them, and their numbers just keep growing by the day. It's appalling. I can't do my duty to protect the people because of the greedy and corrupt nobility. It's all about politics now, never honor." He took another swig of his ale and ate some stew.

"Wait, are you saying the road is completely closed now? As in no one can make it through? How did you get here? With that caravan?" she asked him, confused. "I took a small path through the Azaltos mountains with my horse. That caravan might have just been lucky the first time. Is it still here peddling it's crap they call wares?" she shook her head. "Then they'll probably become dead men in a day or two." That wasn't good news. That meant no more traders were coming, and she was going to be their only life line. It meant money for her, but if she could mint some gold coins now, that meant nothing.

"Wait, then… why did you come here? Try and stop them yourself?" he laughed at that question. "Why would I do something so foolish as that? I might be an old soldier, and a general, but I'm no village idiot. Their numbers are in excess of two thousand right now. I'd be swarmed by them. No… I intend to escape."

 _Over two thousand bandits on the road?! That's an army of criminals and thieves! The Artinian kingdom won't do anything to help the people? Wow, they are evil. And stupid. Don't they realize they're cutting off taxes from this area by doing that? Or maybe they want them to be killed off, so they could resettle the area with more control, bleed new travelers dry._

"Where do you intend to go? This valley is closed off by Boramar and Azaltos Mountains, unless you know some secret spot to-"

"I do." He looked at her closely and looked around at the other men nearby drinking. "Where? You have some secret ship waiting to pick you up?" she asked in a hushed whisper. He didn't say anything for a minute, checking to see if anyone was listening. "I don't know if I can trust you." Selene cocked her head back a little. "Ok… how do I fix that? It's not as if I'm going to stop you. If you want to leave, then leave. I just don't know how you intend to do it." He leaned in close. "I have a ship waiting for me to take me, supposedly, to another land. It will cost me though, and I cannot bring my horse with me either."

She looked down at his stew and glanced back up at him. She got up and asked Moira for a bowl as well, paid with some copper coins, and sat back down. "I take it these are smugglers? Are they taking others as well?" He ate some of his own stew. "I don't know, and I don't care. I just need some more coin and I'll be on my way away from this wretched kingdom. A man of honor should be able to stand by his morals, not break them at the whims of the nobility." He took a sip of his ale and looked at her carefully. "Would you have the funds to buy a horse of purest breed? He is a fine warhorse, well trained and calm even in the direst circumstances. He has served me well, but I require money to get on that ship." She picked up the spoon and took a bite of her stew. It seemed to have very little meat in it, lots of potatoes, lots of carrots, lots of salt.

"Do you believe someone like me would have the funds to buy your horse? Being a trader?" she asked as she ate more. He laughed as he squinted at her, cocking his eyebrow as he looked at her movements. "Ha! Maybe, maybe not. I cannot tell how much a traveler with wares would have these days. However, I will only sell my horse for one hundred gold coins. That will allow me to get on that ship and settle somewhere for the rest of my life. I'm done being a dishonorable lackey."

 _One hundred gold coins?! I have… well… maybe…_

She coughed a little and looked around. "Look, I don't have that coin to buy him." He laughed again and continued eating, talking through mouthfuls. "I figured as such." She looked up into his eyes. "But I do have something that might be equal." He grunted and put his spoon down. "Unless it's gold bars I have no interest in any prized wares you seem to think so highly of." She looked at her pack, at the wolves, and then looked at the stew, fidgeting a little. He stopped laughing and watched her. "No way. Do you really?" "Shut it! People here…" his mouth shut quicker than a bear trap. He leaned it closer. "How is each bar worth?" she whispered as quietly as she could. "Twenty-five gold coins. How many do you have?" he asked while looking around. "Enough to buy your horse. Are you willing or not?" He stared for a moment, contemplating if he really was going through with this. He exhaled loudly and picked up his spoon, finishing up his stew and ale, waiting for her to do the same with her stew.

Once both of them were done, Selene picked up her pack and walked upstairs with the general to his room. The wolves followed and weren't being blocked from entrance. Even this man wouldn't stop them from protecting their alpha in his own bedroom. "Alright, prove it." She opened the pack and pulled out four gold ingots. He marveled over them, with no issue in their density and purity. "Did you get these from Silv… wait, nevermind. I don't want to know where you got these from, I don't care. These… I can pay with these… alright… alright! We have a deal." He picked up all four ingots and hid them in his chest that he then locked. She picked up her pack and they both headed downstairs and outside.

"This is Asterion, and a most prized creature. You… may… call him Aster for short if you wish… He is a thoroughbred of the highest caliber… and… my friend…" he started to pat him on the muzzle, looking into his eyes. "You will take utmost care of him, won't you? I… may go back on my deal if you won't do so." He looked at her with a hardened face, but there was pleading in his eyes. "I will. I take it he'll need new horseshoes every how long? I'm unaccustomed yet to horses. Tell me what he's used to, and I will do my best to accommodate." He looked shocked, almost worried he'd have to cancel the sale. "Once every six months replace the horseshoes, file down his hooves. He'll eat all manner of vegetables, but they must not be rotten or a pox on you. Clean grains. I pray you have a stable of high quality for him to stay in? He needs time to stretch his legs every day or he will become lax and weak. Do not do that to him."

"I'll make sure there is a stable, and blankets ready for him when I get back. He'll be well fed and taken care of, I assure you." He gave a few more pats on his muzzle, whispering. "This is your new master now Aster… you mind her, you hold her high. It… may not be into battle… but there are many ways for you to serve… stand tall and strong my friend… my partner in arms… my finest soldier…" Asterion nickered as his muzzle was being rubbed. "Please, take care of him. He is yours now." He untied the reins from the post and handed them to her.

 _FUCK! I don't have any skill points in Riding yet! Speed skill up time!_

She took the reins just as she multi tasked with her Hud to bring up her skills list and shoved fifty points into Riding. She now had seventy Skill Points left, but this was worth it. As she stepped to the side of Asterion, she felt intimidated by both his size and where the stirrups were as well as the information flowing into her head, making her feel a little light headed. She could barely get her foot into it from so high up. Luckily, the stirrups were adaptive, and could be loosened to drop them lower. But she wasn't going to ride him, at least not yet. She walked him over to her cart and attached the handlebars with some rope to his barding, then started walking away with everything. The general just watched as his friend was led out of the village, towards some unknown fate. Selene didn't need to stay there for any longer. She had sold most if not all her wares now, making a decent amount of silver. On top of that, she now had a gold coin she could mint copies of, a spare gold ingot, a giant of a warhorse she could ride around on, and a mostly empty wagon.

Once they were of a sufficient way away from Gold Pine, she checked to make sure no one was able to even see them before detaching the wagon cart from Aster and shoving it into her inventory. She couldn't have done that with a full load inside, as it seemed to not allow entrance, probably due to it being too complicated to sort back together if she pulled it from her inventory again. "Luna, hang on tight to mom." Luna was snug in the pack while she hefted all her weight and muscle up into the saddle, and suddenly everything seemed a little smaller now.

" _The warhorse was the Apache Helicopter of the Middle Ages. If you had one you were rich and destroyed all in your path, or you didn't have one and got trampled." – random historians._

She clicked her tongue and got him into a walk, then slowly moved him into a trot. She had gained a few special abilities, "Cavalry Charge," "Parade," "Fast Mount" and "Fast Dismount." Cavalry Charge would be used to head straight into a battle and use the armor of the horse as a miniature battering ram while giving Asterion a speed boost. Fast Mount and Dismount were pretty self-explanatory, as it most likely meant she could get up into the saddle quickly and get off it just as quickly. Parade seemed to be a joke ability, as it would probably cause her to put Asterion through the motions to show off her riding ability jumping over poles and prancing in one spot. The only thing it might do is make certain actions while riding easier if she used it.

They got home pretty quickly without any need of potions, while Blue and Ash got a chance to run a bit. They had stop after a few miles due to the wolves getting a little tired, but they made good headway, far faster than she could have if she was just pulling the cart with potion use. Once she got her new mount inside the fort, she quickly ran outside and tore down some trees to make a decent stable for him. She took off the saddle and barding, then removed the rest of the tack. Once that was off, she filled the stable with hay and brought over a linen blanket, then made a water trough and food trough for him. He was content, at least he didn't complain. He even licked her for all the effort she put in for him.

"Good boy. Lemme see if I can get some food for you. You like carrots?" He nodded his head up and down. She walked over to her vegetable garden and started to cast Growth Spurt. Within seconds, she had a lush patch of vegetables ready to be picked. She quickly cast Nutrient Replenisher on the plot, then grabbed some carrots and potatoes, some lettuce and peas. With the wheat growing, she was able to harvest far better grains than the general store could ever give her. She threw a few handfuls of grains into the feeding trough along with some berries, carrots and a little lettuce. He softly ate his food as she got a pot ready for some early dinner. She figured she could cook up some fish and meat she still had available into a stew of her own with veggies. As she opened her inventory to pull out some meat, she stared for a second at the salted pork still sitting in her first inventory.

 _Teching up only takes away resources I gather?! Anything I buy from someone else doesn't count! Crap, I already left… hmmm… I could make a quick run back… but Aster is already settled in without the saddle equipped… Note to self: buy salted stuff. It might not taste good by itself, but I'll probably be able to cook with it… wonder if I can find beef, chicken and pork bouillon too. This is going to be a new winter stash. I'll lose what I get each tech up, but with bought food it can stay for emergencies._

She now realized that she could modify the wagon cart so that it would have four wheels now, with a seat, and she could hitch Asterion to it to bring goods to the village. He wouldn't need to wear barding either. She now had a way to make gold coins, provided she had the ore veins to stock it. Given that it would be turned into coins, and coins were money, which doesn't disappear from tech ups, she would be fine. Just bringing a few gold coins each time would allow her to buy whatever she would need. The problem was that they wouldn't be resupplied by anyone again for some time. Bandits had now completely taken over the road heading from Glass Dale.

 _This doesn't sound good. If things get any worse, they might start thinking of heading further up towards the valley… towards Gold Pine. If that happens…_

She looked at her fort, her upgrades she had put into it. There wasn't much right now, given that everything that would be on the dirt was in her inventory working away, but there would probably soon be a need to install real fortifications into it. Right now, there didn't seem to be an immediate concern, but later, that could change very quickly.

While she was cooking a hearty meal with some cooked meat on the side for the wolves, she casually checked through her inventory and character sheet. Level nineteen. Ten more Attribute Points, twenty more Skill Points, another Perk Point. She was already crafting more tomes for new perks she'd add tomorrow morning, she just wanted to make sure she had perks for things she knew she'd use constantly. One of the perks might help for healing spells if she used low powered heals. The others… she'd have to think on them. She'd need to also improve some combat spells as well. Learning new ones might not be the best choice unless it would have a great effect at a low-quality tier.

She threw another thirty Skill Points into Farming to get a higher yield from the gardens. The plants would grow larger now at fifty percent, with only two special abilities from it so far, "No Need to Leave Fallow" which was somewhat useless unless she ran out of mana for Nutrient Replenisher, and "More Seeds Means More Food" which provided twice as many seeds if she pulled them out of vegetables. She'd have to start building more plots for extra gardens. Sixty Skill Points left.

 _If I grew all this extra food, and Gold Pine is completely cut off from supplies, I'd be the only thing keeping them alive… I… honestly don't know how I feel about that…_

Despite being able to push Metallurgy and Gathering even higher with the remainder of Skill Points, she decided it might be best to wait and see if she needed to add anything to Magical Prowess, Fortifications or Logistics. There were quite a few other skills she wasn't even looking at yet, but all equally useful. If she waited on future events, it would give her a better understanding of where to put another fifty points. Fortifications would help strengthen her defenses if she needed to make more walls, add catapults or ballistae. She hoped it didn't come to making those. The requirements for a lot of equipment was expanding now, with more than just "use ingots and wood." Things were requiring more rope, string, basic ratchet gears and showing any future upgrades would start to require exotic materials. She was worried she wouldn't be able to make any of it for a while. At least Roman Cement didn't need very special ingredients, or at least ones she couldn't craft at the alchemy station.

As much as she wanted to work out a plan right now, it would change later with new information. To focus and worry about it would just give her grey hairs. It's possible the brigands would head towards Glass Dale, as it would be much more advantageous to take a town that has money and resources, more citizens to rape and pillage from. Going after Gold Pine would be useless it seems, she couldn't figure out why anyone would do it. Until there was more intel, she was going to go about her daily business and keep surviving. They'd never find her fort, as no one is known to go past Gold Pine yet that survived.

There were a few hours left in the day before nightfall, she decided to grow some more herbs and start expanding flagstone around the log and wood slat walls as a precautionary measure. She'd also build a stone foundation to replace the dirt floor, raised her log cabin a few feet off the ground and added reinforced stilts with a small porch on the front entrance. By the time she was finished with the improvements, it was nightfall, but her fort looked a little meaner with better walls. Roman Cement was poured into any gaps to help seal against damage, and a few stone defensive corbels on the top. It still wasn't much, but it was a precautionary addition.

Her spells were complete that she had put into crafting, X Greater Armored Skin took most of the day, providing a forty percent armor rating increase to any unarmored parts of the body like the face, and her tomes for crossbow accuracy. She also made a perk for a targeting reticle, hoping it would work the way she needed it to. What it showed instead wasn't a point to attack, but the general arc of where projectiles would fire. It didn't work on melee weapons as there were so many variables, but at least with ranged weapons she'd know if the shot would reach a target. With the accuracy boosts, it would always hit, assuming she fought wind resistance, range and missile drop. It would help at least tell her if she's aiming too low, as she hadn't shot an arrow at anything further than one hundred feet. Archer volleys were an unknown to her.

 _I could make an Arteirobolos. Just to test._

She crafted an Arteirobolos on a pintle mount at a corner of the wall next to the gate. It was a Polyabolos modified, a smaller Scorpio with two arrow arrays on both sides. The closest thing to it would be a hwacha, but that used rocket propelled arrows which she had none of. This would fire a volley of arrows all at once with bowstrings on the back synchronized together from one hook. It wouldn't do much against an armored foe, but unarmored it would kill a few enemies all at the same time given the spread. Even if she didn't get a chance to use it on someone invading, it might be useful for any wandering animals for a quick kill. It just took a while to reload each arrow.

With that work done, she set her goals for tomorrow. She was going to make gold coins, while not en masse, at least a decent amount. She was also going to explore for the next two days and fill up her map information for the valley now that she had a horse. This could help her find a new mining point for any exotic minerals she didn't have. If she could make one, this would push her into Uncommon tier equipment, at least some of it. If she couldn't find any worth mining, which seemed doubtful, she was going to enchant her Common equipment with at least ten percent improvements.

That was going to be a lot of enchanting, as there were quite a few slots she had. Helmet, hood under helmet, face if she wore anything there, chest piece, pauldrons, cloak if she had one, scarf if she had one, greaves or leggings, belt or crotch guard, boots, knee pads if applicable, elbow pads if applicable, gauntlets or gloves, wristbands or armlets, ten finger rings, ten toe rings if she wanted to have them, three amulets and a tiara. That wasn't including sword, shield, ranged weapon, side weapon like a dagger or throwable weapons, or special attachments like a paladin holy tome strapped to the belt like she had seen in so much art design for characters in development, causing a blinding light to emit from it to ward off evil trying to attack him or her. There was even magical war paint and tattoos, if she wanted to look like a Celtic warrior.

All of that would wait until tomorrow and the next day, then another trip to Gold Pine to stock up on some dried food… that hopefully hasn't expired yet. Until then, it was rest for the night and enjoy the amount of spare time she had while Firebolt improved.


	9. Ch 8 Shifted Tech

_**Two Weeks, Six Days**_

As the dawn rays started to feed through the door into her log cabin, Selene started to wake up. She was groggy due to constantly awakening to make sure spells were finished crafting and then upgrading, which was starting to really piss her off. She finally decided would only research them while she was awake, and if she missed eight hours of inactivity, so be it. At least she'd get a good night's sleep. As she rolled over and looked up at the ceiling, trying to wake herself up and rub gunk out of the corners of her eyes, she could feel her pack slowly waking up as well. "Ugh… one these days guys, we're sleeping in. Like really sleeping in, just lounging in bed until past noon sleeping in." Ash yawned as Blue just hopped off the bed to head outside slowly. He probably felt the same way.

As she got prepared for a hunt that would feed them for the next few days, potentially the whole week with the mixing of more fruits and vegetables from her garden now, she checked on Asterion, Penny and the sheep. Her first thought to name them was Huey, Dewey and Louie, but there was a forth one in the mix. She settled for Lambert, Wooly, Sandy and Curly. After feeding and cleaning their pens, then feeding Aster and making sure he was ok, she took the wolves out and hunted for some meat. It didn't take long for them, as they found a stag out grazing. It took a few tries to stop it, but luckily it kept trying to run around in circles to throw off Ash and Blue but couldn't keep away from Selene who kept plinking arrows at it. She didn't want to use the crossbow due to the slower reload time, despite the repeating system on the top. Also, steel tipped crossbow bolts were a little overkill.

After breakfast, Asterion was saddled up and prepped for a ride. "You ready to run around a bit buddy? Get some exercise and help me see the surroundings? It'll be a fun little trip for the two of us." Ash whined a little at that. "Oh, sorry hon, but I thought you guys would like to just hang around a little, enjoy some sun." She looked up and saw that it was a little overcast. "Ok, well… if it rains, I don't want any of you getting soaked. I mean, do you really want to come?" the grey wolf barked, with Blue coming out from the old cave wondering what was happening. "Ok, but you'll have to keep up. Can you do that?" Ash barked again.

The dev filled up her waterskins and made sure there were some vegetables to feed aster along the way, some cooked meat for the wolves, and some pre-made stew. She was going to wear leather armor to move quicker from place to place, checking the area out farther than she could normally move on foot. From the size of the valley, she had only really seen maybe a twentieth of it if that much, including Gold Pine. She was mainly going to scout out the bottom of the Boramar Mountains for any other caves or points she would mark on her map with custom waypoints, so she could make a few mines, but also clean up any blank spots between the fort and the lake running North and East. Riding on Aster was fairly comfortable with the specialized saddle he came with and the Riding skill she had.

The small exploration trip was mostly uneventful. At one point they found a mountain lion drinking from a small pool of water further North that looked very healthy with two cubs, which they avoided, and Selene had seen something odd flying over head before disappearing over the top of the mountains. By everything she saw, it looked kind of like a gryphon and not an eagle due to having four extra appendages, but it was too far up for her to get a good look at it, as well as the fact it left after thirty seconds. It didn't look like it was hunting anything down below, which was good for them at least. The nests were probably on the other side near the ocean, and she was just seeing one doing a fly by.

As they continued along their prospecting trip, she marked a location for Granite, a decent copper mine, a lead mine and an iron mine. No zinc it seemed, or tin, but that might be further South instead or much further North, even a little further underground than what she was checking for. Her entire trip was just trying to find quick spots for resources, not heavy excavation to see if there was anything useful. By lunch time, they had explored up to a tenth of the valley, not just getting the mountain range checked but also looking for ground water and marble to set up a quarry. Despite not really needing it now, the marble and granite would be nice for exotic trade goods, and maybe architectural design for that nice house she wanted.

As they set down to eat with Aster needing a little help with a feedbag, Selene noticed way off in the distance to the North something that might be manmade, but she couldn't tell from so far away. It might have been buildings, but there was no smoke coming from a chimney and the general store owner said no one had survived way out past Gold Pine. Given that she hadn't been out this far, it might have been some camp set up, maybe this world's gypsies? They might be friendly. Once they were done eating and rehydrating, she checked the weather above with one of her new spells, "Forecast." It had three tiers, low, middle and high used for one day, one week and one month accordingly. It wasn't seeing into the future, just telling her what the weather was doing and how it was changing. The month tier seemed to be not very effective, as changes could move storms from one area to another very quickly, but the week and day tiers seemed quite useful. It even warned if there was fog or heat waves.

"Maybe we should have a little look? Just a small one, see if anyone is home. Maybe it's just a trick of the eyes, a rock formation." Ash and Blue were panting, enjoying just the moving around without running at a dead sprint to catch food. They were getting good knowledge of the terrain, with her map updating in real time with new topography each time she reached it. The greatest feature she learned now was that her map could be put in a 3D setting so she could figure out just exactly where she put a waypoint, either on the ground, underwater or floating in the air, with exact xyz coordinates.

As she remounted and headed towards what she thought were buildings, the small area started to take shape as she turned a few corners and went around some trees. There were buildings, five of them… but they were abandoned, and from what she saw, for good reason. The entire place was in shambles, with what looked to be at certain places, ragged cloth wearing skeletons on the ground. These weren't undead, just long forgotten bones of the people who lived here. She had stumbled upon a ghost town. The whole place, now that she had seen the bones, gave her the creeps.

"I doubt there is anything I'd want inside any of those buildings, and I'm getting a little freaked so let's just leave. I'm getting bad vibes from this place." She wasn't going to act like some movie actor entering each building and potentially getting into a jump scare with some zombie or undead inside. The next time she came back here, she was going to have a tank, or a really well armored bulldozer. She just didn't trust those houses. She turned Asterion around, who was all too willing to get away. While she didn't make him move to a canter, he did it anyways until they reached a certain distance, then slowed down. She placed a waypoint on her map "don't go here. Ghost town."

By the time they finished looking around, the day was almost over. They had made great progress on just horseback, with a full tenth of the valley explored. She now had quite a few custom waypoints, Points of Interest that auto marked for her when she filtered for resources due to the Prospecting skill, known cave entrances which seemed to end quickly and some could barely be called caves, as well as full topography showing the height of each plain for the area. As they got back to the fort, it started to drizzle.

 _Got back just in time._

She got Asterion settled into his stables and took off his saddle and reins, making sure his blanket was protecting him well. She still had some wood that she used to extend the roof for his home so he wouldn't get any water on him. The pack ate quickly, as just when they finished it started to rain in earnest. They headed for the cabin and would stay in it until early morning. Until she went to sleep, Selene looked through every marker she had found or made on the map, reading every detail. Not once did she find an area that could be considered viable to mine a certain something she might need in the future. That something was saltpeter, or Potassium Nitrate; she also hoped to find some samples of Sulfur, but she didn't have any luck. There might be some near the swamp, but that seemed unlikely. The thought occurred to her that once she reached High Middle Ages, she'd need to start thinking about gunpowder. Unfortunately, she wasn't finding the main ingredients for it.

Her mind kept wandering back to the ghost town. Was that what might happen to Glass Dale or Gold Pine? No, they must have had a decent standing guard for that area. It might have been a disease sweeping through that no one could resist, or the few who could abandon the dwellings. It still disturbed her, however, almost as much as the first time she had carved up an animal. The bones of people just lying on the ground… forgotten.

Hopefully she wouldn't find more of those around. She might have to ask Giles if he knew of any travelers who did try and make their way out here, if there were any named villages that tried to start up that they did any trading with. That might answer some questions she had. Until the next time heading out, they just listened to the rain falling outside the cabin.

 _ **Three Weeks**_

The rain continued for a good portion of the morning before letting up, allowing Selene to push on and explore towards the middle of the valley, just straight there, before heading back. The wolves followed her on horseback with Aster as they traveled through the forest that she had taken a healthy chunk out of already. Despite cutting down a lot of trees, she had expanded the fort to four hectares of space, meaning that the tree line wasn't that far from the front gates. As they passed the lake, she checked her fish traps and gathered a few Bass before heading forward more. The clouds were getting angry again, threatening to pour down on them, but the Forecast spell had told her she had a few more hours before it would start again.

As they reached the center of the valley and started to spiral a little bit to make sure she had a good center point, to start cutting her exploration into sections later, she noticed something hiding off behind a cluster of trees. As they got a little closer, she found it to be a decently sized log cabin. There was smoke coming from the chimney.

 _Someone else actually lives way out here? I thought no one went past Gold Pine?_

There was the sound of music playing inside, very soothing, almost welcoming. There was a porch that seemed to extend from the front to the side, with two chairs and a small table. Inside, through the window, she swore she could see a chest with gold and jewels sparkling, but it might have been a trick of the light from a nearby lantern or fireplace. The clouds looked almost as if they were going to open up again right then and there. There didn't seem to be anyone around, with the front door slightly cracked open. She could feel the warmth coming from inside. Both Ash and Blue were growling.

 _Why do I get the feeling this isn't a good sign that both are doing that?_

She was worried that as soon as she knocked on the door, someone would come around the corner to slit her throat or jump from the bushes. Her eyes roamed the surroundings, trying to see anything that moved nearby. Nothing seemed to stir, with surprisingly no sound from birds or small creatures nearby. That was not a good sign. She cast sense hostiles and immediately afterwards backed Aster further away, getting a decent distance… before casting X Greater Firebolt… at the cabin itself. As she raced away on Asterion, moving as fast as she could back to the fort with the wolves hot on her heels, she could hear a mosaic of screams and groans as if something unholy was dying from that fire she had just set. There wasn't anybody there to attack her. The cabin itself was alive. It was like a giant mimic. The sounds were horrifying, as she swore she could hear trees being broken in the backgrounds as it thrashed around, probably setting those on fire as well.

"I completely forgot that those things exist here! Holy shit, I may need bigger offensive spells…" she said to herself as her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She was fearful when she heard the sounds that it was coming for her and about to veer away from the fort, but the small forest fire she had caused kept it at bay, probably cooked it too. The rain started to come down hard halfway back, with thunder and lightning starting just as they entered the gate.

She got Aster settled into the stables and wiped him down, with the horse thanking her for that with a nuzzle. She didn't want him to be cold because of being wet, it was the least she could do after what having him carry her away from that thing. Once his blanket was on him and his straw was checked to make sure there was no dampness in it, she ran to the gardens to fast build a roof for each, to make sure they didn't get flooded. She watered them every day, so to have so much rain come down might kill all the plants.

As she finished and was drenched from head to toe, she ran to the cabin with the pups and dried them off with linen towels then dried herself, setting her clothes aside to dry on an overhanging rafter at the foot of the bed. "I guess we're staying in until tomorrow." She still had plenty of already cooked food ready for them to eat, along with a newly built furnace with wood to heat the place. Once they were full and lounging in bed for the rest of the night, the storm hitting hard outside, she checked her map again and started to mark new locations she wanted to check on and drawing section lines for areas she wanted to look into. It was possible there might be a need to go back to the swamp, but that alligator was huge. It's possible she wouldn't need to go near it, and just move along the mountain range to find any deposits. Her main concern was Sulfur, Saltpeter and gems if she could find them. It might also be possible to finally shoot the thing with steel tipped crossbow bolts. Given she wouldn't miss, it was an option now, not a very good one, but an option. She much more preferred if she could get a musket in the future. The ball shot would definitely kill it.

She set to task spells in progress at the writing desk and alchemy station, wanting to craft Lesser Regenerate and Lesser Rejuvenate. Regenerate would be a long-lasting healing spell, similar to a poultice but cast on the whole body. She was going to get that to X Greater by the end of tomorrow, alongside Rejuvenate, which didn't actually heal health. Rejuvenate would work on stamina, mana and other bars in need of a boost, revitalizing the body and mind to better fight off enemies. Combined, it was an easy one two survival cast that would heal wounds slowly along with keeping herself up and not slowing down if she had to run around to defend herself. Rejuvenate also would be viable while just doing menial tasks. It could even be used on Asterion and the wolves, allowing them to keep running if they were in serious danger.

Once those were in the works, she set the smelters to craft ingots for some modifications to the walls for better support. She was thinking of either building a lookout tower just to see the surroundings better, or if that didn't pan out, trade them later tomorrow to Giles. Before she went to bed, she checked the availability of moving up to tier 14 tech, Upper Middle Ages. She was ready. She stopped all manufacturing of ingredients and spells, as all of that would disappear in a second anyways. Once the tech up was complete, she had access to new designs and steps to build a real castle, along with some additions to tools and full access to gunpowder. The problem was getting the resources for it. While the castle wouldn't be built immediately, as she wanted to plan out the architecture and where each room was going, it was at least a viable action to take. If she completed it, she was sure she could easily move up to tier 15, Later Middle Ages, by that alone. Once that was done, all actions in her station were put on hold until she got some more resources, which wouldn't be until morning. It wasn't bad, she wasn't wasting too much time doing something important… it was called sleeping. Her level was just a quarter over level 19, she still had a way to go.

As she went to sleep, she dreamt of all the walls, the portcullis gates and having a ballroom. She'd have a throne chair at the front of it, though there probably wouldn't be any people dancing. There would be stain glass windows and maybe a round table just for shits and giggles, because she could, that's all.

 _ **Three Weeks, One Day**_

There was a light sprinkle of rain during the morning, but it eventually cleared up. During that time, Selene had mined up some more ore, set to smelting it, build some brazier mounts on the walls to light for illumination, cooked breakfast and in general cut down some trees to use in making more spells. Blue and Luna were playing tug with a bit of hemp rope she cut for them, and Ash was just sitting next to her as she regained her vegetables she lost from the tech up. Blue and Ash had caught a snake in the morning along with some mice and surprisingly, two wild Cornish chickens. Had she known they had found those, she would have told them not to kill them, as more eggs were always useful. This meant they'd need to hunt tomorrow, but at least today they were fine.

She resumed her spell research and got her smelters going with some ore she had mined earlier, along with a little practice on the training dummy. It wasn't much, but she was getting better at using a sword. Selene was actually preferring using the spear more, as it felt just right in her hands, she had more reach and she already knew from the Melee Weapons skill that it was a powerful weapon, tending to take out a sword wielder one on one more often than not. If a phalanx was tightly grouped, they could win most engagements against an equal group of swordsmen coming at them, simply because of the range they had. Everyone believes the best weapon would be a long sword or a katana, but a real life fight between someone with a decent spear or halberd just wrecks them from reviewing history. A Katana couldn't cut through a decently reinforced haft of a spear, a long sword couldn't get any hits in before the spear would stab the enemy in the throat or vital areas.

Selene got tired faster while practicing in her chain mail armor, which seemed a little uncomfortable compared to her leather armor. It would protect her more from attacks, but it was heavy. This was not light armor for fast movement, but if she was the only one that could defend herself, and she couldn't use arrows, a sword and shield along with chain mail was a good backup. It was resistant to blades, arrows, burning and to a limited extent blunt force if she wore padding underneath. The problem was, it got hot while she was wearing it due to all the padding. If a Warhammer struck her, she might survive, maybe with a broken bone. With leather armor, she'd be toast. There was a skill for Light and Heavy Armor, that might be something she would need to invest points in to help move better in either type.

Once she got her stations back up and running to help get her on the merry way towards Late Middle Ages, the dev started rubbing Aster down in the stables with a brush and scrubbed his hooves to make sure he had no itching of any kind. He enjoyed the attention, as she wanted to make sure he stayed clean. If he continued to be brushed, then there wouldn't be any bugs for him to try and bite at, no straw poking at him if it got stuck. She made a promise to the general, that she would take care of him as befit a mighty warhorse. She was going to keep her promise.

There was a banging at the gate. She quickly turned around and stared at it. The banging happened a second time twenty seconds later. Her eyes widened a little bit. The gate was fully sealed on the inside, with a double latch and wooden bar hanging on it. The hinges were iron with bronze assisting, making it really difficult for anyone to try and break in.

 _Who the hell is that? No one comes way out here. Please oh please don't be that mimic!_

Blue and Luna stopped playing and looked at the gate, with Ash creeping towards it and growling a little. The grey wolf looked up at her alpha, giving her a look that told her not to open up the fort to whoever was on the other side, one of her paws off the ground as she almost took on the look of a pointer. She trusted her pack's actions no matter what now, and if Ash didn't like whoever was on the other side, it meant she needed to be careful. It couldn't be Giles or Abby, as Ash wouldn't growl at them. She hoped it wasn't the mimic somehow still alive trying to break its way through. "Who is it? Identify yourself." She grabbed her chain mail armor and put it on as she grabbed her bow and crossbow. Her feet carried her up to the Arteirobolos on the walkway and looked outside carefully.

"Eh luv, uh… we're… just travelers that got a little lost and found this fort here… you the guard in this place?" A man asked under a worn cloak. There were five men, one with an eyepatch, all looking not quite right. "I am. Gold Pine is that way, half a day's journey. If you head out now, you'll make it." The men looked at each other. "Can't we come in and rest for a little? Our feet are so tired." Blue joined Ash looking at the gate. He was silent, but his teeth were bared. "You can rest outside, this is a military fort. No trespassers."

 _I'm going to have to lie through my teeth to keep these guys out of here. Something is wrong, very wrong._

The man with an eyepatch stepped up. "Maybe we can talk to your commander here, he might allow us to come in. Hopefully we'll see eye to eye." Selene stared down at them without batting an eye. "I am the commander here, and I'm telling you to go away." They all looked at each other, one of them giggled a little. "Come on luv, a woman can't be a commander for a military. You're lying to us. Go get him." She exhaled, trying to keep calm as she realized she was outnumbered right now. The Arteirobolos was fully prepared to be fired at any moment. "I said go away now! No trespassing!" They all looked at each other. Things were getting tense and the dev was getting worried. A few moments passed as they seemed to be whispering to each other and looking around. They kept glancing up at her and smirking. "You know… I wonder… are you out here all by yourself?" one of them asked.

 _Shit!_

"Leave!" she yelled down at them. "I don't think so luv. I think we're coming in! Looks like you could use some manly company!"

A throwing knife launched from his outstretched hand as she ducked away barely in time, with all five spreading out a little, one of them readying a bow with a notched arrow, the fifth one trying to ram his shoulder against the gate to no effect. She popped her head up for a second and fired one of her own, striking the knife thrower dead in the chest. Blue was snarling at the gate, ready to go, but there was no way she was opening that barrier. An arrow flew by her head as she hid behind the lip of the wall, scooting close to the Arteirobolos. A crossbow bolt slammed against the corbel she was hiding behind, and she yelped in fear. "Come on luv! Poke your head out! Things don't have to be this way! Volgo's army will take real good care of you if you surrender nice and peaceful like. Maybe if you're lucky, he won't share you around with the rest of our mates!"

 _Who the fuck is Volgo? The leader of the bandit army that has everyone scared?_

She fired another arrow, but she wasn't aiming at all, just blind firing as soon as she popped up. The arrow just barely missed, which shouldn't have normally happened, but it made the archer down below stumble back a bit. She needed to somehow take him out or she was dead. The crossbowman was still loading another bolt in place and winding up. The fourth one had a shield out, ready for if she shot an arrow at him. The fifth turned around and backed up from the gate, ready to try and charge at it, but he was right next to the others for some speed.

She jumped behind the mounted weapon next to her and aimed. "What the-" she fired it as quick as she could. The bowstrings twanged and in unison fired all arrows loaded into the machine mounted on the wall. The volley rained down hard, slamming into three of them at the same time. They looked like pin cushions, all screaming in pain as they went down. The last one bolted for the hills, running towards the swamp. She hoped he'd get eaten by the alligator, but somehow, she doubted it. That bandit was about to go tell his boss she was easy pickings. She tried to get a bead on him with her crossbow, but he kept running through the trees to keep out of her line of sight as well as her chain mail was impeding her, then disappeared. She hadn't cut down enough of the trees in front of the fort to get a good sight line for anyone attacking yet, just enough to see what was in front of the fort.

Her heart was racing as she peeked around the light pintle mount and looked at the men on the ground, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Three were definitely dead, the one she had hit once was coughing up blood and about to meet his maker. She fired another arrow at him to finish him quickly, then another to make sure he was good and dead. As she fired the arrow and finished him, her legs went wobbly and she sat down behind the corbel and thought, a million things shooting through her head as she tried not to hyperventilate.

 _What the hell are they doing way out here?! What happened to Gold Pine?! Are the villagers ok? Holy shit, they know I'm out here by myself. I… I… I have to warn Gold Pine. I have to warn them right now!_

As she sat there thinking, she tried to get her legs to work. Once she got on her feet wobbly from the action, she ran down the ramp to the stables and readied Asterion with a saddle and tack, her thoughts were still running rampant. She needed to add more defenses to the fort, she needed to mine as much as she could, she needed to get gunpowder… wait, she didn't have the resources for gunpowder. She didn't know where else to get the main ingredients. That was going to slow down any progression.

 _Maybe… maybe the general store owner might have something for each? Just a little… please…_

She waited a half hour which seemed to take forever, as she didn't want to come across that man way out there, waiting in ambush. If she saw him first, she could shoot him with an arrow, but there was no guarantee that would happen. Sense hostiles only told her which general direction they were coming from, not their exact location. She'd just know if she was close or something was coming for her. Once the thirty minutes were up, she got on Aster and left the fort, blocking the front with logs to keep anyone from breaking in. She rode hard to the village, hoping to not find what she feared. The whole trip took an hour, with both Ash and Blue staying behind to guard their home.

Once she got to the edge of the village and the fence, she made Asterion leap over it and dash into the center, armor and all… to find everyone packing and getting ready to leave. "Giles! Giles! Where are you?!" she yelled out, taking off her coif and scratching her head while spinning to look for the man. Giles came out of the smithy holding a bag he was putting things in. "Lass! I'm still here!" he waved for her to come over. She trotted Aster to him and jumped off the saddle. Abby was just inside grabbing some pots she had along with some food for the trip. "I just had bandits where I live, five of them. I came to warn you." He let out a dry chuckle. "A little late for that Selene. We had a scared to death refugee from Glass Dale come into our little home, talked to the mayor. I don't know how she managed to make it all the way here, half starved and barely a word understandable from her ramblings. The bandits hit Glass Dale. They really did it, they laid siege to the town."

Selene stood there staring at him with eyes wide open. Bandits had assaulted a town, overrun the guards, and pillaged it. "Did… did she say how many?" "No idea, but an army is huge…" She looked away a little. "The general that came in a few days ago… he had said something about… about it being numbered close to two thousand." Giles gawked at her. "Two thousand? That's more than any guard force could handle! And the kingdom won't do anything!" he snapped as he brought his hand up to his forehead and pushed his hair back over his scalp, but he calmed down quickly as he blew air from his mouth. "What's everyone here doing? Packing up?" Abby grabbed another bag and put it in their wagon. "That's right lass. We're all heading up into the Azaltos mountains. The mayor knows of a small place we can hide, hopefully survive long enough for the bandits to forget about this valley."

The auburn-haired woman looked around. Everyone was getting their things, whatever they owned in their houses, with some already heading out. "There's going to be no more Gold Pine… no more trading…" she muttered out as children were put on top of wagons with scared looks on their faces, with the mayor at the front of the convoy and directing people to spots in the line up. They weren't quite ready just yet, with more people getting into position.

The general store owner rushed out of his building and threw some more things on his wagon. "Excuse me, excuse me!" she yelled out to the man as he ran back into the store. She sighed and walked away from Giles, who continued to grab things from the smithy to put on their own wagon. "Hey! You!" she yelled again just as the owner came out. He looked at her. "I'm sorry miss! But the store is closed indefinitely until… until this all blows over! I'm a little busy!" She exhaled loudly, not to sound frustrated, but to just help her breathe through all of this. "Before you go! I was wondering if you have any saltpeter or sulfur to sell?" she begged as he turned around for one more run. "I… I really don't have the time… I'm sorry…" She grabbed his arm. "Please. I really could use some." He sighed.

"I… I don't have any miss. I've never carried either of those ingredients you're looking for. Please, I have to get packed or they'll leave without me!" he pulled away and ran inside one last time. She watched as the village packed their things, got in line, with the mayor taking a head count. "Giles." She looked at him as Abby and he rode by her with the wagon, two horses pulling the wagon forward. "Lass… I… I hope your village fairs well and doesn't get found by those scum. Maybe… maybe we should ask you to come with us, but I somehow figure you'll say no." She looked up at him sitting with the reins in his hands.

 _What would stop me? I could go back for the wolves, sheep and Penny, grab my stuff, throw it in my inventory, then haul back here to meet up with them. Somehow… somehow, I don't think I'm going to do that… there's no guarantee where they go will be safe… and there's no guarantee they'll wait for me. They have no idea how far I live. By the time I get back, they might be impatient and just leave._

"I… don't think… I can do that… thank you though. I doubt anyone would wait for me to get my things and come back either." He nodded in understanding. They moved their cart into the line, with the mayor yelling to everyone to stay with the convoy and don't drift. Moira came up to her and stopped. "Eh Luv! I'm glad to see you. Sorry, we're closing shop now. We… I hope this isn't the end for my little inn. I… at least I know you're alright." Selene nodded to her. "Yeah, I'm ok." The innkeeper looked at the line and looked back at her large wagon with four horses and lots of stuff bagged up. "I… stay safe luv. Maybe we'll see each other again." The dev nodded, fighting back a few tears. "Yeah, that would be great." Moira slapped the reins down and got the horses moving. They then started to head out. The mayor saw her, noticing she was the trader that had helped bring in some decent items the past week or so. He nodded in her direction, and she nodded back.

Selene watched until they were all a good distance away, becoming a small line heading up North towards the Azaltos Mountains. Her eyes drifted around. She was standing in another ghost town. There was no one to talk to, no one to trade with, no one to hear stories from. She was alone, again. Most of the doors were closed, but some were wide open with people just abandoning their houses as fast as they could. A piece of paper was posted on the board just outside the inn with a face. It was a wanted sign. The face was of Volgo, or "Captain" Volgo apparently. It seems he went AWOL from the already corrupt military to go on a killing and pillage spree. She guessed he didn't like being held down by rules and even the basic semblances of law. He was bald with the tattoo of a snake on his head, three scars to the right of his left eye, two eyebrow piercings on his right, a scraggily beard that was woven into braids and what looked like a chunk of the top of his left ear missing.

There were two other scraps left and right of the wanted poster, with a list of his lieutenants. She didn't recognize any of them, so the one who escaped wasn't someone of high rank.

She took a deep breath and jumped back on Asterion and took one last hard look at Gold Pine. Another lost chance to settle the valley it seems from those people. The dev started heading back to the fort, jumping over the fence again and taking a little longer route to stay away from the bandit if he was still making his way back. She needed to prepare. If that man got back to his thieving friends and leader, they'd send something bigger after her. Considering she was just one woman that they saw, it might be more than five guys...

 _He wouldn't send the whole army at my little fort, would he? No, waste of effort. These assholes think one woman, or for that matter one man, is easy pickings. I'm not Rambo, and this isn't an action movie. I could seriously be killed, or worse…_

She somehow knew she didn't have plot armor or some special guardian angel watching over her. She's had to fight this far to keep going, she wasn't going to go down without one hell of a battle. She might not have gunpowder, but there had to be something she could use to even the odds. As she raced back to the fort and got inside, she went straight to the mine and started gathering ore for the smelters, working as hard as she could to build up her defenses. That was only part of the reason, as she focused on as many actions as she could. Maybe she could get to Late Middle Ages and somehow build a fantastic castle they wouldn't want to attack… maybe.

 _It's over two thousand bandits, that's an army. Armies lay siege to castles!_

"What the fuck am I going to do against that? What the flying fuck am I gonna do?!" tears were welling up in her eyes as the thought was at the forefront of her mind. This wasn't five guys at her gate in the open, this was an army coming for her, or at least a good amount more than five. Those were just scouts. Brazen scouts, who thought they could take one woman on a wall, but still.

 _One hundred. He, whoever this Volgo is, will send probably one hundred to attack the fort. I won't be able to fend that amount off, let alone two thousand. They're probably still in Glass Dale, gloating over their prize, they're rewards from the battle. Barbarians._

"Damn it!" she slammed her fist against the wall of the tunnel she was in, tearing out some iron ore. She breathed for a few seconds as she tried to think.

 _I need to mix things up. I can't do this without more people, I can't do this without help! I won't have robots until the twenty-first century though!_

Her mind went immediately to her tech tree and started looking through whatever could help her. She needed bodies to fight, to help fire at anything that attacked the fort, but she was in the middle ages. Could she make summon spells? Her spell list showed X Minor Summons of various creatures. She'd get out some level ones, some fives maybe, easily killed by one hundred armed men. At best they would be a decoy to divert arrows towards, nothing much more than that. "There has to be a way!" she sat down while the smelters started working and stared at the tech tree. She hadn't broken down yet like she had before, but her mind had to go through what she had available. Early Middle Ages, Upper Middle Ages, Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, Colonial. She was missing three of those eras so far.

"God… I wish I had a separate timeline I could build off of here…" she said to herself, looking at Late Middle Ages. Her mind started wandering about to all of the different games she had helped develop, all the genres she had seen or books she had read. Her mind wandered to science fiction, to fantasy worlds, to movies. One particular she tended to gravitate towards was Steampunk. It was such an interesting thing to be in a fantasy sci fi era that allowed tesla cannons and steam powered robots walking around, even magical bronze creatures. The idea of Van Helsing fighting monsters, or mad science having a far drastic effect on the world was amazing to her. Why have a car when you could have an airship? Why use a normal sword when you could attach wires on the outside and charge it with lightning? There were even disruption systems to combat magic in some stories.

 _That's it… I wish I had that timeline embedded into the tech tree right now. That would really work in my favor. Just getting even a few of those creations would turn the odds against those bastards._

"Steampunk started usually Late Middle Ages right… god that would be amazing." She stared at Late Middle Ages, looking through the tech unlocks that flowed from it as the thoughts of it changing to steampunk ran through her head like a little kid's dreams. Mechanical arms, coal powered forcefields, auto turrets, Frankenstein monsters. Just as she was about to close the inventory and get back to work, a new link appeared as a side grade to Late Middle Ages on the tree. Early Steampunk Era. Her mouth dropped. Below that, Upper Steampunk Era, Advanced Steampunk Era. The links interconnected to each era, then side connected to the normal eras in the timeline.

 _I've gotta be hallucinating, I have to be, the mushroom spores must have gotten into my lungs or something. Did I just add a totally new era listing? I mean, this is a fantasy world after all, so… it isn't completely out of the picture. But if this is a middle ages fantasy world, then… they've never even seen steampunk. They don't know what it can do._

Her thoughts were reeling as she blinked multiple times trying to clear her vision, scared that the tech trees would disappear. The tech tiers were there. They were on the same tier line as Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Colonial Era. She'd have to do twice the work just to get both done, with one being teched into, then slipping sideways to tech up the next. It was a new branch she had created. She could work on Early Steampunk Era, then get Late Middle Ages. That had to give her some edge in this next fight. She looked into at least a few unlocks in it just to be sure.

 _Basic Automatons. They're there as an unlock. This could work. I might be able to fend off one hundred bandits. I'll have to do a little finagling to get them weaponized without gunpowder weapons, but this could work._

She started to go through other tech, not just Early Steampunk, but also previous fortifications. Catapults, she'd need those as they were simple, Scorpios she could set up to fire if one or two came charging in, if they used ladders to climb up the walls, she would need spiked palisades on the walls to keep them at bay along with boiling tar braziers to pour down onto them. She was going to need arrow slits and upgrade the walls completely, instead of having them be the fifteen-foot-tall walls she had now, she needed to make sure they were double that and increase their thickness so that she could stand on the wall, not on a wooden catwalk. There would have to be stairs, the gate would need to be severely upgraded… did these bandits have battering rams? She would need more Arteirobolos to fire volleys out. That could take care of chunks of them while they head towards the walls.

Her first problem was getting to Early Steampunk in the first place. She had just gotten to Upper Middle Ages, it might take a day or two just to reach it now. The dev thought for a second, trying to figure out how to best use all available time. Could she temporarily skip sleep? How long until they came for her? If she had to guess, they'd have to head down the road to meet the army first, report in about the fort and her, then hit Gold Pine first as it was on the way, find nothing useful there, either torch the place or leave it alone and try and head for her. That might take… three days? Just running took half a day just to get to Gold Pine, if they didn't have horses which it didn't look like the five who came to her gate had in any way, about that time to reach this place. With one hundred men, roughly, they'd reach her just as she had gotten to Early Steampunk and got some automatons ready. She'd be pushing it, but it was possible. If she could also get Late Middle Ages, it would help. Maybe she could set an avalanche of rocks in one direction? Or if with steampunk create some steam weapons along the walls to scald them. There were more than just automatons available to her in those tiers, but they were the most noticeable. The problem was, a good deal of weapons wouldn't be possible due to missing certain chemicals, ingredients, materials and resources.

The problem was the timeframe. She'd need a lot more hours to work on mining, throwing it away once she performed the required actions, then upgraded to Early Steampunk, then mined some more. "Potions. Could I use stamina and anti-fatigue potions to stay awake and work through the night?" she immediately went to her garden and started gathering the required herbs, casting Growth Spurt and Nutrient Replenisher twice. Once she had the potions crafting, she used one of the spare anti-fatigue potions right now, as the adrenaline was wearing off for her. It was working, with her not waking up more. She was still tired, similar to the effect of coffee, but at least she could stay awake through the night and get an extra eight hours of work done.

She looked over at the log cabin, at the wolves sitting watching her. The final option was completely abandoning the fort and running, heading north to build a new one. She'd abandon the mine, her starter cave, the log cabin, the walls just to go build somewhere else. There was no guarantee she'd find another mine that would give decent materials, there was no guarantee they wouldn't search and find her again. She made her choice. She was going to stand and fight. But she was going to do it with help from steampunk robots.

 _ **Three Weeks, Two Days**_

Selene hadn't slept the entire night, focusing on upgrading the walls to thirty feet high and adding arrow slit emplacements for her to attack from. There were openings on both sides of each so that she could move from point to point and allow the automatons to attack once she built them. What would they look like? Would they be human form? Walking around, picking up a repeating machinegun and blasting down at the enemy, striking fear into the bandits as they run away, hoping not to get shot in the back?

 _That's right. I don't have gunpowder. Repeating crossbows? Would that work?_

Three more Arteirobolos were installed, along with multiple murder drains added to the walls that would flow and intentionally splash to create as much havoc as possible down below. There were four catapults now made, each with a full stash of stones to throw for maximum AOE strike. Spiked palisades were installed inverted and aiming down towards any aggressors, potentially poking through openings of ladders if they brought them, or any grappling hooks. There were reinforced inner barricades as well for the cabin in the event they somehow managed to get inside so she had a second defensive perimeter. The gate had bracings installed that could be removed, along with the logs being placed in front of it each time no matter if she was there or not.

She had her head on a swivel, with sense hostiles upgraded to the maximum, X Greater. The range was no longer known, as she could set it to whatever distance she wanted now. The distance was set now for anything with twenty-five miles, because that was the distance humans could walk on average from one point to another in one day, morning to night time. She was unsure if this Volgo would push his men that far each day, as they were bandits and probably would rest far more each time. The brigands would probably be sitting around, gloating over the last kill or the gold they just stole. He'd want them to enjoy the pillaging, not the forced death march.

The outside of the walls also had extra defenses, with spiked barricades further out, a sunken trench right before the walls to make it more difficult to try and climb or dig with the foundation, standing torches she could light with firebolt if they attacked at night to see better given that the X Greater version didn't increase damage but provided more shots, allowing multiple targets at the same time, ten in total. During this time, she had to hunt for food and stock up until she reached the ability to tech up. She wanted to focus as much on fortifications as possible without being distracted. Despite all the work she was doing, and the actions she was performing, her experience wasn't going up too much, which was a shame. There might be a chance for her to get to level twenty, but it didn't look good.

 _What level are these guys? Level ten? Fifteen? Maybe, just maybe some level twenties? I wouldn't ever know, but regardless of that, even one hundred level tens will still take me out if I can't get steampunk. This has to work. My life is riding on this._

She cut back the tree line as far as she could, pushing it almost a kilometer back in all directions. She'd at least see anything coming at the fort, unless it was a really good archer. Did they have any of those? Her view of bandits was that they were stupid thugs that wanted to rape and pillage, but it might be possible they had some assassins or mercenaries that were actually good at their job. It might be that Volgo would send one of his lieutenants to handle this battle.

While she worked on the upgrades, there were tomes being crafted as well to bulk up her perks. She had made a fifty percent increase in mobility while using chain mail armor, a fifty percent reload speed bonus while using a crossbow, fifty percent bonus to damage when using boiling tar fortifications, fifty percent better accuracy when using catapults taken twice. Given that those were here only artillery until she could find the materials for gunpowder, she needed all the help she could get with those things.

There were more perks for helping with defensive actions, such as fifty percent bonus to Lesser Heals, Fifty percent bonus to Lesser Rejuvenate to keep fighting if she was tired, which she was using alongside the stamina potions and anti-fatigue potions right now. While she wasn't exhausted, her eyes were telling her sleep was expected soon. It was during the day, so that meant more work. Tonight, and only tonight, she'd try and get some sleep. Her body would fight her if she attempted to stay awake for more than forty-eight hours.

There was a perk for Firebolt as well, to allow it to instantly set a target on fire, along with the fifty percent damage bonus. She had four perk points left right now, and she was going to use all of them. There were two more tomes in the works by now, and she was going to make sure at least one of them was for Light Orb for a longer cast range to use it as a magical flare system due to not having any gunpowder, as well as a fifty percent resistance boost to poison while under the effects of a Lesser poison resistance elixir. She was worried above all things that someone would cut her while defending and it would be a poisoned blade. The elixir she had upgraded to the maximum potential, Ultra, which would provide fifty-five percent resistance to poison for twenty-four hours. Once she knew the battle started, she'd drink it, and the perk would engage, boosting it to eighty-three percent, rounded up. If she could drink a Lesser Poison Resistance potion, as well as perk that up, she'd have a temporary boost of another twenty-five percent just from the potion, then another twelve percent added in. Selene would be completely immune to poison, at least for the time the potion lasted. That was where the last perk point would be used, to Sexdecuple the time the effect lasted from one minute to sixteen minutes. This wasn't including casting Lesser Resistance on herself.

Her chain mail was being enchanted with ten percent increases to health, stamina, and weight reduction, to lighten the armor up and allow her to shoot a bow and crossbow easier. Between rapid fire and aimed shot abilities, she could probably get about five, six kills before it all wore off. If there were automatons assisting her, that would take out a healthy chunk along with the catapults. She dumped fifty Skill Points into Heavy Armor to help with movement. She gained two special passive abilities, "Move a Mountain" that dropped all chances of throwing her, toppling her or even moving her in combat by fifty percent, and "Throw Your Weight Around" That did the opposite towards an enemy. While the first would be useful only if she got into close combat, the latter might help if she needed to push a ladder off her walls or Sparta kick someone away.

Once the perks were finished, she was going to devote spare queue space to simply craft magical scrolls for one shot spells, and start working on Greater Resistance Spell. Having a few X Minor Lightning Bolts, Lesser Heals that wouldn't use mana, multiple Light Orbs, Firebolts that didn't use mana, Trip spells to slow advancing force would help without her constantly waiting on her bar to replenish. Her potions were getting upgraded a little as well, while she had the time. She finally gained Very Minor Healing Potions, which she didn't have before, along with Minor Anti-fatigue Potions, Minor Stamina Potions, X Minor Regeneration Potions for short term assistance with poultices if needed, more Very Minor Speed Potions to get around the fort faster and defend a different wall and plenty of poultice and bandages now tier 2. She hoped she wouldn't look like some wounded veteran covered in bandages and laying bed with her leg hanging up after this.

Surprisingly, Armored Skin wasn't going to be as much effect as she thought, as it only provided an armor rating to any unarmored part of the body. Given that she was going to be walking around in full chainmail armor, even with a chainmail coif covering her face as well. The only parts open would be her eyes to see through the coif. If they managed to hit her there, the Armored Skin wasn't going to do much anyways. The spell was mainly for if she wasn't wearing armor, to provide at least some protection from everyday work or gardening. What she was going to do, however, was cast it on the wolves to give them some extra defense if a stray arrow hit them. Hopefully it would glance off, but there won't be much of a chance if she puts them in the cabin.

Her entire goal right now wasn't to eliminate the whole force, but to make them give up and run for the hills. If she could manage to do that, then it would buy her extra time to advance her tech tree, get some better alternatives and hopefully prove she isn't to be messed with. If it didn't work… second line of defense, hand to hand, leg sweeps and shield bashes… it might get ugly. Most forces tended to break when they were at thirty percent or below combat effectiveness. That was a normal military though, these might be stupid bandits, maybe a few smart ones, but mostly stupid.

 _Suicidal overconfidence. It was usually programmed into AI for most games to give the player something to fight. You might be wearing full powered armor with a super laser and a tank next to you along with a full psionic suite of super powers, but that one idiot with a stick and t shirt is gonna come running at you believing he can win._

There was still some light left in today, which only spurred her on even more to keep reinforcing, to place cutting tools and ammo in storage crates on the walls, to make the fort as mean looking as possible. She still had time, to reach Early Steampunk and to make it out of this. Selene just had to keep trying. The tech up was almost here, she'd reach it by the end of tonight. Then she'd rest to get some much-needed shut eye. Once awake, she'd finally build her helpers.

" _A fort was never designed to protect against a siege, but to deter the siege from ever happening. If a large enough enemy force is present, the goal of the defending force is to meet the enemy beyond the walls if possible. Only Castles or cities were ever laid siege to, due to the value." – Random Historian_

She was going to have to ignore that advice and prove her fort could do it. She didn't have a choice.


	10. Ch 9 The Bandit Raid Pt I

_**Three Weeks, Three Days**_

Selene finally did it, she made it to Early Steampunk Era. She was tired, and she had almost mined out an entire tunnel of her mine, adding metal paneling to the outside of the walls and inside to provide reinforcement, albeit thin. She was ignoring gold veins entirely, as there was no reason to even touch them right now. There was no one to trade with, no one to buy from. She was alone against a bandit task force heading to kill her or turn her into a slave. Once she reached the tech up, she immediately started mining to create the basic automatons. What would they look like? Would they be a game changer for her? She needed back up in this coming battle, so whatever they did would help.

 _Maybe they're like spider drones that slice at things, or maybe humanoid bodies that can fight like me._

After an hour of mining up anything she could find, smelting it and finally crafting a basic automaton fabrication unit in her inventory which was expensive in its own right, would act as a new factory station, she slowly crafted one automaton. Despite her crafting speed being at fifty percent, it still took an hour to get out. She received a new skill she could put points into, Steampunk Mechanical Engineering. Given that she only had ten Skill Points left right now until she leveled up, it probably wouldn't do much just yet, and more importantly, it probably wouldn't speed things up given it wasn't a stat.

Once the basic X Light Automaton appeared in her inventory, she placed it, holding her breath. As it dropped from her inventory and slowly activated, she was… woefully unimpressed. The whole thing looked like a box on two stubby legs, reminding her of the historical footage of Star Wars, specifically Gonk Droids. It didn't even talk, just made an acknowledgement beep when it heard her rudimentary commands due to the voice controls being Early design. It could beep at commands, make a low long horn sound if it didn't understand what she wanted, an alarm when it had no orders and a whistle when it ran out of ammo once she had a crossbow installed on top of it. There were no standard arms, just a pivot handlebar with a hole in it to install a pick axe, woodcutting axe or a hoe for farming. It was really lackluster in almost all regards.

As the dev checked to see if there were stats on the thing, she had it fire the crossbow at the training dummy and found that the accuracy was at fifty percent, which meant something like thirty-five percent against a moving target. It was slow, clunky and just made her depressed looking at it. It was also easy to destroy, as it was considered an X Light. The sizing for the automatons she found out as she reached the tech tier was Extremely Light, Very Light, Light, Medium, Heavy, Very Heavy and Extremely Heavy. She'd have to build one hundred of the X Lights to sacrifice them and build a Very Light, and she didn't even know if she wanted to do that if they came out as walking washing machines.

 _Was this what Early Steampunk gives? I could have sworn I'd get something cool… I mean, I have a robot walking around that can fight… sort of… maybe… fuck! I need like a hundred of these things just to take out like twenty-five bandits! God damn it!_

She built a pick axe, not having it fight and just sent it down to the mine. It slowly moved down the ramp into a tunnel and started up what could only be described as a vertical rapid strike at a part of the tunnel where it could verify there was ore to be gained. It would scan first, then move into position, then start striking. She facepalmed, hard. It was faster to just use Molecular Reformation, and that was hardly upgraded. She'd need like twenty of them just to get anything done in the mines. The problem also was that it didn't collect the ore it picked out, just let it drop on the ground and walked to a new location. So, she knew she would need to build some with robot arms just to pick up the ore and hand it to her. That would turn into forty of them just to mine efficiently. That wasn't including cutting trees or dragging the trees slowly back to the fort.

 _I gotta at least build the other stuff I have access to. There seems to be a steam jet nozzle system I can emplace right next to the walls, I could install them in the trenches at angles with boilers below the foundation. Combined together with the boiling tar, it'll keep everything down below, but the boilers will lose pressure, eventually needing to allow the auto valves to turn off to rebuild it. Hmm…_

She got to work on crafting the nozzle paneling in the trenches outside the walls and installing metal piping hiding under the foundation. She then burrowed through her foundation to build a basement where all the boilers would be standing, along with a wood eating steam generator she un-affectionately named "Wood Gobbler." Once that was complete, the boilers were installed, water was poured into them via the lake, and wood was used to boil the water. This also allowed hydraulic units to be installed into the lower part of the walls, allowing a sectional launcher trap to be used to knock down ladders for her. She didn't have the resources for anything truly electrical to work beyond bringing the wall launchers back into place or activating the valves, missing quite a few alchemical ingredients. There were a few new schematics she could have access to, but most of the really good stuff was stuck behind Late Steampunk Era or Advanced Steampunk. The big problem was just not having what some of the schematics requested, which was a really big hamper.

What she noticed was the basic automaton could at least be made with just materials she had right now, but boy were they expensive. Just one of them took forty ingots alone for the different parts, along with hardened tar for the feet and vegetable oil to lubricate, crystal or glass for a "primitive auto core" that was then enchanted twice with all of her enchanting bar, a burner to feed wood in as fuel and hydraulic units with the ingots. The cost was just insane, but she needed them. She needed a whole bunch of them. One of the few things that actually made her even a little happy about the Era was she finally had access to a basic clock that she built immediately and shoved in her inventory. It disappeared, just as she thought it might be similar to the map and popped up a small little clock on her Hud. Now she at least knew what time it was and could set an alarm. The time at the moment was 11 am.

To assist the four catapults, she built a steam powered multi ballista that would arc the bolts over the walls and then intentionally break apart mid air to carpet bomb an area. It might only have one chance to fire, given how large the bolts were, but it was something. By the time it was nightfall, she had made seven of the basic automatons, installed repeater crossbows on each of them along with pick axes to mine until it got really dark. She picked up the ore after them, not even trying to build any with robotic arms to do that easy work. By midnight, she had another six. She now had thirteen built.

 _Could I skip one more night of sleep? God I'm tired… but the potions are keeping me going, somewhat._

She couldn't do it, after forty-eight hours of nonstop work, she needed at least some rest. Selene pulled five of the stupid walking boxes and placed them on the walls on guard duty. She'd hear the alarm go off if anything attacked too early. By her guestimate calculations, she still had one more day to build up before they came for her, but if they had horses…

 _If they have horses, they could be here by tomorrow morning, early tomorrow morning. I might only get a few hours rest._

She bit her lip, the stress getting to her. The wolves whined a little at her present state, as she just didn't stop moving or doing stuff around the fort. She built a vertical rising portcullis for the gate, reinforced bracing she could push in front of the gate doors to further restrict damage, made crude Molotov's to throw out of liquid tar and vegetable oil. Her main problem was getting enough automatons on the ramparts to shoot out.

"Grrrahhh… fuck, I'll put all of the ones I have now on the walls, go down and mine quick, make a few more in queue and try and get up to like twenty or something." She quickly went down into the mine, gathered some ore, smelted it and shoved it into the fabrication unit, built a second fabrication unit, but couldn't fuel it with any more materials. Then she immediately ran to the cabin, got undressed and almost instantly fell asleep with her alarm set for 4 am. Four hours wasn't enough, but it was sleep. What she hadn't checked was that her actions were still going up throughout all this personal work, getting her closer to Late Steampunk or Late Middle Ages. She hadn't been checking on it at all, with all the work she was doing to improve the fort for the fight she knew was coming. If there wasn't a bell going off, it didn't matter right now.

 _ **Three Weeks, Four Days, 4 am**_

The dev groggily woke up from the alarm with the wolves looking at her. Was it time to go hunting? There would be no hunting today, as she had to finish the guard soda machines. Her head was still stuck in her old routine.

 _For all I know, having angry vending machines launching soda cans might be better than these stumpy things._

She checked her character sheet quickly, not expecting much of a change. She was two thirds to level twenty, the deceitful little experience bar slowly going up at a snail's pace. She really didn't want to get out of the nice warm bed. At first it wasn't very soft due to it being filled with cut up fine straw, but now it was like a cloud she had to rip herself away from.

She slowly got up and checked her inventory. Four more basic automatons. Four more crossbows. More bolts made. She put them outside, installed the crossbows, added the bolts to their magazines and started to cook an early breakfast. She luckily had some spare meat left over for the wolves, but all she was going to eat was a vegetable and peas stew. She ate in silence as she stared at the campfire. There were now seventeen droids she could protect the walls with. She sighed, a deep depressed sigh. This wasn't like the break down she had before when she was trying to figure out how to survive, this was too much stuff piling on just her. Maybe it was a warning to get up and leave the fort, to hide away until she had the strength to retake it.

"No… no, this is my home… I built this place from the fucking ground up. It's taken me almost a month to get this place to livable, to get my garden up and running, to make at least a few friends from Gold Pine… I'm not going out like this. This place is mine, if they want it, they have to come and take it from me." Her words fell on apparently deaf ears, as there was no one to acknowledge it. She cast Lesser Rejuvenate on herself to ease any sleepiness, took an anti-fatigue potion and eased into her fort build up. She installed supports to the mining tunnels to make sure the box heads wouldn't collapse the place down on themselves once she put them to task again. A quick Forecast spell and she knew due to the rain before there would be fog tonight. That might dampen the ramparts of the walls, so she'd need to be careful while walking up there.

New installations of a catwalk heading to the ceiling of the outside cave entrances allowed her to start building a small tunnel outward to break up some boulders and set them up on a pulley barricade hidden with bushes growing on the mountainside. If the task force came from that direction, the avalanche would get at least a few of them, make them run into bad positions where the box heads could get some shots in. The tree line was cut back a little further in one direction towards the North, not because she needed more line of sight but because she needed the wood. The box heads used it as fuel, the boilers needed it for fuel, the supports in the mine used it, the barricade for the man-made avalanche needed it.

By noon, she was really tired, using Lesser Rejuvenate on herself almost hourly as she used both her Molecular Reformation and made a fast trip to the lake to check her fish traps, having her head on a swivel. Those were the only two times she left the fort, to get wood and grab the fish. As if on cue when she got back to the fort, she found herself ready for another tech up. "Thank god, I could really use the…" she thought to herself. Her mind was a little hazy due to lack of sleep, but she could at least see the connection for Late Middle Ages. The branch had to go through Late Middle Ages, then it broke off to Late Steampunk Era, then pushed back into Renaissance before allowing Advanced Steampunk Era and Colonial Era after. She sighed a trembling sigh.

 _So close and yet so far. I'm seriously surprised I've gotten two tech ups in how many days now? I haven't had this many since I first started. Of course, I haven't worked this hard for it either. I wonder if the things I'm doing as a routine are considered low tier for experience, despite doing the same stuff over and over for the bonuses. I couldn't be… could I? I'm building Early Steampunk Era stuff, so hopefully I'm raising that damned bar._

It was true, her experience bar was slowly going up more so than when she was hunting and fishing.

Her hands were cleaning her armor and making sure all weapons were properly loaded. She wasn't physically tired, the potions and Lesser Rejuvenate were taking care of that, but sometimes she forgot if she already did something or not and went to do it again, her mind needing to rest and dream to work through the day's memories. With the last of her materials before she teched to Late Middle Ages, she reinforced the hell of out of the cabin and extended a section of the cave a bit so that she could fit Asterion, the sheep and Penny inside temporarily, a stone panic room. She started to check her walls to make sure there were no entrances she didn't know about besides the gate. There were very small openings at the pivot points that would allow the gate to open, but no human could fit through there. Plus, she had added barricades near the openings to stop any bandit from trying to shoot a crossbow bolt through them with their outstretched arm, the bolt would hit the barricades no matter what.

A final installation was two more Arteirobolos aimed at the gate in the event they did break through. By the time it was 6 pm, she had fourteen more automatons, now numbering thirty-one in total. They were all mining right now, getting more resources to fuel the fabrication units. She started to practice on the training dummy her melee attacks, again and again. Her actions were going up and up, and she didn't notice, just on auto pilot. Her practice swapped from sword to spear to bow to crossbow.

 _Check once you think your level twenty. Check once you think your level twenty. There might be a bonus you'll get._

She was repeating mantras in her head just to keep remembering what to do. The dev stopped practicing, sweat pouring from her body as she looked at the cave and mine. "Quick wipe down, put the box heads on the walls… I need some sleep… just a little more… four hours and I'll be good to go…" She prepped Asterion, the sheep and penny in the stone panic room, letting Ash, Luna and Blue rest with her after the guards were in place, the tar was pre heated and the steam was checked. Once all of that was done, she went into her cabin and set the alarm clock for maybe four hours, tops. Once she woke up, she could get a little more done. Once she wiped herself down with a linen washcloth and some cold water, the last thing she saw on her character sheet before she fell asleep was being one hundred experience away from level twenty.

 _ **10 pm**_

Her eyes shot open as her clock alarm went off before disabling it. The alarm kept going. "What the hell?" she groaned out as she brought her hand up to her face and looked around. That sound was one of the box heads warning her it detected hostiles beyond the one-kilometer range. The others followed suit. She jumped out of bed and put on her armor, grabbed her gear, cast a quick Lesser Rejuvenate and went from stumbling out of the cabin to combat ready. Her legs carried her to the top of the wall as she looked out and cast a scroll of firebolt, lighting multiple torches hidden out there and casting her buff spells, drinking the elixirs and potions she would need to stay alive. The fog was heavy, but she could see men creeping towards the walls. As soon as the torches lit up, arrows started being fired at her from afar as their cover of night had been blown. "Shit!" she ducked and ran for the pulley for the avalanche. The boulders started to crash down into the area, killing a few of the ones that couldn't get out of the way fast enough. She immediately used a scroll of sense hostile and knew there was a number beyond one hundred, more like two hundred. The avalanche had killed a good ten of them, but the other one hundred and ninety were still moving forward now that she knew they were there. She jumped down and activated the catapults, rotating them in that direction, and fired each one individually. That killed a good ten more as the box heads started opening up on the encroaching bandits. They fired once every three seconds, a year in her eyes, but there were thirty-one of them launching bolts out there so some would be hit.

The dev pressurized the steam ballista and fired it up, seeing the cluster bolt spread out and drop down, taking out four more bandits and scaring the hell out of them. Her Light Orb spell was cast at a ranged target to see where they were, giving her a good idea where she needed to be next. She kept hiding behind corbels as arrows returned back at her, one of them hitting a box head and damaging the crossbow, slowing its firing rate to once every twelve seconds. It could still fight, but barely. She fired one of the Arteirobolos out and hit two more, then a second pintle mount, trying to empty all of her hard hitters to whittle down the amount of arrows returning her way. Three ladders appeared on the South East wall one after another, and she could hear climbing of the bastards going up. The woman lifted a lever on the tar brazier and doused the enemy trying to get inside, hearing screaming and yelling as they fell off from their bodies being cooked alive from the murder holes. One hundred fifty remaining. The section walls were engaged to knock off the ladders, damaging the steps so they couldn't be used again as the wall launchers reconnected back into place.

Multiple grappling hooks were seen to the Southernmost side of the gate, which prompted her to grab a hatchet and cut the ropes each time, making them fall onto the wooden spiked barricades below, impaling them or breaking bones. That was another ten, one hundred and forty left. More grappling hooks were thrown up on the South East wall where the ladders were used, and the tar braziers were empty. The box heads took out a few archers in the distance with volleys, dropping in total ten more with thirty-one bolts flying. The accuracy was horrible for them. The section walls wouldn't do anything to the grappling hooks, so Selene activated the steam nozzles, spraying directly up and roasting the climbers a second time. The steam needed to be built back up, but during that time she fired the last Arteirobolos at the archers, taking out clusters of them.

That didn't go without return fire, however, as a few arrows disabled some of her automatons, dropping her down to twenty-six. She popped a stamina potion to get her energy back as she fired arrows from her quiver, engaging rapid fire and aimed shot at the same time, taking out six, seven, eight archers in the volley she launched from the recurve bow she was using. The longbow took too long to fire compared to the recurve. They were down to one hundred and twenty now, taking out eighty of the brigands while they had destroyed five automatons. An arrow clipped her chainmail coif helmet, making her immediately duck. She could feel a dent in it now, which scared her and thankful she had a helmet to block that shot. Only a few arrows were still launching now from the enemy, taking out another two automatons. Another ladder, then a second one, appeared on the other side of the gate, making her dash as fast as she could over to that rampart. Luckily, there were filled tar braziers waiting to pour down. One hundred and ten. An arrow shot out and barely missed her left shoulder, then another as she jumped down with the arrow hitting the stone she was standing on. The box heads fired another volley, taking out another nine. One hundred and one.

"Take that fort!" She heard yelled outside as a battle cry was heard. More grappling hooks appeared. The automatons were of no use to the ones trying to climb up, due to their weight and angle causing them to tip over if they aimed down too far. She bolted for the other side, almost out of breath and drinking a second stamina potion. She fired a firebolt spell down, catching them on fire for each rope, then fired a scroll of lightning bolt down. A crossbow bolt hit her left shoulder, but it was a glancing blow and spun her a little. The special passive "Move a Mountain" helped keep her steady, but just barely. Her shoulder ached from the strike, but she couldn't see the bandit who shot her. Ninety. Two more automatons were lost, dropping her forces to twenty-two. She opened up on a few remaining archers she could barely see as she used a Light Orb to find them. Eighty.

"Get in there you bastards! It's just one woman!" she heard, probably from the lieutenant. One final ladder raised up to a spot that didn't have steam ready or tar boiling. She tried to push it away, but there were ten men climbing up that made it pretty heavy. One bandit made it up, but she was ready with a sword and shield, practicing the gear swap at the speed of thought from her inventory and Spider Radial. The bandit tried to strike, but a shield bash launched him ten feet back, proving just how powerful it was when combined with Throw Your Weight Around special ability. A second bandit was just coming up the ladder, but a quick stab into his chest while he was ascending ended that. As she finally got the ladder pushed back and they all fell to the spiked barricades, she nearly fell herself. Her chainmail had caught a torch sconce and allowed her to pull back from the edge. The sconce was damaged, but it did save her life. Seventy.

A second ladder was latched, with two bandits made it up quick and took out two automatons, but she stepped quickly in and leg swept one while clashing with the second. He tried to strike at her arm, barely cutting at the slight opening in the wrist before the gloves, making her wince, before getting his arm chopped off and impaled soon after, with the poisoned blade not doing anything to her besides the cut thanks to her preparations. The second one got up from the floor and struck at her shield, with her blocking and rolling backwards while pulling out her spear, stabbing him as he tried to charge, shocked that she could swap weapons so quickly. The ladder was pushed off, another eight. Sixty. They were retreating now despite a protest from the lieutenant that was still somewhere out there, scattering to the wind back from where they came from, and just in the nick of time. She didn't have any stamina left. Her stamina potions were dwindling due to the running from place to place. The box heads were useless in that regard.

She was panting as she barely managed to get through that. All tar braziers were empty, the steam was just about built back up for the nozzles to be engaged, the section walls were ready again. She stood up to try and see if there were any playing dead out there while the last seventy ran. There wasn't due to the box heads still watching over the battlefield, but that was a mistake she just made that would cost her dearly. A crossbow bolt shot out, flew true, and slammed into her right shoulder, penetrating through the armor. She reeled back and screamed, her back falling to the ramparts, not because of the force of the impact, but because she wanted to get as low to the ground as possible in a panic with her legs wobbling from shock. The bolt had flown from a tree just beyond the kilometer perimeter which was amazing given the crude weapon used, with the automatons firing a hail of bolts in return fire but only hitting the tree as the attacker ducked back behind. He must have used some sort of special ability to allow that attack.

She panted heavily as she looked at the huge bolt extending from her shoulder.

 _Holy fuck! I'm hit! Oh my god! I'm fucking hit! I gotta… I gotta remove the bolt… I have to… oh god it hurts so much!_

Her left hand grabbed the bolt and broke it in half, then reached under the chainmail to feel for the wound. Explosive fire erupted at the spot, her vision seeing stars. Not thinking, she did the worst thing she could do at that very moment. She pulled the bolt tip out, cutting through more skin and muscle… and nicking an artery to her arm. Blood started pouring out from the wound as she winced, unable to cast any healing spells. She was hissing and gritting her teeth.

 _The pain! Fuck, the pain! It's stopping me from healing myself! I forgot about interruptions! Wait! The… the potions! I have twenty V Minor Healing Potions! I've got to drink those!_

Unbeknownst to her, Ash was snarling and got out of the cabin, running for the gate, and crawled under the small openings at the corners. She was charging for the assailant hiding behind the tree. Selene opened her Spider Radial, concentrating as hard as she could on getting the potion inventory "hotkey" opened and getting a little light headed. She hadn't added any points into interruption resistance. Now was not the time for her to try and fiddle with attribute points.

She drank one, saw the wound ever so slightly close, then popped another, and another. The wound was closing, but it was a near fatal opening and still bleeding. She popped two more and felt her stomach gurgling. Apparently, healing potions didn't agree with her stomach if she took more than one, similar to how some games provide a cooldown period before you can use another one. By the time she got to seven, the wound was almost closed enough for the bleeding to stop. She was bleary eyed and sleepy.

 _Don't go to sleep! If I do, I'm dead! Drink another!_

She got to nine down before she felt really nauseous. She had to fight vomiting, or the juice wouldn't be absorbed well enough, finishing her off. With the tenth, the bleeding stopped. She didn't want to attempt another potion, but the wound was now a large gash. She fought back wanting to vomit with all her might and pushed a poultice into the opening, stinging quite a bit before numbing the pain. She tried controlled breaths to get some fresh air into her lungs… then heard the loud yelp and whimper from Ash. The automatons fired again, and she feared the worst. Selene fought back nausea and rolled to her left to get herself up on two feet, stumbled down the stairs and headed for the gate. She opened the locks and headed out, her sword in her left hand and tried her best to keep low, with the same tree in the way. As she approached it, she saw Ash on the ground with multiple stab wounds. She was still alive, panting and whimpering, but just barely. "Oh god, Ash… hang on… just hang on…" she kneeled next to her and immediately concentrated on casting Lesser Heal on her now with only soreness in her shoulder causing no interruption, noticing it did help a little. She casted it again, and again, emptying her mana pool, then pulling out scrolls of Lesser heal and Cleanse Lesser Poison. As she ran out of them, Ash only had gashes in her stomach and chest, just fur deep, but the organs were all working. The grey wolf whimpered.

"Easy, just stay still, it's ok… you're going to be fine…" she brushed her head to sooth her as she heard movement behind her. She turned around and saw a man lying on the ground just behind the tree, a few of the crossbow bolts from the automatons had hit him after Ash had attacked, peppering straight into his left arm and three in his chest, with a bite wound on his other arm. He had been knocked out of his cover by the grey wolf. He chuckled at her, and she recognized the face as one of Volgo's lieutenants. "You think you won? You think you're going to keep living after this? Once my men get back and tell Volgo… you're as good as done. This means nothing, he'll bring the whole army here. All twenty-five hundred of them. Say your prayers whore. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll kill you, but if you aren't… hehe… a leash on your neck as he walks you around like a naked pet… that's if this doesn't end you..." He coughed up blood as he lay there on the ground, but what she didn't see was the crossbow was still loaded and aimed at her. She almost felt time slow down as he laughed one last laugh… before a pair of teeth landed around his neck and ripped it out. The arm went limp. Blue was here to protect them. He was practically invisible in the fog.

"Good boy. Next time we hunt, I'm making sure you get some prime cuts if we find it. Both of you, god Ash… don't ever do that again…" He came over to her and whined as he saw Ash lying on the ground. They stayed there for another twenty-five minutes to regenerate her mana with their heads spinning for a renewed attack, not wanting to attempt to drink a mana potion in fear she still had some of the healing potion working its way in her system or the "cooldown" was still in effect. Once Ash was healed again by Lesser Heal, they all got back into the fort, with the dev bandaging her shoulder. The poultice would slowly heal the wound and keep it clean, with no scar. It would take a day, but by then she'd have enough mana to fully heal it. As she sat down on the stone stairs up to the wall ramparts, she looked around. Twenty automatons still functioning, all catapults used, steam ballista used, tar braziers used, steam nozzles used once, section wall launchers used, avalanche used, all Arteirobolos used excluding the ones in front of the gate. The ramparts and some of the main area of the fort had an assortment of arrows peppering the grounds, along with cut grappling hooks still hanging from the sides of the walls.

She had gone through a full quiver of arrows and ten crossbow bolts. The dev… was also exhausted. She laid her head back on the stairs and started to laugh as if she had lost it, but her mind was still functioning at its peak.

 _He's going to send twenty-five hundred bandits here. I'm either a dead woman or going to abandon ship. I barely fought off two hundred, and sixty of them cut and ran. I'm not walking out of here alive I don't think. I'm completely fucked. But at least I'll go down fighting or find a way to hide. I'm not surrendering yet, not a second time. I haven't given up yet. I just don't know what to do to turn the tide._

Selene held her arm still as she nursed her shoulder and tried to think of a way out of this. How many more automatons could she make before they showed up? Fifty? Seventy? That would take out maybe one hundred of them with everything she has before they would crash against her walls, climb up over or battering ram through the gate… and that would be it. The thought of becoming some pet on a leash was disgusting, she'd rather slit her own throat than allow that to happen. She wasn't losing it, but she hoped that something had happened during that battle to help her out… or she was going to abandon the fort. If worse came to worse, she was going to go North, hide in another cave until she could reach a higher tech tier, then come back and retake it. Until then though, she was going to check her character sheet.

Her hp, despite being buffed by enchants, had dropped to a dangerous level due to the bleeding. There was only a quarter of her life left, and thankfully, a combat log was available that seemed like a small miracle. She checked it quickly and saw the crossbow bolt had done about a tenth of her hp worth of damage, not a huge amount, but the removal of it had caused damage and then the bleeding. "Shit, I did more damage to myself than the bolt did…" The dev realized it was one of the worst things to do to pull that bolt tip out of her shoulder without preparing for it first. In any movies she had seen, the actor always waited for someone to cauterize the wound after.

Her eyes slipped to her level. Twenty-two. Her entire focus was on surviving that battle she hadn't realized that she made it beyond level twenty, beyond what she was aiming for. She had killed a lot of bandits, about a full dungeon's worth, excluding the box head's kills which weren't exactly high. Her eyes started sifting through her skills, her special abilities, spells. She couldn't find anything new, including no extra reward stat points or reward skill points which she could really use beyond the ten she got from the tenth level.

 _Please, there's gotta be something. I can't give up. I got past level twenty. There's something I'm not seeing yet. I really don't want to abandon this place, despite my rousing speech in the morning. I probably get something every ten levels. There is something here I'm not seeing, I just have to have hope._

She scrutinized everything until she started looking into her stats. As she tracked every stat that she had and slowly moved from one to another, there was an extra stat now appearing in the list, hidden below Crafting Time so it was easy to miss. It was called Crafting Cost. Selene had calmed down and looked at it carefully.

 _Drops the cost of crafting schematics?... by how much?_

She threw sixty points into it and ten points into Crafting Time. There was nothing else she could see that would benefit her nearly as much as that if she had just gained it. She looked at the Skill Steampunk Mechanical Engineering and threw fifty points into that as well, having twenty points left over. She now had zero Attribute Points, twenty Skill Points, and a whole lot riding on this. She exhaled carefully as she opened her inventory and brought up the craft request for the walking washing machine. There was a request on the top of her menu list stating "What resources to remove, zero of six" as well as arrows pointing left and right next to each material. She focused on metal ingots, which disappeared from the list, one of six appearing now. She held her breath audibly as it caught in her throat. The dev removed tar, oil and the primitive auto core and finally glass. That was all of the resources required, as the burner and hydraulic units were made from the metal.

She set the craft into the queue… and received a black X telling her it couldn't be built. "Fuck, I knew it was too good to be true…"

 _Try allowing one resource to stay, or maybe only remove a bit of it._

Selene added back the metal ingots and then played with the arrows, increasing a green bar across the metal requirement until it had reached roughly ninety percent. After a few moments of nothing happening, that green bar disappeared along with everything required in its highlight being taken with it, only now requiring ten percent of the metal now. Her jaw dropped. She put that into the queue, and crafting started, this time with twenty-four minutes to build it instead of one hour. Steampunk Mechanical Engineering was allowing a speed up for it and she didn't realize it, as well as the extra ten percent from Crafting Time. That skill was cutting whatever time remained after Crafting Time by another fifty percent, if it involved Steampunk; if it didn't, the effect wouldn't apply. She had been an idiot for not putting points into it further. Steampunk Mechanical Engineering also provided boosts to the accuracy and targeting speed of the basic automatons she noticed, as the crossbow traversal in box heads just in her view increased by fifty percent, drastically increasing where they were scouting and their range. They looked like slower auto turrets now, which was an upgrade. For all she knew, it was a fifty percent boost for all their stats across the board. The dev pushed her hair back a little and laughed, this time actually happy despite mentally chastising herself hard for not investing in it sooner. Her eyes roamed down a little to other schematics before falling on her actions bar. She was twenty away from reaching the capability of using Late Steampunk. She hadn't looked at the bar since she started, just hearing the bell each time it told her she was ready to tech up for Early Steampunk and Late Middle Ages.

Her mind was boggled by this. She was almost about to pass out, but there was still at least a little strength left in her to craft gunpowder, finally, by removing the Sulfur and saltpeter requirements and only needing a little charcoal she got from a mud mound she crafted from water and dirt outside the fort and taking the fuel from one boiler. It filled an inventory slot quickly. She then slowly went to the tar braziers and refilled each one of them, refilled the steam ballista, and repaired the basic automatons. Ding. Late Steampunk tech up allowed. She slowly walked over to one of the box heads and teched up, losing all her resources in doing so. She now knew how to make a standard automaton. In her mind, a silent prayer was rambling off as she pulled a walking washing machine into her inventory and dismantled it for parts, as she was too tired to go down into the mine, then another and another until she had enough to build the upgrades for a fabrication unit, dropping the costs significantly. She scrapped all of them, risking a second assault that would overrun her, but she was going to take that risk. It would take another two days before Volgo could bring all his men here, potentially on horseback this time, or three days if the rest of his army didn't have them. The usage of parts upgraded the fabrication unit to the new improved model and required more materials in crafting. Luckily, all the ones she didn't have could be removed, at least six of them.

The Crafting Cost Stat apparently worked off ten percent would remove one resource system, with anything below that removing ten percent of whatever resource she targeted up to ninety percent, one through nine. This was an RTS mechanic for one game she had played, but it was a stat you could pick compared to any other useful stat for other players. There were no factions really, just custom armies you could build with special improvements you had yourself. Crafting Cost would make it easier for a turtling player to hold their ground. There were a few skills like that in the game, all unique, all extremely useful for whatever strategy you were going for.

Once the first new automaton was crafted after twenty-four minutes, she was about at her breaking point for sleep and walked to the cabin, pretty much ready to drop no matter what. She put the automaton out of her inventory and activated it. It looked like a mechanical humanoid body with a begoggled face and no mouth, just metal. The optics rotated and zoomed in on her, its creator. "Greetings madam, what would you like me to do for you?" it asked in a proper generic British male accent, very comforting. "Go mine." She was blunt. It bowed to her. "Understood madam. Do you have a pick axe for me to use in this endeavor?" it asked. She pulled one from her inventory and handed the tool to it. "Understood miss. I will go mine for ore." It walked from the cabin with an ever so slight hiss of hydraulics, with exposed gears and machinery inside. There was barely any noise coming from it, no clanking of feet as it headed down into the mine or rotating of cogs, relatively silent. It was a massive improvement over the box bots.

She couldn't stand it any longer as the dev walked to the bed, slowly took off her chainmail after healing one more time and winced from phantom pain. Her nerves were still detecting damage despite nothing being there anymore. She wondered if Ash was feeling the same as well. Just as soon as she had all her chainmail off, the world went dark as she fell towards the bed.

 _ **Three Weeks, Five Days, 12 pm**_

The Auburn-haired woman slowly awoke half draped over the bed and looked around groggily. She barely remembered what she did before she passed out, her legs half off the bed and her arm wrapped around a pillow. Ash was sleeping besides her, with Blue nearby, not making a noise. Luna was right next to her head, and none of them wanted to wake her up, despite probably being hungry for breakfast. The dev slowly got up and checked the clock, showing noon. She had one and a half days before Volgo got here maybe two and a half. She didn't know if he'd push his men into a death march. That could be to her benefit though, with less bandits to fight.

"Shit… I needed that sleep though…" she muttered to herself as she pushed her hair back and walked outside to make some food. What she saw sitting outside the mine was astonishing. There were multiple sorted piles of ore sitting there, waiting for her to smelt them. The woman walked over to each pile, checking to see how many pieces there were. She could barely hear the sounds of the pick axe down below hitting against metal and stone. The new "standard" automaton had done some serious work while she was asleep, all by itself!

The X Light version wasn't as sturdy as a human being, just like the basic automaton, but it could work at the same level as any man for labor or cleaning. When she would make more, and she was sure there were going to be at least one hundred for the sacrifice, they could be relegated to maintenance, refueling of the boilers, guard duty, mining, woodcutting, farming, cooking and cleaning up the fort. She might make one just to act as a butler for the cabin, doing the laundry. She looked down at herself. Her clothes hadn't been washed for a few days, and the practice with the training dummy had made her stink due to no time to bathe beyond the washcloth and cold water, which wasn't very pleasant.

She shoved all the ore into her inventory and got it to smelt while she cooked. "Blue, Ash, go hunt. Bring back whatever you find." They both got out of the gate with her opening it, and Luna shot after them. "Luna! Wait!" she was chasing after Ash. She wanted to help. The little white wolf was no longer little, as she had gotten bigger over the weeks. She was roughly two thirds the size of Blue, which was almost the size of Ash, and she wasn't even fully grown up yet. For all Selene knew, Luna was going to grow up to be massive, maybe even rideable. There were still quite a few months before she could be considered an adolescent, however, the woman had no idea just how old she was. Maybe just reaching three months? She didn't know that wolves started becoming full fledged hunters at six months to help carry their weight, and two years old before they were considered adults. Luna had to be pretty young compared to her brother and sister, that was amazing to her. She wasn't the runt, she was going to be powerful once she got even larger.

The wolves came back after an hour with one rabbit, a vole and a field mouse. Luna wasn't too impressed with the mouse she caught, but she was learning. "You'll get there Luna, don't worry." She yipped as she dropped the mouse at her feet to cook. Once they were finished eating, Selene had her ingots. She threw away most of the costs for the standard automatons except for a few ingots of metal, then built one more. It was sent down to the mine just like the first one.

 _By this speed, I'll be stuck with barely even reaching one hundred of these things. I'm not thinking logistically. I need to adapt to Steampunk and not being alone anymore._

Throwing more points into Steampunk Mechanical Engineering seemed like it might work, but she felt like she needed to diversify how she was tackling this issue. While it might make crafting automatons faster, she needed to get a broader view of all of this. "Logistics… Logistics! That's a skill!" She looked up the skill in her list. Sure enough, zero percent. She threw her last twenty remaining points into it and suddenly gained two new special abilities. Her smelting or refining of raw materials was now going twenty percent faster as well, for all stations, and she got a twenty percent boost to the effects of all tools used on stations. Some of the tools gave a twenty percent boost in crafting speed, so it would give an extra four percent on top of it. Others gave almost up to forty percent, bringing the efficiency to almost fifty percent in speed. This wasn't combining different tools on the same station either, it added up very quickly.

 _That's it! I need to expand, it's just like playing an RTS right now or a 4X game. Build up the infrastructure more, mass produce. I'm sitting on one or two stations with just five smelters and five forges. I need to bump that up massively. Two fabrication units. It cost so much last time, but with the lowered requirements…_

The two special abilities she gained from Logistics were "Multi Task" which added a hovering magical "third arm" made of adaptive metal that she was able to shove in her inventory to act as a tool for anything she wanted, adding a fifty percent speed boost for one hour with a two-hour cooldown. The second ability was "Sign in Triplicate" which made any paperwork, specifically spells or perk crafting or even ink crafting, take one third the time as a passive. Without any modifiers, spells took twelve hours to craft a magical scroll, with three hours used to craft the ink. With tools, it cut down the time to almost eight hours total. With stats, it cut that down to four hours. With this special passive, she'd be pushing out scrolls or perks if she needed them every one hour twenty minutes. Oddly, Steampunk Mechanical Engineering didn't provide any special abilities, but the effect was already noticeable. The fact it gave fifty percent stat boosts for everything steampunk was worth not getting special abilities.

She focused on getting five automatons into the mine before she started on making a second fabrication unit. Meanwhile, she was looking at any tools she could add to the new steampunk stations, new attachments for the furnaces and smelters and forges she was going to get. Selene moved to the regular cave not to mine for ore, but to build a new cave network going down to the mine, expanding it outward so that more automatons could work in it. If two automatons mined a vein, it would be done twice as fast going from different directions. She also used spare metal to upgrade her smelters and forges, combining them into a foundry. It took five smelteries and five forges to build one foundry with added metals, but it was totally worth it. She then added five blast furnaces to the first one. The foundry alone was smelting almost twice as fast as all the previous stations combined, with casting the ingots at the same time. She was going to get at least five of these, hopefully ten of them, but not until she got more fabrication units.

As she barely got enough metal to make a new automaton station upgrade for standard automatons, this doubled the speed of producing the newer versions, along with giving them a pick axe each time. She was running out of wood now, so the next five automatons were made to go out and cut down trees with axes. By midnight, she had thirty-six X Lights walking around, with six of them cutting trees. She brought those in after nightfall, but the amount of resources they were bringing in was surprising. They were a far cry better than the vending machines on legs. "Drone, what's your combat accuracy like?" she asked one as it started going down into the mine. "One hundred percent madam." That meant seventy-five percent against a moving target, while the box heads were fifty percent against a stationary target or thirty-five percent against a moving target. That was over double the accuracy. "Is this with no modifiers?" she asked, a question popping into her mind. "Yes madam. Do you wish for the full modified accuracy?"

 _I knew it! Steampunk Mechanical Engineering is modifying its accuracy and all other stats across the board! Their hp was probably higher as well, with maybe an armor rating now as compared to the box heads. This means… they can take damage before going down far better than those old clunkers… and this was the X Light, not a Very Light._

"Yes please." The X Light stood there for two seconds, calculating the new numbers. "One hundred fifty percent." That meant he'd hit no matter what with a crossbow… or a musket. She could make gunpowder now, or any other innumerable special weapons now that she was in the middle of Steampunk. She could only imagine the cool special things she'd get from Advanced Steampunk Era. While it might be useful to build something she thought might be a machinegun, the schematics needed to be tested first, which meant things she understood right now instead of experiments. The last thing she wanted to make was a weapon she thought was a machinegun and it turned out to be a spray paint gun.

"Understood. Stand there for one minute, I am… transferring you to my inventory." "Understood miss." It stopped and stood at attention before the portal absorbed inside.

 _I just want to test something, just one thing. If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world… but I just want to check…_

She stopped production of automatons from one fabrication unit and told it to dismantle that automaton she had just built. It would set her back an hour, but she just wanted to check something. Half hour went by as the automaton was taken apart. She received all materials, including the ones she had removed with crafting cost. She could gain resources without trying to find them! There was a standard auto core in her inventory that she knew she didn't make. She couldn't scavenge enchanting essence from it, she somehow knew that, but if she shoved all of that into the foundry and smelted it down, it looked like she might get enough for one and a half of them. This meant she'd need to build a fabrication unit just to dismantle them correctly, not build.

She worked through the night with Lesser Rejuvenate keeping her awake and some stamina and anti-fatigue potions. The dev was going to sleep during the day while they all worked and the fabrication units would build more, setting a waypoint for them and having the automatons "auto drop" from her inventory once they were complete. They would auto equip a pick axe made at the forges installed to the foundry and get to work, without disturbing her while she slept as they made very little sound. Before that, however, she had spells in the works, going for X Greater Medium Resistance which would allow her to just start at fifty percent, ten percent more than X Greater Lesser Resistance until it reached maximum quality. She didn't stop with one writing desk though, she now had five. X Greater Greater Resistance right after which sounded stupid but she didn't complain, X Greater Fireball for AOE fire strikes, X Greater Reinforced Armor which was the next step from Armored Skin which she could cast on the automatons and even the walls themselves, X Greater Medium Heal which was the next tier above Lesser Heal, X Greater Instant Heal which seemed to have a cooldown of ten minutes but always healed fifty percent of the hp, X Lesser Speed boost and X Greater Speed boost for two boosts of forty percent and one hundred twenty percent to give her a total burst of speed for one minute of one hundred sixty percent movement speed. It could even be used on Asterion as well, or the wolves.

There were more she was going to get, even an X Greater Lesser Mechanical Repair to get automatons back on their feet faster, as well as once that was done, she'd get the stronger form of that. She also wasn't going to just use automatons and some traps installed in the walls now. Once she had five fabrication units up and running, and finished sacrificing one hundred X Lights, it was 10 am. She had been here for three weeks, six days so far, and she knew that Volgo was probably just over the horizon just resting their horses and maybe letting his men not die of exhaustion.

The five fabrication units built up five Very Lights, which looked beefier than the X Lights. While the X Light was not suited for combat at all, the Very Light was now on par with a human in almost all regards, excluding natural combat armor with the metal paneling now covering most of the body. They were suited well for guard duty or security now.

A Light Automaton was not light at all, being equal to a peak human in terms of speed, agility, strength and combat capability. They were more equivalent to Captain America wearing full battle armor. Just ten of these would probably win against two hundred bandits in melee, not even fighting behind fort walls. This is even before Steampunk Mechanical Engineering has an effect on their stats.

Mediums were in fact walking tanks, probably the equivalent to the ancient game series Halo with their Spartans or Warhammer 40k with their space marines, but on steroids and even stronger armor. They were effectively light tanks walking around.

Heavies were… heavy. The power they brought to a battlefield was impressive, equivalent to a Main Battle Tank with all the trimmings. If one of these showed up against a medieval army, there's not much they could do against it. Despite both the medium and heavy being bigger than the lights, this did not mean they were any slower, having stronger hydraulics and actuators to get into a fight faster, with more areas for sensors to keep vision around them. The problem was it couldn't fit where the medium could if entering a building. This would be a combined arms group unit, having it guard a door while Lights and Mediums breached and cleared a building, or fired through windows... maybe straight through walls.

Very Heavies were damned close to walking buildings, with enough firepower if equipped right to level a good chunk of a middle age city. This was overkill right now. It might be possible to use it as a mobile command center for groups of units later. Selene thought about a potential command network with chain of command set up through sergeants and lieutenants, all the way up to generals. She'd have to look into potentially getting a personality core built for certain special units.

Extremely Heavies probably shouldn't be considered "infantry" anymore, or for that matter a vehicle. Their size was that of a city block, weren't all that slow, and were close to untouchable bar… multiple… nukes or the magic equivalent dropped on it.

All of this was just for the automatons, this didn't include steampunk vehicles, aerial defense like planes or airships, naval vessels or brand-new fortifications whether permanent or portable. Even automated artillery and auto turrets had this quality tier. There were even spider mines and ornithopter drones that could be crafted, as well as helibots as a bigger variant of the ornithopter. She wondered if an X Heavy Spider Mine might be nicknamed "Bunker Buster."

The most interesting thing she did notice was each time she built one of the automatons, it had a level in her inventory before its "launch." The V Light automatons were right now level twenty-five each time, but there was an "upgrade modification" for the fabrication units to add levels each time she implemented that part. At the moment, she needed all the resources devoted just to building quantity versus quality, excluding the quality tiers for the "equipment," but later, she might be able to get Light autos at level… what, one hundred? Five hundred? One thousand even? Mediums even higher? There probably wasn't a restriction, just like for her.

Level twenty was fine right now, as she figured the bandit leader Volgo might be at that level, maybe a few above, twenty-five at max? If he was a dungeon boss, it would take a lot of damage to send him six feet under. Thankfully, there were auto mortars that could do that job quite handily, auto turrets to turn him into a fine pink mist, and soon to be one hundred V Light automatons to blast him. That wasn't even including the installed defenses on the fort itself. Materials could probably be changed out, swapping the iron they were made of right now for straight steel, maybe titanium? Graphene? Maybe make some steampunk energy shield? Reflection shields? Faraday cages installed in the frames? Anti-magic fields? All of this seemed to be an upgrade to the fabrication unit itself, providing some weird pseudo magic steampunk software update to the automatons, even to their physical capabilities and materials. Selene didn't want to question it, as it did what she would need in the future, and would drastically cut down on replacement and maintenance time for all units in the field.

Her access to weapons improved as well. No longer did she need crossbows, as there were now gunpowder weapons, electrical weapons, phlogiston weapons or flamethrowers, explosives and rockets, even Steampunk rail guns and chemical lasers… even plasma. The list kept going, with a huge increase of what she could make now that she didn't have to worry about the specialty materials, at least a good chunk of them right now. Those would probably go up the more complicated a schematic got, but that just meant she needed to level up more to get Crafting Cost to one hundred percent, maybe two hundred percent, or even more. There were probably schematics in the far future that would take easily five hundred different materials. For now, it was gunpowder, just because the special weapons actually took more fabrication units custom designed for them, and she needed to focus on the here and now, not building a few of those weapons and hoping they had an effect. That here and now was numbers of units that could fight, with awesome gunpowder firepower with known effectiveness. Gunpowder could provide in that regard easily until after this battle. Then it was laser beams and lightning guns with testing.

 _I think I'm still doing something wrong… I'm building Very Light automatons that are the standard ones. So… can I specialize them? Make them faster at just one job?_

She halted automaton production and swapped a fabrication unit with more materials to a specialized creation kit. Once installed, it wasn't removeable, only upgradeable to the next quality tier. She built the first unit to make a specialized mining automaton, and once it was dropped out of her inventory, she turned it on. It looked similar to the primitive box heads albeit larger, but instead of the stubby legs it had four halftracks and two fairly large drill arms on the sides. It was paneled very well, built from the ground up for mining, with no need for a pick axe added, along with powerful spotlights on the top. The "Driller" as she wanted to call it, went down into the mine, bypassed the other automatons, and proceeded to utterly destroy the tunnel it was in, filling its backpack with vacuum hoppers attached to the arms. Once it was full, it rolled back upstairs and acted like a dump truck, dropping all ore and a little stone on the ground. Its efficiency was quadruple that of the previous standard X Lights with pick axes. The only thing slowing it down was it had to come up to the top and drop off the payload. She was going to fix all of this.

As she built another, and another, she started taking the materials and building a mine cart system down deep in the tunnels, allowing them to dump their carried resources into the carts before they auto drove back up to the top. She then built an "Inventory hopper" right there that looked like a desk pendulum toy without the hanging metal in the middle, but a portal that lead directly to her inventory. In this way, she never had to pick anything up, the automatons deposited directly there. In the future, she was already thinking of changing the mine cart system in favor of a conveyor line with added extensions each time they went deeper underground, with the ore dropped on the conveyor belt and brought up to the inventory hopper. That would have to come after this final "bandit battle." Right now, she wanted to improve gathering of wood, and wasting what she had just built would be foolish.

 _More! More efficiency!_

She purposely modified the second fabrication unit to build woodcutting automatons, which looked similar to the Drillers with buzz saws on the arms and two spare arms for grabbing the cut trees. Once she had five of each, there was almost nothing slowing down the constant flow of resources to her. She needed to build up the defenses more though, as twenty-five hundred bandits would get through the guard of… well, ten right now. She built six more fabrication units, one for spider mines, three for standard automatons, one for ornithopters, one for auto turrets. Selene pushed it a bit by making a seventh for auto "cannons" not to be confused with the modern equivalent, and a eighth for auto mortars. The ornithopters were her eyes in the sky, sending constant feedback to her Hud right before her eyes if she needed it. Considering all of the new bots had optics of some sort, she could switch through their vision like security cameras, and be warned if they saw something suspicious. She could technically also install steampunk security cameras on the walls, but the auto turrets she was going to craft would make those not very useful unless she added… really nasty defenses.

Electrified walls or posts to create an invisible electrical fence? Flame nozzles? Gas projection emitters? All of it could be refilled on the fly with a new inventory core she added as a modification to each automaton and defense. It would instead of using its own inventory or bags to reload ammunition, and potentially run out, to enter her own inventory and take what was needed to reload the weapons. As long as she had the resources, they would keep firing. The time was now 1 pm. She ate lunch with the wolves, not being afraid right now at all. Her fear was completely gone.

 _I'm tired of being the one that must survive out here like some scared animal, hoping things didn't find me. Now, I'm going to show that asshole he picked the wrong fort to mess with._

Selene went out and built wiring into the walls and posts, flame nozzles, gas sprayers, even built up vertical raising walls from the ground fifty feet high with massive hydraulics, not to keep the bandits out… to keep them locked in. This time, none of them were escaping. She was going to wipe them out. To power all of this, there were multiple hidden generators with cabling running underground.

"None of you seem to understand, _I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!"_

Her fabrication units just kept pumping V Lights out for the walls, while the dev changed storage crates from holding crossbow bolts to spare triple long barreled arquebus guns due to not reaching Renaissance yet. A V Light was assigned to the "guard" in front of them with five arquebus in each crate, with a sixth held by the guard. When the guard fired the three bullets, it would swap the weapon to the V Light behind it, then grab a new one from the crate. The support automaton would then reload it and put it back in the chest to be used again.

X Light auto turrets were ready to be set up on the walls, with brand new upgraded corbels and arrow slits replaced with bunkers to protect against arcing arrows and allow the guards to fire out in almost complete safety. The turrets themselves had built in blast shields, so they didn't take much damage from the front at all despite being X Lights. If they got hit from the side though, they were probably disabled. She hadn't yet built up the quality tier for them yet, and frankly, she needed mobility more than stationary weapons. The whole fort needed to be one adaptive system, capable of defending from all sides while artillery fired down on the opposing force. The auto mortars and auto "cannons" loaded with grapeshot would fire constantly, making catapults and Arteirobolos absolutely obsolete. There was even a manual auto mortar she was going to use for herself to rain death down on things outside.

The dev even went so far as building auto repair tools that were single use, similar to a potion for the automatons and fortifications to use. If one of them went down, they could repair each other with those. Right now they were X Minor repair tools, but she was hard at work getting them up to Very Minor and Minor. She figured that they would be at Minor level by tonight, alongside the new Minor Healing Potions. The X Minors were now useless beyond a papercut, the V Minors took too much to heal the shoulder wound, the Minors at least would cut the amount she needed to drink in half. She'd probably get an upset stomach, but she wouldn't get to the point of needing to vomit. While Selene would love to have Light Healing Potions, that probably wasn't in the cards due to time constraints, but she has been wrong before. Maybe she'd get lucky and Volgo's army would have to slow down a bit.

Once she was sure her fort was almost complete, with some minor addons later, she went back to the cabin and took a small nap. It was going to be six hours this time, which would allow her to wake up at 8 pm. Plenty of time to get some dinner eaten, finish up any fortifications that were minor or back up, and add any extra autos she felt would help out. There were now two ornithopters in the air providing aerial reconnaissance, which would alert her immediately if they detected the army moving in. They already saw the army in the far distance, still a good fifteen hours away or more if they went for a dead sprint, which obviously wouldn't happen. They might attack her in the night again probably tomorrow, but she was definitely ready.

Before going to bed, she checked her fort listing on her map. It was 2 pm, with thirty V Light automatons with more on the way; five auto mortars with one spare manual for her to use; ten auto "cannons" loaded with grapeshot; thirty X Light Spider Mines, due to how fast the fabrication unit pumped them out; six auto turrets; five Phlogiston flamethrowers installed on the wall ramparts; the boilers were upgraded and doubled the amount so that they would alternate in rebuilding the steam vent pressure, cutting down the time to a quarter what it was; twenty-eight ornithopters with small repeating crossbows as the arquebus had to be reloaded. There were also the two scout ornithopters without weapons.

For the basic defenses, she now had the walls upgraded to "Light" armoring quality and made entirely of reinforced concrete with steel paneling on both sides; flame nozzles added to combine with steam nozzles and gas nozzles, with sinking gas that stayed below ten feet and the fort sealed against flow in at the gate; metal corbels to hide behind and reinforced bunker stations that could be shot from by the V Lights. The gate was updated with a complete sealed armor system to block off the two openings that Ash and Blue escaped from the last time, allowing her to remove the barricades and add in bracings. The whole gate almost looked like a giant airlock. There were also multiple generators created that powered multiple high beam spotlights emplaced on the walls, lighting up the area when required. To add to that, there were in fact Steampunk flare systems to launch onto the battlefield, turning night into day while they floated in the air.

For her "economy" she now had at least six Drillers and six Woodcutters, along with three Farmers now. There had to be two more of each garden plot built, which allowed her to leave them alone and they would be tended to even without casting spells. Technically, with being able to dismantle for more materials and "cheating" the spare resources back into her inventory, she didn't actually need any resource gatherers, but right now it was much faster for them to mine and cut trees. Maybe in the future, once she purposely built more fabrication units to build and dismantle automatons in her inventory for an endless supply, she would stop mining. She could sadly imagine strip mining the whole continent, which might be bad for the people who wouldn't be able to compete with her. She would stop herself from doing that, as it could collapse the economy. Until then, she needed every fabrication unit building, not destroying. There was now a mine cart system installed in the super mine. There might be a free wheeled auto cart she could craft when she woke up for the Woodcutters, but that could actually wait. A healthy chunk of the forest was cut back now, letting her build the trap walls easily with a long sight line. Everything within a ten-kilometer radius was now gone, with not even tree stumps. She giggled at a thought of making bulldozer automatons to level the ground outside once this was all over. This would work. She wasn't going to be laid siege to, she was going to stop this army once and for all.

For consumables, she had already crafted fifty Minor Healing Potions and hoped to maybe squeeze in a sacrifice to Light, fifty Minor Stamina Potions which were already adding twenty percent of her stamina each time, Minor Anti-fatigue Potions, at least twenty Medium Heal scrolls and a whole lot of Reinforced Armor scrolls to use on just about everything right when the army is sighted nearby by the scout ornithopters. There were going to be no losses on her side, no wounded wolves, no damaged automatons, no crossbow bolts in her shoulder. The dev was even thinking about building one V Light automaton just to assist her if she did go down, giving it multiple healing scrolls so that if she did get wounded it could remove any projectiles like a combat medic and tourniquet if bleeding is bad, then use the scrolls.

As she took off her chainmail and laid down in bed with just her underwear, the wolves came up and took a nap with her. "Nobody is going to hurt us anymore guys. I'll make sure of it."

Given the power of the Steampunk Eras, it certainly could be true, as they weren't exactly standard Eras. That gave them a whole lot of leeway in advancement. Before her eyes closed, she checked her character sheet one more time, happy with what she was seeing. The dev checked her tech tree and looked forward to Advanced Steampunk Era in the future. There were certain schematics that lay in there that were true game changers to anyone who would think they could take her on, she saw a few. What also seemed to have appeared were two new Eras just below Advanced, Super Steampunk and Space Steampunk.

As she went to sleep until 8 pm, she knew things were going to be interesting. She would make them regret underestimating her. Volgo didn't even know what he was walking into. If his runners told him about how the defenses were before, he's going to be in for a world of hurt now with the new Late Steampunk Fort.


	11. Ch 10 The Bandit Raid Pt II

_**One Month, B-Day, Midnight**_

The army was slowly creeping towards the fort, still a good distance away. Volgo had to whip a few of his bandits to get them moving, but it was worth it. This bitch had made a fool of him, taking out not just a few of his men, but killing close to one hundred fifty brigands by herself. He was going to make her pay for this. She was only one woman, no matter how strong she acted towards the last force he sent, he would break her and maybe allow the rest of the army to use her as they saw fit. Her life as a free woman was over once he got close enough.

The scouts had confirmed the fort was still there, with almost no activity or movement that they could see. There were a few more protrusions they didn't know about, probably more corbels for that whore to hide behind on her pathetic walls. While she was ready for an attack from one side, she wouldn't be ready for a flank attack, which was why he split his forces in two, one coming from the South East, the other lead by him coming up from the North. It took longer to maneuver his men into position since most of them were meat heads that just wanted to get a chance to play with her and didn't understand tactics or strategy.

"Volgo, hey, I… I don't see anyone in there, are we sure she hasn't abandoned it yet? I mean… she probably knew we'd be coming right?" One of his lieutenants asked. "Which is why we are going in there to check you imbecile! If she's gone, we'll find her. She couldn't have gone far either way." He sat there on his horse waiting for the final confirmation that everyone was in position. "The wizard Taldesian is ready. You sure he can handle her if we can't?" Volgo looked at another lieutenant and slapped him upside the head. "Of course he can! There's no way she could have magic protection. Now! Everyone! Move forward carefully! If the fort doesn't see us coming, then we've got this in the bag!" The ex-captain pulled his sword and held onto his reins, pushing forward slowly. Once they were within five kilometers, they started to move faster. It was like a swarm of bugs coming to chew up some tasty morsel. She probably didn't have a clue just how angry he was. Maybe if she begged, he'd kill her after she serviced all of his men.

Unfortunately for him, that was when the automatons registered he was in position. Giant concrete walls erupted from the ground behind all of them with massive hydraulics, with Volgo stopping with eyes wide in surprise. "What the…" "Volgo, what the hell is this?" The Bandit leader looked at the fort as it lit up brightly with torches that weren't on fire, with white fireballs launched into the sky, turning the night into day. "It's a trap."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Madam, hostiles are in position" one of her V Lights informed her. "Roll out the welcome mat." The trap walls erupted from the ground at the three-kilometer limit, completely blocking them all off along with the fort wall lights engaging, spotlights turning on and flares launched just above the stupid fish in a barrel. She could see with the spyglass where Volgo was, and just as his head turned, she knew that he had found himself in a deadly trap.

 _That's when he knew, he done fucked up._

Auto mortars started to fire, the electric field posts engaged, the fifty V Lights took aim for anything running for the walls while another fifty acted as support. Auto turrets swiveled into position like CIWS systems on an aircraft carrier, with Selene casting Reinforce Armor with scrolls on everything defending, saving her mana for other things. She popped her elixirs, potions and cast X Greater Greater Resistance, X Greater Medium Resistance and X Greater Light Resistance… she knew about the magic caster already. She was hoping he'd show up. There was already a plan put in place for him which was quite simple. The whole fort looked like some giant beast waking up, ready to tear into the not insignificant army.

The mortars landed, with the rounds being cluster fragmentation rounds designed for maximum dispersion range… that blast range was a good ten meters each time one hit. Spider mines were crawling over the walls to go find a hapless bandit to latch onto then detonate, causing as much damage as possible. If they couldn't manage to latch on or it would cause damage to the unit, it would just get close and detonate. Bodies were flying into the air from the blasts, with maybe a few hundred at most trying to charge the fort, which was more than welcoming. V Lights hit with pin point accuracy, auto turrets shredded groups with good fields of fire, and when some of them started to use metal shields to protect them from the bullets, the auto cannons popped out and fired blasts of grapeshot to dissipate the lines.

This wasn't a battlefield, it was a slaughter. But Selene didn't care. She thought back to how many lives these assholes had destroyed, how many they had killed, raped or stolen from, the families that had to run for the hills because of them. She was taking joy in watching the bodies flying into the air, the screams of their dying… it was justice for the very same they did to others, to Glass Dale. Three bandits somehow were brave enough, or stupid enough, to continue charging at the fort walls, being lucky enough not to be hit by bullets or artillery. Then they hit the electric fence field. One flash fried from the power pumping through them, the other two jerked for a little bit, with one somehow surviving and crawling towards the wall still hell bent on making it in. A quick bolt from an ornithopter ended that.

Volgo attempted to run away, straight towards the walls in hopes that the artillery would blast a hole in it and allow him to escape. Unfortunately for him, the auto mortars were very, very accurate and could predict where he was going. The walls were also very thick and could ignore tens of mortar rounds fired at them before a breach would happen. His horse was hit by an explosion, flipped end over end with him still riding due to the stirrups, and slammed down on the ground, the horse barely crushing his right leg as he pulled away and tried to crawl. There were bandits clawing at the trap walls trying to make their way over, even attempting to push each other up to make a human ladder. Sadly, they barely made it up to twenty feet… before the flame nozzles engaged. Selene was wearing a gas mask not because of any poison, but because of hating to smell the cooked flesh of humans. She wasn't very partial to long pig. The smell would eventually go away once the bodies were incinerated.

The dev had gotten some shots in with a three-barreled arquebus, but she didn't have any perks to assist in accuracy, which made at least two of the shots completely miss. It was her first time, plus she was just screwing around with it. As she swapped to her longbow for this, as the enemy was now much further range than last time, she emptied an entire quiver at the mass of screaming and panicking brigands going anywhere they could to get away from the fort spitting death and destruction. The entire time, Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture was playing in her head, complete with cannons firing each time auto mortars or auto cannons dispersed another round of pain. Her manual mortar system was swapped to auto mode due to her first three shells not landing near bandits at all. She hadn't taken the fortifications skill yet.

Suddenly, the world started to go slow, very slow. Time hadn't stopped, but things were moving at a snail's pace around her. The wizard had shown up. He floated down from the sky and was barely a foot above the ground, looking right at her. "I figured I would be needed for some whore such as yourself." She got up, resistant to the effects due to the spells she cast and walked down her stairs straight towards him. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to end this quickly, as I don't really believe Volgo wants any more of his men killed right now, dullards as they are. I'm afraid he isn't going to be playing around with your body while your living. Make your peace." He aimed his staff at her as it glowed.

"Elevator going up." The wizard looked at her in confusion. "What?" A stalagmite explosively launched upwards from the ground, completely ignoring his slow time spell due to it being a unique developer ability and partial to her resistances, which she knew wasn't the tenth-tier spell time stop. Selene didn't actually know if there was a slow time spell in Yggdrasil's spell list, at least one that she could remember. The reason being that if someone wanted to slow time, they would just add speed boosts to themselves and move even faster, defeating the purpose. It was possible he had used the third-tier spell Slow with Widen Magic. The huge spike rammed straight through his pelvis, punched upwards into his chest and came out of the top of his head, a little bit of it showing from his mouth. His staff dropped to the ramparts floor, with his body twitching a foot off the ground as his corpse slowly went limp. Although Her Molecular Reformation was only at twenty percent power and control, she had used it once before she even upgraded the stats to produce a stalagmite from the ground on a goblin. This was easier to fire off now with the twenty percent upgrades, as she was completely calm, and it was just larger for a human.

The dev even doubted if any of the spells he would have cast would have caused any damage unless he had some sort of penetrate effect up to combat her resistances. Given that she had not only X Greater Greater Resistance, X Greater Medium Resistance and X Greater Lesser Resistance, but also one Lesser Elixir for each resistance type and one potion for each resistance type, her total resistance at the moment was something around five hundred percent. Even with penetrate magic capabilities, he would have at most dropped her resistances to around two thirds of that, maybe half if he really pushed it. The other effect was she had two immunities, as Arcanic's Wizardry provided anything at two hundred percent an immunity. Those spells that are immunity breaking or ignore defenses go through only that immunity, with a second immunity provided at four hundred percent that bypasses the ignore. Getting to that number was tough enough in Arcanic's Wizardry, but that was because there was no quality tier system for the spells, making mages who got to that resistance rating "tank" mages who try to outlast any damage launched at them. There was a penetrate rating for some spells that could be enhanced just like Yggdrasil, but the rating made players use lower tier spells sometimes because it would puncture the defenses, even if it did next to no damage. There were ways to protect against that though.

"Oh, crap, I didn't even give him a chance to fire what he was going to fire at me. Oops." She checked her combat log really quick as the slow time spell dissipated, the battle continuing as she just stood there on the fort grounds while her automatons laid into the remaining bandits. She had seen through her eyes in the sky Volgo crawling on the ground, followed by a targeted mortar shot she requested from one of her auto mortars specifically for him. His head was flung through the air, landing a little closer to the airlock gate. She checked the log and realized the wizard was getting ready to cast a Grand Fireball, a fourth-tier spell from Yggdrasil, before his untimely demise.

 _Yup, these guys have access to Yggdrasil spells, but that was probably low end. Most high-level players are casting tenth tier spells, not mid-grade stuff. I'm starting to get an idea of just how powerful people are around here. I'd still like to work out an experiment later though, with a few subjects to test something new on. Probably also need to add some time dilation protection to the steampunk units I have, among other resistances._

That something new was a special item she had seen in countless games as a feature, and in some others as a tool that could be crafted. That was to check on a person's level and stats. She couldn't do it right now unless they were in her inventory, which she wasn't about to start doing to everyone out there. That's a great way to lose friends. Her first thought was potentially adding a perk that would allow it, but on second thought that was a waste of a perfectly good point. Instead, she was going to see about crafting an item like a spyglass or magnifying glass that was enchanted with not only enchanting essence, but also use a perk tome in the enchanting process. If it worked, it wouldn't take a perk slot, just use the materials involving the tome. If it didn't, she had a fall back option.

The death screams and cries for help were dwindling, with a quick command from her for her ornithopters to go in and clean up, making sure none of them lived. She knew she was being ruthless, but she was tired of them trying to walk all over people. The fact that each one might have had a murder under their belts, and it made it much easier for the order to finish them off. As she took off her gas mask and looked out over the walls, seeing the flames of the grass burning and craters covering the area, bodies everywhere, she sighed. The smell of cooking bodies had gone away to just smoke and a slight smell of phlogiston.

"I've always wanted to say this… and no one can rag on me for saying it… I love the smell of phlogiston in the morning. It smells like… victory."

Once she was sure the army was wiped out to the last man, she had her automatons head out and collect the bodies for a bonfire of phlogiston, then grind the bones. She would then enchant a "holy icon" which wasn't exactly holy, just enchanted well over ten times, to dispel any ghosts or undead resurrection effects on the battlefield. That would keep any undead bandits from appearing, which she doubted would happen, but was just being careful. Once she set her automatons to the task, with the trap walls still up, she decided it was time for some decent shut eye after a hot bath.

There was one made for her by an X Light butler next to the cabin, with a waiting cotton towel, as she had crafted a few with removing the cotton requirement and replaced a tiny bit of linen and tar to make some steampunk elastic in the alchemy stations. She hoped in the future she could get her hands on more sheep for wool, or if possible, cotton seeds to grow instead of removing it as an exotic material. She still hadn't found any, with the alewife back in Gold Pine not knowing what cotton was. "Oh shit, I nearly forgot about them. Oh well, I'll go tell them the good news tomorrow once I have the scouts find their camp." Selene took her armor and clothes off to take her bath with lavender scented soap, the X Light butler cleaning the armor and clothing with an X Greater Scrub Spell due to the limited mana bar she was able to infuse it with, although the butler would need to inject mana potions into a small port just to regenerate the mana pool. The Scrub spell was almost exactly like Clean spell from Yggdrasil, a tier one cast. The difference was Scrub had a combination effect of oiling or lubricating equipment as well, making sure that guns wouldn't jam, joints were loose and functional, no rust was on metals, etc. It wasn't the best choice to use on a painting or picture frame, as it would just white wash the whole thing, but it would make a window crystal clear. The X Greater tier allowed an entire fort to be cleaned at a moments notice, probably a whole city if channeled.

"This has been my second bath in a month. From now on, I'm doing it every day. No more being grubby. I'm getting back to being hygienic." While she enjoyed her bath, the butler put her armor in a large storage chest inside the cabin, no longer chainmail as instead she now had a steampunk Kevlar vest with a small exoskeleton inserted into it to allow tools to be equipped as small spare mechanical arms from the back that could use precision tools. They weren't exactly great for combat, but definitely helpful for holding things, or if she got around to crafting something with her hands instead of her inventory, assist in that as well. It wasn't exactly the best armor, as she already knew about using steampunk mechanical powered armor which sort of looked like a mixture between a dive suit and wearing a whole bunch of tubas with gears and piping running along the outside, with a steam and lightning emitting power backpack attached. The vest, despite being made of something similar to Kevlar, looked kind of like any other quilted vest, with some easy padded pauldrons and quilted pants over her regular wool clothing. With it on, she looked fairly fashionable, if one could be fashionable while wearing body armor. It provided better protection than chainmail, was far lighter and was easier to remove or put on. She just needed a pocket watch and she'd look like she was crossdressing as a gentleman.

Once she had finished her bath and used the scissors to trim herself again along with a new comb and brush, she got her new cotton pajamas put on and the improved bed that no longer used straw, but cotton and box springs mattress with linen underlining she crafted. She still wanted the seeds to get a plantation going for others to feel how comfortable it was and maybe sell some of it, but until then she'd sleep even better tonight. In her eyes, using the alchemy stations to somehow make steampunk memory foam was a great goal. As she laid down in her upgraded bed, the thought of twenty-five hundred men dying just outside her gates didn't affect her at all. Once she got some sleep, it was going off to tell the villagers of Gold Pine the good news.

 _ **One Month, 8 am**_

Asterion finally had a chance to run around after being cooped up for the past few days, which Selene was happy to oblige as she rode him to Gold Pine to see if it was burnt to the ground. Some of it was torched, damaged or pillaged, which was a shame, but it could still be rebuilt. Her scouts had detected a camp hidden up in the Azaltos mountains, and with casting speed spells on Aster, allowed her to make it there by noon. As she headed up the small almost undetectable path to the camp, the villagers saw her crest the top and hop off her horse. "Hey lass! It's good to see you! How is your village doing? Have you come to hide with us here?" Giles asked her as Abby was carrying a pot of water. "I've come to tell you you're safe now, the bandits have been dealt with. All of them. You can head home finally." Everyone looked at her, with some of the villagers standing up. Giles stopped smiling confused. "Wait, all of them? That was… wasn't it said that it was an army of-" "Twenty-five hundred, yes. Actually, all total it was around twenty-seven hundred." Everyone started to gather around. "How do you know this Selene?" he asked in shock. "Because… because I took care of them. All of them. They're all dead."

Giles just glanced around, trying to say something but no words were coming out of his mouth. "Are you the trader that kept coming to Gold Pine?" The mayor asked, Stafinson she thought it was. "Yes I am." The mayor walked up to her and studied her face. "Who defeated them?" he asked. Selene looked around at everyone then back at him. "I did. Giles… I… kind of lied about being from a village. I've… I've been living out in the boonies for this entire time at a fort I built. They happened to come for that fort. I fought back with some help of course." Everyone started whispering amongst themselves. "She's a wizard, or a witch! Is she a good witch?" "She healed my son and she's been helping us before we abandoned our homes. If it's true she defeated the bandits… she's a hero! A saint!" "She's blessed, a true hero sent to us in our darkest hour!"

"Enough!" the mayor yelled as he looked at her. "I… don't know how to thank you on behalf of our village. You came to our aide when no one else would. No one else could." She felt put on the spot. "I don't really need any payment or thanks, you're going to need everything to rebuild, and I'm sorry but I didn't exactly do it just for you. I was attacked, plain and simple. I'll do what I can to get you some resources to fix your homes, they're… kind of… well…" she trailed off and looked at the ground. "Destroyed? I somehow knew it would happen. At least no life was lost. We can rebuild, slowly but surely. Now that the bandits are gone, traders might feel it's safe to travel there, give us some decent goods. They'll have to keep up with you though… I mean… well, I guess you aren't exactly a trader now, are you?" she shook her head. "I was just trying to get by. I needed seeds for my gardens and some… stuff… to help me out a bit. I'm pretty much set now. I… hope I'm still allowed in Gold Pine after lying like that, but it was for my own protection. I've seen how people treat someone who can cast spells or do what I can do. Burned at the stake is only one of the very bad ends."

"Burned at the stake? Ms... Selene is it? People here have only ever done that if they have caught someone of evilness so notable that-" She interrupted. "-People have done that to others for political reasons. Some of those witches and warlocks were burned just because people hated them or feared them, even if they didn't know any spells or were any threat. It happens. You can't blame me for hiding in plain sight as a trader at first, then later to help heal. I was cautious." All the villagers felt a little sorry for her, as that was true, they couldn't deny it. "Ms. Selene, I assure you, none of us feel that way. We're glad to have known you. Now, enough with this talk about wizardry. Our "heroic trader" has come to let us know that we can return to our lives, free from the banditry of those heathens who would steal and pillage our homes! Ms. Selene, it may take us some time to pack, would you be willing to be our honorary… er…" The mayor looked up at the sky and scratched at his short beard, trying to find what to say. "guest?" she asked. "Yes. Would you be willing to be our honorary guest? We… might not have anywhere inside to drink, but it would be nice to have you there for a small party."

"I'd be happy to come by. If I had to take a guess, tomorrow? It will take you some time to get back to Gold Pine and set up your tents, there's plenty of time tomorrow to party." He clapped his hand on her shoulder and nodded. "We'll see you then."

 _ **The Next Day**_

Selene didn't know what to bring, she knew she was the honored VIP but wanted to bring a sort of house warming gift for them now that they had to rebuild some of buildings. While the entirety of Gold Pine wasn't destroyed, the inn was set on fire along with the general store, multiple houses were collapsed as well, fences were torn down. If she hazarded a guess, about fifty percent of it was unlivable. Given how hardy these villagers were, they'd probably have everything back up and ready within a few weeks as if it never happened.

"That's it! I'm gonna bring a cart full of… of…" she fell silent as she realized she could pull things from her inventory now around them and they'd know she could cast spells. There was no need to use a cart or make Asterion pull anything heavy beyond the wolves hitching a ride. He no longer had to be a draft horse, just run around and enjoy life. Now that she even had access to vehicles, he might not need to carry her much in the future. She'd still ride him often enough to make sure he stayed healthy, however. Most Equestrians would be screaming with envy at the fact she had a huge warhorse as her personal ride. There was the slight issue of… Riding was not Driving for skills. Vehicles required Driving, so until she got more skill points, which she was going to do now with Universal Skill Potions being far more affordable, she would ride Aster around. While she obviously knew how to drive a car, attempting to drive a steampunk vehicle might be different.

Her list in her inventory she would bring now would be some of her own booze which was much stronger, hoping to not annoy the alewife in the village; some wood she had gained from crafting supports for the mine with only a few twigs and then dismantling them; some metal ingots for Giles to help fix up the place with some decent rivets; thatch which she hoped she could recommend not using for their roofs anymore and instead tile with wood and tar; some clay and stone if they needed to fix the streets or anything else; linen clothes which she had gotten now to Uncommon due to not needing any exotic materials to move up the quality tier. From what she now saw, there was now nothing stopping her from just pushing out one hundred of each quality until she reached Ascended, or until she got beyond six exotic materials. However, due to the major bandit battle that she now refers to as "B-Day," her level shot up to thirty-five easily. She distinctly remembered this as there were constant bouts of lightheadedness through out the fight, but she brushed it off as needing a little more rest or not eating properly before the fight. She now worried if she leveled too fast, it might cause issues with her brain, potentially medical problems like with tech tiers or large skill improvements.

That reminded her, as she checked up on her sheet and saw her level had shot up, so was her tech up ready for Renaissance Era. She now had official muskets to replace the arquebus, with soon to be Advanced Steampunk in the very near future. She was already beyond the halfway point to the next tech tier; Selene had done a whole lot of actions in that fight. The other major thing she now had was at level thirty she received one choice of an automatic spell unlock at maximum power or research a specific consumable. She knew exactly what she was researching. Universal Stat Potion. She could learn the spells each day, having that potion unlocked was worth millions of its weight in star metal or whatever else precious materials. If she could somehow in the future get a perk potion, she'd be set.

She now had one hundred thirty Attribute Points available, two hundred sixty Skill Points available, sixteen Perk Points available and a decent number of spells and special abilities. There was always room for more though, but right now she wasn't working on any stations. Today, she was going to relax a bit and have fun. She increased her Logistics to fifty percent, drastically improving how fast smelting was now done and making Crafting Time in stats almost an afterthought for some stations with tools, with three new abilities added. The first one was "Cut Through Red Tape" which was a passive that removed the crafting time of any station she would need to build, whether it was a lowly campfire or a massive textiles factory, allowing them to be built instantly. They still needed materials to be built, which made Crafting Cost very useful.

The second new ability was "An Army Moves on Its Stomach" which doubled the amount of food crafted in her inventory from the ingredients provided for every mouth that was in her "Army" or party, but not outside of her inventory. Considering she tended to cook with the wolves, this wasn't as great as she wanted it to be, unless there was another fight that stopped her from going out and hunting. Hopefully, in the future, she'd build her own ranch. In her eyes, if the animals she was growing for food had Growth Spurt cast on them, then slaughtered, they wouldn't live such bad lives. Quick and efficient, she had gotten already used to the whole scene of guts and blood now, somewhat desensitized to it. She still cared about the feelings and pain she caused, but it was necessary to survive. Maybe something in the next few Steampunk Eras or a future Era would allow her to just grow meat trees. Regardless, if there were just her three wolves with her, that would double the food three times, or eight times the amount she previously had. That was a lot of food that could sit in her bags until she teched up.

The final new ability was called "Communications Is Key" which allowed her to instantly communicate with any of her guild if she made one somehow, her party or as she wanted to call it her "fireteam" given she was happy with how her automatons worked, or special friends. This apparently was heavily encrypted as well, which surprised her when she tested it on one of her "drones" back at the fort and saw the effect, although the chat was crystal clear with drone fourteen acknowledging her order from outside the fort. This might mean it wasn't a normal message she was sending, but a military grade transmission that nothing could listen into. Was there scrying in this world? Some way to eavesdrop on communications with magic? If that was the case, this ability was extremely useful. Once she received the ability, she noticed there was an odd whispering in the back of her mind. It turned out to be her army communicating between each other and not going insane, providing updates at the speed of steampunk computers. She could turn it off and on at will to not hear non-emergency issues. It seemed pretty interesting to her hearing her drones report in on nothing moving outside, drone six swapping with drone twelve on the ramparts, among other things.

The dev also added thirty points to Gathering and Metallurgy, causing any materials or resources to provide a fifty percent boost, including ingots. Her Drillers were just filling her inventory with ore now, and an interesting thing she noted once she reached Renaissance Era was all her materials, at least the ones she didn't collect herself, were still in her inventory. That meant that the automatons weren't considered "her" gathering, despite it being in her inventory and used to craft ingots and tools. This almost nullified the issue of teching up, as she could just send autos out to hunt for her or pick the gardens after Growth Spurt was used while her wolves get fat and pampered.

An ability she received from Gathering was "Renewable Resources" Which took whatever she gathered from a place and would regenerate that amount equal to her Gathering Skill percentage within one week. This was an active ability, which if she shoved points into it and only took less than the amount of resources from a certain area below her Gathering skill, it would keep coming back. That kind of made her wonder how that worked on animals, then that made her not want to know. Spring would apparently come more than once a year for them.

Her final new ability she gained from Metallurgy was "Forged in Myth" with every craft that used metal had a chance of being produced one quality tier up. The chance was equal to her Metallurgy skill halved, so twenty-five percent, which seemed like pretty good odds for her automatons to turn into beasts on a battlefield before even being launched.

With one last upgrade to her stats and skill before heading to Gold Pine, she added forty Attribute Points into Crafting Cost to up it to one hundred percent, as well as Steampunk Mechanical Engineering to one hundred percent. She had ninety Attribute Points left and one hundred twenty Skill Points left. She'd work on the perks a bit later as now that she had access to gunpowder, and for that matter special steampunk weapons, she'd need to completely redo the list. Along the way she'd craft some Skill Potions and Stat Potions if she remembered. The only reason she wasn't throwing more points into things was she just wanted to focus on enjoying the day. The remainder would get used right after.

As she rode Asterion into Gold Pine with the pups along for the ride in the wagon, not needing to run alongside the horse, she could see people doing their best to fix up their homes, nailing fences back together and in general cleaning or ripping down burnt parts of buildings. She could see Giles standing in front of his smithy, shaking his head with his hands on his waist. "Giles, morning." She dismounted and disconnected the wagon from Aster, letting the pups run around and play near her feet. "Blasted scavengers. My forge is destroyed. There's no reason to do that other than to be evil. You gave them a good thrashing, didn't you?" She nodded with a smirk on her mouth. "Oh yeah, they never knew what hit them, literally." The old smith sighed with a content look washing over his face. "Good. You wouldn't per chance have any spare stone in that wagon of yours would… actually, you've done enough for us so far, I'm pretty sure I-" She stuck her hand into her inventory portal and pulled out a small block of stone, which made Giles's eyes widen. "Well… that was… interesting… you can, you can store things like that?"

Selene nodded, worried she might have damaged her friendship with him. His eyebrows waggled as he tried to wrap his head around it. "I guess I'll just be calling you hero Selene instead of trader now eh? You burned those bandits with magical fire and brimstone?" She chuckled at that. "Not exactly magical, but I do have some when I need it. That's… only… well, my endless bags are only part of it." He nodded. "Would make runs to Silvinholm much easier if I didn't have to drive a wagon around, but then with you here there isn't a need to go to that city."

"I'll do my best, thanks. Now, where would you like a pile of spare stones and clay?" she asked with a grin on her face. "Right over there, thank you lass. I suppose you don't have a spare one of these in there would you?" he chuckled out as he elbowed her in her ribs playfully. "Would you like one?" she whispered, realizing it would fix the whole issue without needing to give him the materials. His face fell to a stone mask as he wondered if she could really do it. "Can you?" She crafted a forge instantly and picked up his old one into her inventory, then tried to place the new one down. The new one was a little finicky, as she had to place it in such a way that there was barely any space to move around it with the portal. There were far more features than his last one. "By the gods lass! This is an improvement over my old one! I… I can't repay you for this, I really can't. This a master craft forge you made." He ran his callused fingers over the sides and looked it over like a new born baby or a new toy.

"Don't worry about it, you kept me in business when I was first coming here, I was able to get some money out of it as well as decent information and advice. Besides, these people are going to need you to use that to get back up and running." He nodded twice hesitantly as his eyes didn't leave the brand-new forge. "Is this your secret to those ingots?" She scratched her chin and looked away from the smithy. "Um… actually… uh, that was still technique, sorry." The dev didn't want to tell him all the ingots were being crafted in her inventory, she didn't even tell him she built the forge right then and there instead of having a spare available.

"There she is, the Hero of Gold Pine!" Moira cheered as she came out of her burnt up inn and pulled a basket of charcoal with her. There were two drunkards lying next to the door, useless as always. Selene sighed. Some things never change. Villagers were clapping and cheering her on as she took a small curtsey and looked around. "Do you need help Moira? Looks… bad in there…" her eyes roamed the sides of the inn and the cross beams that had fallen. Two other villagers were trying to move one of the beams out of the bar area.

"Me? You've already done so much luv. No, don't be so worried. You're our honored guest, just relax, we'll all be getting a bonfire done tonight and some dancing, drinks should be on the house with a nice feast for all."

"You sure Moi? She might have a spare inn she can magic out" Giles laughed out. Selene felt immediately put on the spot as her eyes widened and her mouth clamped shut. Moira looked at Giles in confusion for a second before glancing at Selene. "What's that about? You're not telling me you can rebuild the village, can you? What, you have some spare buildings just lying around you can push into place?" she chuckled as she questioned the whole thing. "I… can't… I don't have any of that… but… I… uh…" the dev took a deep breath and tried to think up an explanation. "Magic. I can sort of help rebuild the inn, in a way…" Moira just looked blankly at her for a second before backing out of her way and telling the peasants inside the burnt-out husk to get out for a minute.

 _Way to go show off. Now I'm going to be fixing up the whole damn village. I just made work for myself. Next time… *sigh* next time I should try and be careful when I want to help people. Control that mouth of mine._

She focused on removing the inn entirely from its foundation into her inventory, meanwhile dismantling the old forge for spare resources. Once that was done, and Moira was done having a heart attack or fainting along with a lot of other people, she started to build the walls, the supports and second floor, with the roof no longer thatch but wood paneling and tar. Everyone just looked between the new inn and Selene. "She's no witch, she's a goddess come to save us." She heard whispered from one woman. "That was… an… impressive display there…" Moira tried to understand what just happened. The new inn was larger than the old one by double the size as Selene was going by a template she knew about from her Eras. The walls were reinforced and insulated, with a larger staircase going up to the second floor. None of them could see it, but there were four staircases, three to reach the fourth floor now instead of two floors for the old one, and one staircase to go into the basement with a small ramp to a spare cellar. The bar was larger with a full counter. There was no furniture yet, but that was at least saved by the innkeeper before they ran for the hills. There even two candle chandeliers, one for the bar room and one for the main hallway for the first staircase.

"Please, can you… can you fix everyone else's home? I'll… I don't know, I'll pay you" the mayor was right behind her and she didn't know it, watching the entire spectacle.

 _Fuck! Next time Selene, when you have a chance to boast and make yourself look amazing, just shut the fuck up!_

While mentally chastising herself, she giggled nervously as she resigned herself to helping them. By the end of the day, the village was… upgraded. No more thatch roofs, better walls with stronger doors with latches and better locks with keys, fixed fences and cleaned up gardens. There were new torch sconces everywhere, even outside with lamp posts and places to put candles, brightening the place up significantly. She wasn't about to give them electricity, they'd flip out or really have heart attacks, potentially due to playing with the cabling. The last thing she wanted to see was some dumb kid attempting to do what kids do back on Earth, stick a fork in an electrical socket. She even updated the signs outside and made sure the cobblestone streets were repaired, which was very easy to do. Once she was done, she just walked into the inn and sat down in a specially set chair at the bar with music being played and people dancing. The bar area was now much larger, capable of supporting far more people to enjoy themselves. One of the drunks tried to grab Selene's butt, with a quick response elbow to the face flipping him end over end and landing unconscious on the ground, hopefully not with his nose smashed into his brain. Apparently Shield Bash worked without a shield. Instead of everyone being surprised about it, they were all laughing given the fact the drunkards didn't really do anything in the village beyond be a drain to it and be lechers.

"Here ye! Here ye! I'd like to propose a toast to our hero, Selene of… where do you hail from?" mayor Stafinson asked as he raised a glass in honor to her. She never named the fort, it was always just "fort." Boramar Mountains? Boramar Fortress? It was really just a place she lived, with no street address she could really add to it. It her was shield against things that could harm her, her aegis against the unknown waiting to take her life.

"Fortress of Solitude" she told him, blinking at how stupid that sounded coming out of her mouth. There was a slight pause as they all took that in. She lived in a fortress now. It was no longer just a little fort. That "home" of hers was capable of going toe to toe with some modern militaries, at least quite a few third world countries from Earth.

"Ah… so be it. I propose a toast to our hero, Selene of Fortress… of… Solitude, who has defeated the entirety of the bandit army that threatened our homes, our children, our very lives. Thank you for helping us rebuild our homes, they are beyond all expectations." "That name for my home may change in the future, just letting everyone know." They nodded.

 _Fortress of Solitude? REALLY?! That was the best I could come up with?! What, did I just grow balls and become Superman?!_

One woman stood up. "I meant what I said. You're like a goddess incarnate miss. We've all seen wizards and magicians who weren't nearly as kind as you are. If a religion was started around you, I'd… I'd…" she tried to finish her sentence as she looked at everyone around her. "I'd join it" one man said, with other agreeing. "She might be a goddess come down that is hiding her true form." "Whoa whoa whoa! I'm not a goddess, please don't make a religion about me. Seriously, I'm fine. I'm just me, not godly, perfectly human. Pretty sure about that. Nothing weird about me at all." Selene was waving her hands open palmed defensively as Moira poured her a clean glass of the ale that the dev had snuck in for her. No one had to know it wasn't the alewife's brew, just that it was potent enough to kill the drunkards if they continued downing anymore. That might be a blessing in disguise.

"It's just that, miss, you've done more for our village than anyone has done, and… well, we barely really know you. We've seen you work with Giles, so that means your respectable and worth notice as a trader. We just… I'm just so grateful to have my home back, better than ever, with no fear of being attacked if I walk down the road to… oh no… Glass Dale is gone isn't it?" the woman finished. Her husband put his hands around her to give her a hug as they all bowed their heads in somber acknowledgement. "Our hero Selene has gained justice for those lost lives. Maybe their souls rest in peace knowing that" the mayor said as there was a moment of silence. "Can we… um… I mean not to break the mood and I understand we're paying respects to the dead, but… I've had enough of that for the past… I dunno, week? I'm pretty deathed out right now, with the mass grave I sort of built for the bandits and all." She was lying about the graves, but everyone acknowledged they needed to brighten things up. She hoped no one started a religion with her as the deity, because that was usually when the crazies came out and sacrificed people and creatures in her name for better harvests.

The music started to play with three men all working together for a great few songs, allowing families to dance and clap while they enjoyed the feast. There was pork stew, brown bread, some salmon from a river up North, a pottage of split pea soup, an entire wheel of cheese that was actually delicious for Selene, some salami that the man swore was just sausage slices and Selene did not want to argue, wine and ale, some hard liquor of assorted flavors, roasted chicken with herbs and surprisingly, a fresh salad. There were small pies of either mincemeat or apple, which the dev went for a slice of the apple one. Unfortunately for her, the crust itself was made with rather poor flour, which turned it into almost leather. The apple slices that were spiced were good though, even helping soften the crust.

"This is all thanks you luv. You made this all possible" Moira told her quietly as people danced and the innkeeper poured a glass of fine wine she had stashed away for the hero. "I just got stuck in a bad spot. I'm no hero, really. They came for my fortress, I fought back. I just happened to end the threat, that's all." Moira touched her arm. "And yet you came for us in the mountains to let us know we're safe, then helped rebuild our homes. That wasn't looking out for just you luv." Giles got up from his seat next to Abby and sat next to the auburn-haired woman at the counter. "You know, you're like one of those adventurers, going about and doing those… what are those…" he stopped to think. "Quests Giles, they're called quests" the innkeeper leaned on the counter and ruffled his long greasy hair. "That's it! Quests! They go out and do quests to help the people, getting treasures and rewards along the way lass. Who knows what's out there for you, just waiting to be gathered up? Hell, don't we know of one such place… oh… uh… wha… may not…" Giles teetered off on what he was explaining. "Giles, you daft git! You don't just start the story and end it without giving her a reason! She has no idea about that!"

Selene looked between both of them in confusion. "Am I missing something? What's the story?" she asked. Giles looked at Moira and sighed, who motioned towards the dev sitting next to him. "You need to tell her, even if it won't amount to much." He ran his fingers through his hair and looked her in the eye. "There's a story about a certain treasure that's supposedly hidden in these parts, near Boramar Mountains. For all I know, in some caves. The treasure, and this is the reason I didn't want to bother you with it lass, was called an Orb of Experiences. To those who were connected to it, it would transfer those experiences to one or another person, or even split it up to each person in the group, it didn't matter. The point is, there was a problem with it. Whatever experience that was given to others, it would take from one person or the rest, as if it never happened." Selene looked a little confused.

"Wait, let me see if I've got this right and you're using the right words." Giles and Moira leaned on the counter and listened. "This, this Orb of Experiences, it would take a memory or experience that someone had, whether how to fight a certain way or how to cook a certain way or whatever, and either give it to one other person, or evenly distribute it to a group? Like, each only got a portion of it? So… so if a legendary soldier knew how to swing a sword with no effort, and that experience was given to another in his party… they'd now know how to swing a sword just like he could?" she asked. They nodded. "The problem lies in that lass. Why would you give up something you know how to do without teaching it? That soldier would no longer be the best at what he does, another would have his skills."

"And he doesn't keep them? He loses all of that memory like, like going from an expert swordsman to just a simple farm boy?" Giles and Moira nodded. "It could be split amongst the group, yes, but he wouldn't be nearly as effective, potentially dooming them. That's why it's a useless treasure lass. There are better adventures for the likes of you." The dev sat thinking for a second as she looked back up at Giles and Moira. "How did it get lost out there?" Moira tapped the counter a few times with a finger. "That's the thing luv. It was previously carried by a group of adventurers. No one really knows what happened to them, but they're probably all dead now if it's hidden up in that there mountain range. I dunno if someone or something was willing to kill them for it, but chances are they realized their mistake and abandoned it right after."

 _Wait, so it transfers experience while the giver loses it? That seems a bit dumb. Seems a little useless as learning how to swing a sword for an archer that is ranged seems like a waste, but maybe… maybe I can use it for research purposes in the research station? I don't know, is this even worth doing? Maybe they're right. Could be a fun little bauble to store memories, or maybe copies of memories? I might be able to finagle the thing to do that. Like a snow globe that harnessed happy thoughts._

Her mind was flicking between go on her first adventure and ignore it. "As he said luv, better treasure out there for you than sapping your mind of everything you've learned for some nobody adventurer you join with. It would take a really good team to want to sacrifice of yourself for them. I'd be angry if someone stole memories of my life without giving anything back." Abby wanted to dance with Giles, who was happy to oblige as that couple enjoyed some time together. Selene just sat there thinking about that treasure and eating. Even her wolves were getting plenty of scraps given under tables, with lots of pats from the kids. Luckily, none of the children were young enough to attempt to pull on their tails, or they'd definitely get bitten.

Once the party was over, Selene said her goodbyes and headed back to her fort. It was already well past nightfall, with a light orb helping guide her way along with waypoints in her Hud. Just in case there happened to be any predators nearby, animal or even some lost bandits she hadn't ended which she was sure were all gone, she cast Sense Hostile for the area. The way home was mostly uneventful, with Aster allowed to meander his way there. Once they were within range of seeing the fort, the lights turned on as the gate opened, welcoming her. She now didn't even need to get off her steed, as the automatons could detect her easily, their creator and master. "Welcome back madam, would you like a bath and hot meal?" her butler asked.

"I'll take a bath, but no hot meal. I've eaten already." The butler bowed and went to start the hot water from the boilers. As she slipped into the bathtub and soaked herself, her mind kept running to other caves. She had only explored a tenth of the valley, with a huge amount still untouched. It was possible the treasure, Orb of Experiences, was just a myth to warn all adventurers there were things you just didn't do because it was a waste of time, but this seemed different. It was possible she was not understanding the reason behind it, but then there were joke items in games everywhere, Yggdrasil was no exception. It's possible it was just there to share memories of good times with people, so they would know where you come from and what you hold dear to your heart, a sort of time capsule.

Her blue eyes just stared up at the sky, at the stars as they twinkled.

 _Sheesh… well it could be something interesting to do, reverting to my routine seems a little boring now that I have automatons doing almost everything to tend to my every need. I can have hunter drones go out, Drillers, Woodcutters, nothing can sneak up on the fortress. If I do attempt this, I'm going to want to gear up a bit more, rework my perks a bit, potentially tech up to Advanced Steampunk before I start this. There's nothing rushing me right now, so I might as well do this right. I just don't want to get too relaxed and not improve, or I might never move up the tech tree just lying around being waited on hand and foot._

Selene started to plan out the details for this expedition. She'd need to explore the area, which will be easier with her ornithopters scouting around, followed by her inventory filled with spare consumables and newer weapons. There might be more than one cave opening connecting to the same place as well.

"The goblins!" she exclaimed as her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. That could be where their nest was, staying around that treasure. If the previous ones were scouts, then maybe the next was well to the North. If that's the case, she was going to need an escort. Bringing automatons to guard the entrances seemed like a great idea, but she wanted to go a little further. Moving down tunnels with just drones seemed like it would be pretty quiet, but fairly boring. Most adventurers grouped up to tackle bigger things, but they also tended to get along well, becoming friends. The dev didn't exactly want to go in with some helpers beyond sending in a wave of Lights.

The dev opened her tech tree and checked for anything that might fit into that category. It was weird that maybe she might be able to build her own "friends" to group with. There was one schematic in Advanced Steampunk that allowed "Super" versions of a quality tier automaton, with a Light becoming a Super Light, effectively becoming a commander. They could be specialized and had a personality core installed, probably the equivalent of a mechanical soul. That was what she was looking for, something to talk to on the trek and still have utmost loyalty to her.

"Let's see… what kind of build up for a fireteam should I have…" she whispered to herself as she looked temporarily away from the tech tree. She'd need a "holy trinity" for the base of it, a tank to hold aggro with abilities to draw enemies to it, a healer to keep everyone healed and repaired, a damage dealer to kill the enemy before they could take down the tank. Was that all she needed? In her eyes there was no restriction to how big the team needed to be, with some games allowing only three players while others allowed up to ten before it turned into a raid. The middle ground seemed to be about six, with her as the sixth member. This would allow her to build a team that could also work without her if need be, potentially finding other treasure in the future for research. She could potentially have spares as well, bringing it up to ten members.

Selene started working on which position and "class" would work. Tank, healer, two dps, one support? The tank would have to be a medium tier at least, maybe not a heavy due to the cave entrance or multiple entrances; the healer… Very Light? Did it have to be a Very Light or could she make it a Light as well? The two damage dealers would have to be opposite of each other to balance things out, so one ranged and one melee combatant. The support would be a ranged with abilities to assist in buffing and debuffing the enemy, potentially with a combination of steampunk science and magic. So, maybe a knight medium tank, gunslinger ranged, potentially a general-purpose Light for melee and help with a little ranged? Healer would be generic, support… could it be an ornithopter? Maybe a modified steampunk helibot? She hadn't made one yet, which was a much bigger unit that the other auto flyers. It might fit the bill if it could fit through the cave entrances.

Given that she'd be the sixth member, she could act as the summoner for the group, given that she technically was doing that with drones. She could have a few spare auto turrets, some shaped charge spider mines crafting to not bring down the tunnels on their heads, an emergency pack of drones ready to drop from her inventory if need be, wall bracings to provide a defensible position with deployable barricades. Learning some summoning spells would help as well. If there were more than one entrance, she'd have to set up security blockades at each entrance, with maybe another fireteam of drones entering from another direction to meet up with them, like special forces teams might do back on Earth.

This whole thing hinged on getting to Advanced Steampunk Era though for the super autos, which shouldn't be that difficult, just take a few days given the panic has died down about the bandits. She now had autos doing everything, so it might be reasonable to build support frames for the mine and potentially build out a little more from her four-hectare fortress. She could also help at Gold Pine to add more farmland, that would speed up her actions build up. Exploring could help as well, with gaining free experience just from filling in her map, along with cataloging any new resources she missed or special creatures. She was sure she saw a gryphon before, which meant there could be more special creatures living further into the forest or the second Northern forest, even over in the East Gold Pine forest or lake, potentially just above the fortress. For all she knew, that damned fish, "Big Bastard" could be a special one. She hadn't thought of doing research on things just yet or raw materials. If it worked, she might get some new random schematic due to some unknown ingredient found from the material or animal. She would only experiment on dead creatures of course, and preferably ones that were already found dead if possible.

 _Maybe newer mixtures of alloys could be found by researching copper ore? Ingots? There's no telling what I could find out from algae if I put it in the research station… or stations. I need to make more of those if I'm going to rapidly catalog things. If there aren't new mixtures, maybe it increases the durability of anything using copper, or bronze or steel or whatever, adding a basic boost to strength and armor rating or something._

While the work done in the research stations wouldn't affect her action output, there were tools that directly connected to them that could be used by her while she was out and about that would increase the actions done, like a magnifying glass or writing observations in a research tome separate from the ones used in the research station. It was like assisting with a research paper, taking notes as she went. She could start with the type of grass on the ground, the soil mixture, the stone and hardness, move up to the ores and then ingots, tree types and seeds they drop, bushes and small animals, even test the water in the lake.

 _That was probably what the research station was for when I got it, as it's kind of been sitting there being a little useless. The Writing Desk does the spells and perks, the alchemy station makes consumable vials, I'd figure the research station would give some sort of edge._

A Light bulb bloomed in her mind. There were games that allowed researching organs and weapons from enemies to better allow accuracy or boosts in combat, natural upgrades that didn't require anything on her part beyond the research. If she dragged back at least one goblin corpse, a human corpse and other hostile creatures, she could get a bonus when fighting them. Maybe there were cumulative bonuses if she brought back multiple corpses. She realized her little issue of already getting rid of the bandit corpses that littered the battlefield before, but she wanted to make sure there was nothing for carrion birds to get at or ghosts and undead sprouting up due to restlessness. Maybe she could get a cadaver from some medical science academy? Do those even exist here? Do hospitals even exist here? Wizards can heal, if they were willing to help others, so what use was a doctor? They probably didn't even know how their bodies really worked, just knew blood came out when hurt, they needed to eat, sleep, defecate and urinate, procreate and maybe exercise and work.

 _De Vinci had to secretly dissect cadavers, even though it wasn't technically illegal at the time. No one has probably done that here._

The villagers even believed she was a goddess, which meant they were religiously fervent people, probably believing in eternal souls. She had no reason to bash on any religion, unless it involved her as the deity, due to not knowing if gods even existed here. For all she knew, a god brought her to this world. If she was going to reach tech tier fifty, that would mean she could exceed a god with ascendance, not even being part of this world anymore. Hell, beyond a certain tech tier, this world wouldn't even hold her down, with starships and galaxy spanning capability, universe spanning, dimension spanning even.

Selene looked at her fingers and saw them pruning. "Madam, it is not normally my place to say, but perhaps it would be best for you to finish your bath? I have your underwear and pajamas ready for you, a nice clean towel to dry with." She found the thought that the drone butler was trying to take care of her comforting, even if it was programmed a certain way to take care of her. That was probably the basis behind it, to make her feel at ease with it around and being helpful. The drones themselves had no self-awareness beyond the usage of first-person pronouns to better communicate with her, as well as self-preservation unless it involved harm to her or dismantling in her inventory. Beyond that, she hoped the new Super versions she would be able to make in Advanced Steampunk would have options for voices and attitudes given the fact they would have personality cores.

She stepped out of the bath and dried herself off, got dressed and went inside the cabin. The wolves were ready for bed, with two electric lamps installed on the walls with two switches, one near the door and one near the headboard so she wouldn't need to get up. The dev was even thinking of upgrading the toilet room to a real bathroom with sink and mirror, moving the bath inside and expanding the cabin even more with the fortress to have a real house built with two floors. It would make rainy days so much better to have a living room and kitchen. Though she dreamed of a castle, it was starting to look like she would want more steampunk built in, with flagstone no longer being the strongest her walls could be.

Selene yawned. Those improvements could be done in the next few days, preparing her for a tech up. Maybe she could hold off from the expedition for two tech ups, going through Advanced Steampunk all the way into Colonial Era, when people were using ships to sail the seas to new lands and colonized them, heavier cannons to merge with steampunk equipment, rapiers and maybe some newer clothes types made of cotton. It could take a week, maybe two depending on how fast the research improves actions. Right now, she just had no idea how fast or how slow it would be. There were a lot of things to do through.

She'd worry about all of that tomorrow, right now it was bedtime. The plan was in the works, to gain that treasure even if it might be useless, to test herself as an adventurer.


	12. Ch 11 Too Many Lists

_**One Month, Two Days**_

Selene awoke like a woman on a mission. Her first order of business was getting breakfast made, which the butler asked if he should cook for her. She declined, as it was at least something to do to help wake her up. It was also going to be the last time she used a campfire. Her main goal today was upgrading her small cabin into a full-size home to live in, then craft a lot of stations, then start researching different things. The dev figured the best thing to start with was the grass around the fortress, then get some samples of the different trees in the forest including Gold Pine that was the namesake for the village.

As she ate, the dev opened her inventory and set to task building multiple research stations, filled up queues for the five writing desks to upgrade spells; five alchemy stations to upgrade her standard potions to maximum which was healing, mana, stamina, anti-fatigue and antidote for poisons. Bandages and poultices were going to wait until she had some research finished on nature, as she had an inkling that it might have some sort of effect, maybe a secret quality tier? She also threw forty points into Crafting Time, to speed up the entire process and end her problem with things not being crafted quickly. Although it didn't exactly work the same way on all crafting stations, it definitely helped with getting equipment made almost immediately, allowing her to technically only need one foundry for metal items, although having multiples did help for rapidly smelting ingots. Alchemy stations seemed to use crafting time on the creation of potions and other vials, but not on the sacrifice, which seemed to take an hour no matter what. It was possible that was to protect against an explosion, given the nature of the station and other ingredients.

Given she could now build hundreds of stations in an instant, provided she had the materials around, it was possible for her to have multiple projects going at the same time. The known materials she had right now, without dismantling anything for the resources she didn't normally have access to, was a decent list. The dirt outside the walls; grass, which might still be useful; the different trees in the forests which seemed to be at least five different types that she knew off the top of her head; stone, which sounded weird wanting to research; water from the lake and water from her well; copper ore, zinc, lead, tin, iron for the metals; charcoal, which was an interesting thought; Roman Cement might be a good idea to research, maybe getting something out of it, like a faster set process.

Once she was done and washed her hands, her immediate job was scrapping the old cabin. She sacrificed the V Light automatons and all other lower quality defenses to upgrade it to a standard of Lights for all of them. The Lights seemed to be like linebackers compared to the regular size of the human V Lights, or the frail looking X Lights. As she started to replace the autos with the new quality tier, she noticed they were quite a bit more intimidating with far better armor paneling, an odd smoothed helmet seemed standard, she could only imagine their weight, and one other surprising feature. She soon learned that the Lights didn't need stairways to the ramparts, just jumping up there to patrol the walls.

"That's… new…" she said blinking at the strength of their hydraulics and actuators. Selene commanded two Lights to pick up her bed and move it outside the cabin, along with her night stands. She could have done it herself, but it would have been a little slower with Molecular Reformation, giving her more time to focus on scrapping down the wood of the small little building and saving the wiring for the lamps on the walls. Once there was no more home, she built up the walls and created a proper wooden house with a living room, small dinning room, kitchen and full bathroom on the bottom, with two bedrooms on the second floor and a second full bathroom. She then installed the plumbing throughout, along with a stove and oven in the kitchen.

There was the schematic for a steampunk refrigerator, which seemed to use low cryogenic gas or liquids to keep things cold. In her eyes, she was crafting liquid nitrogen, although that wasn't what the name of it was. It was a material cost for the schematic that she didn't necessarily need to remove if she didn't want to, given alchemy stations had a recipe to create it in canisters. As the fridge would need to get the "fuel" replaced every month or so, it was probably a good idea to not remove that cost completely and just know how to make it from the station. That didn't mean she wasn't going to cut down on the resources needed to make it significantly though. There was really no need to have the fridge given her inventory kept things in stasis, except if she somehow managed to get a cow or wanted to cool things down. Having a nice cold glass of iced tea would be nice once in a while. The freezer unit was a separate schematic, as the steampunk fridge couldn't alternate between different temperatures. It was either cold or frozen, no in between. It was odd there wasn't a phasic cooling system for the fridge, but it was weird science after all.

Once the house was built, she added furniture and a small spot for the new Light butler drone to stand when not doing anything. She even furnished the second bedroom, for no particular reason other than it was fun. It just felt like the right thing to do. The boilers had a built-in heating unit, so that all she needed to do was add a thermostat to the wall and vent hot air into the house with thermometers in the vents. Air conditioning would probably be something like the cryogenic gas dispersed very slowly into a vent, changing the filters every week or so, but that seemed to be once it reached summer. She hoped that there were quite a few tech ups before then.

All in all, her new home was fairly nice, with new amenities, at least amenities that she didn't have before compared to someone from Earth, and more furnishings. There wasn't any art or indoor plants, but that didn't really bother her. Maybe in the future, she might take up painting, but that might not happen. All in all, the whole thing took only a few hours given Selene was a little picky about where her bed was going to be placed, or if the bedrooms were going to have a wall with doors instead of a loft. It wasn't a huge house, but it was a far cry better than the little log cabin she had before.

Once complete, she set off with Asterion and the wolves to gather a few samples of dirt, grass, tree bark and wood, she had more than enough copper, zinc, lead, tin and iron, a little stone she broke off the wall of her mine, and they found a dead squirrel and a mouse. One bird was caught midair by a young hawk, but it lost its grip somehow, with the parent diving to grab it. As it fell to the ground, and the parent landed to pick it up, Selene ran up and scared it away, taking the body. She had just stolen some food for the predator, in which she opened her inventory and threw out some meat for it to grab. It was probably looking at her funny, sharing the meal with him or her, but it was a fair trade. Once she had that, they hit the lake and gathered a vial sample of water, caught a few fish, and spotted Big Bastard. It crept up near her feet as she stooped for the vial.

 _Oh, I've got to do this! But… I mean… I don't have any real reason now… revenge?_

She called in some ornithopters, ready to shoot down crossbow bolts down on the thing, but surprisingly stopped. The thing hadn't once attacked her, at most swam near her feet often enough. What was she going to do with it anyways? Eat well for a week, sure, but honestly, she could do that with hunter drones now or the gardens with Growth Spurt and Nutrient Replenisher. Selene calmed down and put her hand down in the water. Big Bastard swam near it, and once she got a full view of just what it looked like without splashes and trying to stab at its head, she realized it was like a large koi and catfish mixed together. Without it flapping its tail around trying to get away from her or the fishing line, its scales were mostly silver with some rainbow reflections coming off the tail and near the mouth, probably where she hooked it. She had never noticed that before. Maybe it had gotten into a few fights while swimming around, and had to regrow the scales? There was no sign of the hook, which meant it somehow got it out of its mouth. It actually looked at her hand and floated nearby.

Selene slowly moved her hand to its side and ran her hand on the body before it slowly swam back into the rest of the lake. "Ok… fine… I admit it… I had a grudge just because I was hungry at the time… now… whatever, let bygones be bygones. Guess I'm going to have to name you again… Sushi works until I know whether you're male or female." Her thoughts floated, just like the fish, about maybe expanding this way in the future. Could the lake be cleaned a bit? If she ever built a city of her own, an automaton city, could the lake just be a centerpiece or an attraction to hang out near? It could be possible to move the unimpressive fish out to a renewable fish tank for constant food, like salmon or anchovies, and turn the lake into a giant koi pond. That would be much later, and she didn't even know if she wanted to do it yet. There would need to be books to bring to read nearby, an umbrella set to read under for shade, or a few nice trees tended to.

"Huh, I wonder if there are cherry blossoms in this world. Nah, even if there are, I don't know if they'd grow around here. Oh well." She dried her hand and put the sample in her inventory while also collecting some clay, right into a waiting research station while she grabbed a second sample of water to assist in the research process, to increase her actions. As she made her way back to the fortress, she spotted the gryphon flying way above them. "Oooh… you know… I wonder if I can attempt a tranquilizer experiment on that… not going to kill it… just… pull a few feathers, maybe a little fur, could I clip a nail and shave a little from its beak? That could answer a lot for the research station. Hmm…" she started planning the work for tomorrow to continue her scientific cataloging, as before she knew it, the gryphon flew right back over the top of the mountains. It seemed to be looking for decently sized creatures to catch, but if it lived in a nest on the other side of Boramar Mountains, then there were probably pretty large fish they were catching.

 _Oh wow! There's two more that just… damn they barely stayed for a few seconds. I wonder how many live on the other side… am I living near a gryphon… colony? I have no idea what to call it, flight? Group?_

While heading back to the fortress, she sent her ornithopters scouting throughout the valley, using aerial reconnaissance to do all the work. Her map was filling quickly, without much issue beyond a few strong winds knocking some around before they regained their flight path. There was a notice of multiple cave entrances far North with waypoints, just at the position where the Boramar Mountains curved in for a horizontal spear towards the Azaltos. As the scouts continued on, she wondered if the Boramar Mountains were actually connected to the Azaltos and no one knew, but as they finished in that area up North, she saw two minor openings on the map that disconnected them. One of those was probably the spot the general had gotten on board the ship. She hoped he was living happily somewhere away from the kingdom he hated so much.

"Aster is doing just fine general, don't worry." She patted the horse on the side of his mane as Asterion nodded in response. Once they re-entered the fortress, she got to work on making a scanner item she was thinking about before, using her spyglass as the basis for the item. A quick perk tome later, along with some enchanting essence, and both were glowing brightly. There was a spell she wanted to learn really quick, "Merger," which seemed to take two objects and merge them together, regardless of if they were living or inanimate. "Now… do I use Magic Revision on this as well? Help with the whole process or…" she focused on both casting Merger as well as Magic Revision, taking a lot of concentration as both were glowing like suns, moving closer together until just as they touched… there was an explosion. She was knocked back onto the ground a good few feet, the wind slammed out of her. As she regained her breath and was helped up by a Light coming to assist her, she looked at what had happened. The spyglass had blown up, with pieces of it strewn on the ground. "Ok, don't use Magic Revision. Shit, oh well, I'll make another to…" her eyes locked onto the glass piece of the spyglass lying on the ground. It was glowing softly. "Or not…" her left hand picked it up and looked around the fort, with everything she could see through the front facet of it giving her levels, stats, skills if it was applicable, health points, even mana points.

As Selene aimed it at the Light auto that had helped her stand up, it showed the level. It was a level sixty, which surprised her. Then a thought hit her about her skills.

 _Wait, so lemme think. If an X Light starts at level ten, V Light starts at level twenty, then maybe a Light starts at level thirty, and Steampunk Mechanical Engineering doubles their level due to being one hundred percent? So… a Medium would be level eighty…_

The thought made her realize she was the lowest level in her fortress, bar none, completely excluding her wolves as in her eyes that didn't really count. It made her feel pretty weak given that most of the damage against the bandits was done by her defenses and automated infantry. The dev shook her head to get that idea out of her brain. "I'm strong enough right now, power is in a group, not by yourself. That's how militaries and companies work." It still didn't stop from making her feel inadequate compared to her robot infantry.

 _Gotta boost those levels! I've been focusing on the tech, I've gotta work on the body and mind! Until another big battle, I need to exercise since I don't hunt much anymore._

She built a training Light auto to help her box and get her into a routine with padding so she could practice. It was basically an animated training dummy. There was no way it would hurt her, but it would at least get her into even better shape. She had gotten a bit toned over the weeks, but this might help even more. Once that was built, she threw all of the first samples into the research stations and put the second set of samples on another research station she pulled from her inventory and placed inside the house. The enchanted scanner glass was going into a magnifying handle she crafted, and hoped if she put it into her inventory, it would add a feature to her Hud. Sure enough, it did exactly what the dev thought it would, allowing her to pick out levels and stats on everything as she peered at anything surrounding her.

As she sat down at the research station, a cotton pad tied to the bottom of the chair and to the back support, Selene picked up a quill pen and dipped it in ink to write on some research paper. She couldn't think of anything to write for the dirt sitting there in a glass jar. "It's… brown?" she asked herself.

 _Come on, come on, I can do this. I just never thought I'd be in biology class again. I know how to write research papers, right?_

"The texture is… no… that's not right…" her eyes opened her Spider Radial to check on her character sheet, opening up her skills list and seeing the ones she hadn't put any points into. "Please have a research skill… my brain is melting…" There was a research skill, set to zero percent. "Oh, thank god…" Selene threw twenty points into it, enough to at least get going. During that time, she set an alchemy station to craft twenty-five Universal Skill Potions. That was when she remembered she needed to use Growth Spurt on the herb garden for a fresh supply for potions, as she was running out from before the battle. As she got a healthy build up of the herbs, she noticed the Skill Potions were coming out as X Minor. "Great… I forgot about that… yup…" she made seventy-six more, bringing the number to one hundred one. That would allow the dev to test at least one to see its effects. Each one took a second to pop out in her inventory. Once she pulled one and drank it, she saw her number for spare skill points go up by one. Her stomach gurgled a little from that.

"Ah, so one skill point, but it upsets my stomach for a little bit, slowing down just chugging the stuff. Interesting. So… ok, if the next quality V Minor gives… two maybe…" she sacrificed the one hundred and crafted a V Minor, this time taking a minute to produce. Once it came out, she drank it after letting her stomach settle and working on the paper, providing more details now that she had a surprising new idea of what to put down. She received one special ability based on the scientific method called "Observation." It increased perception and speed of noticing features of an object by fifty percent when involved in research. This made her wonder if her Perception stat actually helped with seeing features beyond just tracking things in combat.

This helped a great deal in finding things about the dirt she wouldn't have written. "White flecks in the soil, potentially bits of stone or fertilizer, nutrients? One worm noticed, aeration was being commenced by annelid. Dry top with moisture below, holds water well." She continued to write down all observations of the dirt until the paper was filled, then stopped. Her eyes flicked open her character sheet again and noticed her action bar had gone up by one percent. If it did that for each research paper, she could get a whole bar just by doing one hundred of them. It might be possible to gain more with a research tome, but that would take some time sitting and writing for a while, which might not be feasible time wise versus getting multiple papers done. The cost in time to make a tome compared to just going through one paper research might not be worth it. Half an hour had lapsed since the first skill potion.

"Let's try that V Minor now." She popped the cork and downed the drink, feeling her stomach get upset yet again. This time it was two points. Selene sighed in annoyance but accepted the effect.

 _Fine, my stomach hates those. This just makes me upgrade the quality tier even faster. Let's get it up to Minor and see if it gives three points or four points. That will at least tell me if it just goes up incrementally or doubles each time._

It would take another one hour forty minutes to craft one hundred and sacrifice those, which was a little annoying given her Crafting Speed was now one hundred percent. Maybe there was a speed beyond even that? Given that there was an Alchemy Skill in the list as well, it stood to reason it might increase the crafting speed just like Steampunk Mechanical Engineering. Research seemed to make things move faster as well, with a twenty percent boost to the grass and other materials going through the stations in her inventory. "That does it then. I can survive with the points I have now, upgrade research to a decent amount, finish all of this in a day or two and just drink another skill potion once the Minor is finished."

She shoved another forty points into Research, raising it up to sixty percent, gaining two new abilities "Hypothesis" and "Experiment." Hypothesis gave a passive chance each time something was researched to provide double any bonuses provided. The chance was roughly the Research skill halved. Experiment, despite the ability needing to be used on everything, was the greatest thing she had seen so far. It was a quality of life improvement she thought she'd never get. It allowed "using" of any item in her inventory or skill/stat at least once, and giving a tooltip over it, even advanced information. She finally got them. Selene almost felt like a kid in a candy store that was told to not touch anything, using the blacksmith hammers and ingots and everything she was storing right now. She drank a healing potion and mana potion, feeling her stomach not being happy with her actions. "I'm gonna have to slowly work through these over the next few days, but this is awesome!" Given that she had gained three more points, and just used forty, there were sixty three points left to use.

 _Learn the tooltip by doing! I hope to all hell I don't drink anything poisonous just because I'm quick to figure out what it does. Maybe I should start just pouring things out… yeah… that could work…_

She wondered if the next ability would be "Theory" or just go straight to "Law." Given she was only at sixty percent, that probably answered the question faster than just increasing the skill. "Ok. First paper done." Selene looked at her inventory, at all of her stations. She produced four more foundries for mass smelting and production of equipment, then started to build steampunk Uncommon items for the sacrifice to Professional. She noticed an increase in time it took to craft them. Was there a bug in Crafting Time? How did that happen? She was starting to get the idea that anything over Common started to get an increase in time to produce a better-quality equipment or automaton. The dev was already in the process of building one hundred Lights autos, with each taking one minute to create instead of one second for the V Lights.

 _Sizing and quality. I should have known, balances and checks, obviously there would be something to slow down the progression. I can't just waltz into Extremely Heavy automatons immediately and shit all over the whole continent. That would be too easy._

By her logic, if it increased to one minute for Lights to be produced, then Mediums would take an hour given time progression, Heavies would take a day, Very Heavies a week, and X Heavies would take a month at the current skill and stat percentages. Increasing those would speed the process up, along with everything else. "Shit… why do I get the feeling after the "regular" tier for any items it does this? So Medium Health Potions will start to do this, along with all other consumables… yeah… and the cooldowns for drinking the skill potions… wwwwwwhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyy…" she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

 _If I had to guess, there isn't a perk to increase resistance to indigestion from potions. That would be playing nice, and life doesn't like playing nice. So, I just have to upgrade the potions enough to come out a little ahead, shove those points into Crafting Time and Alchemy skill now, speed it up even further… that could take a few days… or weeks…. Aaaaaaggggghhhh…_

Selene ruffled her own hair trying to figure this out. She started to work a plan of action to increase everything to at least mid-tier across the board. Bandages, she rapid produced those as fast as she could, got those done while she finished another research paper on the grass. That increased her actions by another one percent. By now, with collecting the samples and working on the research papers, she was at two thirds to Advanced Steampunk. By the time she was finished with the grass and started on the different bark, bandages were ready to be sacrificed to craft tier 2. By the end of the day, she had finished writing research papers on the dirt, grass, all bark, copper ore, zinc, lead, tin, iron, steel, Damascus steel, charcoal and stone.

In that time, bandages were finally at tier 5, capable of assisting healing by fifty percent. Poultices were now Medium tier, with all of her potions and elixirs also at Medium, excluding the skill and stat potions. Flasks were being worked on for constant buffs for the weeks ahead and had reached at least Light now. Light automatons were created across all types of steampunk equipment, whether it was mobile or stationary. The X Light auto turrets and cannons were replaced with the Light versions, the fortification's walls were already at that tier. For the most part, bar getting past Uncommon equipment, everything was evened out. There were even vehicles upgraded to Light tier, at least some weird quad bikes and motorcycles, maybe a "Light Reconnaissance Vehicle" or two and a motor car. This would at least allow harassment of any future armies that decided to pick a fight with her. The dev hoped to get them all up to Medium tier within a day or two. The auto turrets that were Light tier had upgraded the millimeter size of the barrels from 20mm to 30mm. Last she checked, that was something an old close air support fighter jet used to use.

As she finished eating dinner and watching the timers for the research stations go down, the spells from ten writing desks were completing up to X Greater. Instant Heal, Healing Halo, Lesser Regenerate, Greater Regenerate, Teleport, Trip, Concussive Blast, Light Orb, Lesser Repair, Repair. She already had Greater Repair in the queue, along with nine other spells due by morning. She didn't even settle for anything below X Greater now. It just made life easier having them at max strength. Uncommon was about to be sacrificed, but it took a good two hours to get all of it made. That meant it was going up in time required as well. Professional would take an hour each piece, which didn't sound so bad until tomorrow morning. It would be her first time getting to use "High tier" equipment compared to Yggdrasil. It would be the first time she got any armor that would provide stat boosts compared to just decent protection from Uncommon. Granted, her Uncommon gear never took any damage due to being behind the fortress walls while her autos laid waste to an army.

Her Research was now upgraded to one hundred percent, as she was getting impatient with all the writing she had to do. It had an impressive speed improvement on the research stations, not necessarily on her writing though. There was only so fast that her hand could put down the information about what she was looking at. She had gained the abilities "Theory" and "Law." Theory allowed her see potential improvements that research projects would give her, either the bonus or a buff or improve certain features. Law allowed her to automatically research future upgrades instantly if the same material is used to get a better bonus, where applicable as not all resources allowed that. Her Actions bar had increased to almost touching the next tech up, there were just a few things more she needed. This time, however, it was going to wait until tomorrow morning. She'd get there almost immediately, with instead of doing research right after, she would head to Gold Pine one more time and help out the community. Selene figured her healing would help them out quite a bit, potentially see if any traders came out to visit and drop any new wares.

The dev started to fall asleep as she turned out the lamps and just laid there in her bed, the wolves all gathered around her. The whole thing was a king size now, given there just wouldn't be enough room for all of them. As she drifted towards sleep, her mind tried to think up names for the future "team" she was going to make. There were a few of them in her head, she just needed to see which ones would fit to whom. Her stomach gurgled a little bit from the skill potions she drank throughout the day, but at least she now had Minor versions and knew they provided only three points. At least she gained another twenty-four skill points from the endeavor right after, though it probably wasn't a good idea to do that every day.

 _ **One Month, Three Days**_

Selene had decided to build a pool inside the fortress, with filtered water from the lake. This she was going to use to exercise everyday with the training auto keeping her in a routine after boxing. The thought made her giggle a little at having this inside the fortified walls.

 _For sale, slightly used fortress of destruction. 30mm auto turrets, flame dispersion systems, multiple defenses. Also has a pool! Mafia and Supervillains need not apply._

Once she had finished with her workout, and eaten breakfast, it was time to tech up to Advanced Steampunk. As she checked to make sure everything was accounted for, the tech up commenced. She received the capability to craft Super tier versions of each quality tier automaton, along with personality cores. She also received a brand-new skill, Steampunk Electrical Engineering. "Like I need another one of those! Lemme guess, boosts stats even more?" She threw a point into it to see what the tooltip would say. "Huh. Ok… maybe not…" the tooltip informed her the skill provided special features as standard each time for all Steampunk objects where applicable, as well as crafting speed boost. Right now, it was at one percent, but she wondered what it would do if she threw ninety-nine more points into it. She only had forty-seven points right now. As much as it might be useful to drink a Light skill potion right now as she had gained the upgrade that very morning, it might not be healthy given that she used herself as a guinea pig the day before. "Can I at least drink one…" she downed one Light, gained four points, and her stomach hated her. That at least got her to fifty-one points available, in which forty-nine were pushed into Steampunk Electrical Engineering.

There were no special abilities provided, just like Mechanical Engineering, but the list that showed up as "standard equipment" for autos was staggering.

"Jump jets… polarizing armor… extending melee weapon arm… shoulder mounts… shoulder mount extensions… leg mounts… Night Vision and Thermal?! Holy…" she couldn't speak as her eyes were widening at the new features the automatons could gain, probably all auto turrets and ornithopters too to some capacity. There was also secondary armor paneling, auto repair, smoke launchers, the list kept going.

 _Soooo, is this the part where I take over a small country?_

There was a quick upgrade module she could craft to add to the fabrication units to provide these features to all the previous made automatons, assuming it worked with that type of automaton. Once that was complete, one of her drones visibly altered its appearance with the new parts, gaining a few new features, but not the ones she was expecting like shoulder mounts or any weapon systems.

 _Is this supposed to be steampunk? I… I would be thinking this would be something far more sci fi or future tech than now. But then there are steampunk games that had jetpacks in them so… I dunno._

"Is there anything I can help with madam?" the drone asked as it looked at her. "I'm just looking over the new features you now have that I was able to install." The drone stood still and allowed her to see her "handiwork."

"Yes, the new capabilities of my frame provide adequate improvements to my efficiency as a civilian model."

 _Wait wat._

"Wait what. Civilian model?" she asked as the dev was about to finally craft her special team, her eyes just about to flick to the fabrication units to produce at least two Super Lights. "Yes, I am a civilian model. I am happy to serve you madam." Her eyes looked up at the sky with her mouth agape and a small groan escaped. "Fuck."

 _I knew it! I knew it! No, I didn't! So, not only are there quality tiers, there's model tiers as well? HOW MANY?! I have enough to upgrade without a second list placed in front of me! I'm not a damned accountant! I look at computer screens to make games, not act like I'm balancing the national debt in the oval office!_

"So, I've produced civilian models? As in, made for home assistance, yes?" The automaton put its right hand on its light plated chest. "We are madam." This meant research time, as there didn't seem to be any other way to get the new models without using that feature. She sighed and shoved a brand-new Light automaton made fresh from a fabrication unit into one of her research stations and set the timer. "This thing better pump out like a super heavy military teched up fricken beast of a machine…" she grumbled out. As Selene crossed her arms and looked annoyed, the Light auto walked away towards the walls. "Hey, wait, do you know how many model tiers there are for you guys?" she asked, hoping against hope it would answer the question and not say it didn't have that information. "There are five madam, I thought you knew this, being who you are."

 _I'm not omniscient you bucket of bolts! I… oh wait, it's complementing me. Oops._

"Enlighten me so I know how much information has past to you from my fine work." The Light auto stood there and spoke as if it was checking off a list. "Civilian model, Security Model, Military Model, Honor Guard model, Special Forces Model."

 _Whoa, Special Forces? That's… oh that sounds… um… yikes._

"And these models, they're a quality tier?" she asked. "To a point madam. Each type of frame fills a certain role for you. Are you unhappy with us civilian models?" it asked. "Oh, no! No not all, you guys are great. Thank you." It nodded and continued towards the walls.

 _Not just a model, role type. Civilian is probably for taking care of places like I thought X Lights were for. X lights are just the quality and craftsmanship of it, there could be an X Heavy that would just go around working on a farm. I've been using civilian models to fight! Oh god, none of them have gotten into melee combat yet, do they have anything other than accuracy? If I had walked into those caves with civilian model Supers and goblins came to fight back… for all I know they don't have combat programming beyond point and shoot, reload, dodge. No wonder they're so good at taking care of me! Doing the laundry, cleaning the house, cooking. Those are skills for a servant! The security models are probably for holding the walls and defensive emplacements, military or MILSPEC is probably fully combat capable, Honor Guard is… probably fear on legs to protect me from anything hostile, and Special Forces is… something no one will want to see in a dark alleyway._

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked at the timer again for research. The civilian models were doing pretty well at holding the line due to the traps and auto turrets, but if she wanted to do other things out there, she'd need security models at the very least. "There has got to be a way to speed this research up… damned stations… can I link you?" she built multiple automatons and shoved them into the other research stations, trying to make them share data amongst themselves in hopes of it producing faster on the current universal project. No dice. "Great, ok… so… I have to wait two more days to get this up to Special Forces model… fine… gives me time to get the Medium quality tier up and running, along with everything else. I'm ok with this. I… I'm ok with this… somewhat…" This meant while the research was being done, she would need to find things to do. Going to Gold Pine was an option to help heal anyone with newer spells and bandages, with maybe helping Giles fix the place up a little more beyond what she did. There was no telling if someone wanted to expand a little bit of their farm, which would give her a little more of the action bar. She couldn't tell if she was just being selfish for the actions or really wanted to help them.

"I was wondering why the ornithopters looked like helical screws with almost nothing else…" she muttered to herself. In her eyes, the dev figured it might show up as a helical screw system to keep in the air, but that was all they really had beyond a repeating crossbow attached to the bottom. It seemed to Selene that if she wanted all the bells and whistles on these things, she'd need to get up to the highest model tier, which might be overkill, but she didn't care. In the enclosed tunnels of that cave system, she wanted to make sure any goblins that came at them could be dealt with quickly. At best, she would be an observer given their levels above her, at worst, she'd be in the way. As long as she stayed in the back her "team" once she made it would be her pavers to that treasure.

As she checked the time, almost noon, it was decided she'd head to Gold Pine right now. She rode Asterion there, with the other research stations that were working on sample projects all completed. She checked the results and received some decent quality of life bonuses. While they didn't count as perks or special abilities, there was a bonus to yields for gardens and farms by ten percent from the soil she tested, along with a ten percent less usage of fertilizer due to her research paper. While that didn't sound like much, if she ever stopped using Growth Spurt on the plots, they would be easier to maintain. The grass oddly enough provided an enzyme that could be added to the lubrication oil for the automatons, changing maintenance requirements from once a day, which was provided by her own automatons amongst themselves, to once a week.

Copper Ore had provided a boost to electrical conductivity, allowing less energy to be used from generators to power lights by ten percent. Zinc provided corrosion and rust protection for iron and steel, further dropping maintenance required for everything. Lead provided limited damage increases to projectile weapons, which seemed to be the only combat effect provided by the research. Tin provided a similar protection as Zinc does. Iron provided a boost to how quickly it could be turned into steel, which seemed a little useless now. Steel gave a bonus to how much torsion or bend damage it could take before stress fractures would appear and it would fall apart, allowing even less maintenance for steampunk items and equipment and stop gears from shearing teeth very often and needing replacement. Although it didn't sound like much, most of that was an improvement in her eyes. Less wear and tear on anything she had was a good thing, with less need to watch anything like a hawk so it wouldn't fall apart. Even algae was found to craft crude oil, allowing gasoline. The Teosinte could be grown and adapted to allow biofuel. Given it was weird science, this was a jump in certain places almost on par with modern technology.

This meant, provided she left food in the fridge for the wolves, that she could leave for long periods of time without needing to check on the place to see if everything is in shambles, or she would get reports from the drones via Communications is Key. The wolves were indifferent to the automatons, so as long as they were fed and kept themselves busy inside the fortress, things would be fine if she ever decided to spend the night at Gold Pine or the "adventure" she was planning took more than one day to do. There was no guarantee that she and her team would make it through all of the tunnels by the end of a day, unlike most dungeons in games which lasted at most one to two hours, or raids which could last four to eight if it was practice on a boss. This was a new world, with no time limit on how long you could be underground, or no schedule to keep. Adventurers probably disappeared for days trying to find treasure, and either succeeded or failed, potentially dying in the process. For all she knew, casualty rate for adventurers was probably pretty high, but she'd need to converse with Giles and Abby about that.

"I… I think I should be leaving some food to spoil… I just realized…" her thoughts were swapping to other points of research she could perform for the next few days now that the samples were complete. Leaving food to spoil would cause mold and maggots, allowing her to study them and then research both. She was already certain what she'd get her hands on. Penicillin would be an incredible thing to have, despite already knowing the standard schematic to produce it. Maybe it would give a steampunk version? Gaining steampunk antibiotics and vaccines would be a big step in the medical direction, allowing less usage of magic to heal all wounds. It could be useful for small villages to get access to easier healing methods without relying on high priced magicians and or wizards to show up or traveling long distances to big cities. Maggot debridement and for that matter maggot secretions was useful in medicine for cleaning dead tissue and keeping infection away, but also to help suppress the immune system for anti-inflammatory usage and helping with stronger antibiotics.

 _If spell casters want to cost a whole lot and only allow the rich to survive, I'll bring the old-fashioned medical science back from the grave at a cheaper price. I could potentially provide the services for a cost of exotic materials provided, or services provided to someone else as a time share deal. That way money isn't the only way to pay, or maybe community service in exchange for universal health coverage? Wait, I don't own anything beyond that fortress yet! What am I thinking…?_

As she neared the village and observed the people working on their farms or moving to and fro from one building to another, they saw her trotting Aster in and waved. Even if she didn't know most of their names, they all certainly knew hers. Aster stopped just in front of the general store with Selene hopping off quickly, entering through the front door and hearing the bell ring. The owner walked out from his back room and saw her standing there. "Ah, the hero of Gold Pine! How can I provide you with my humble service?" he asked. "I'd like to see if you own a calendar I can buy. I need to know the seasons for this area and the names for the months in your year." He blinked in surprise as he rummaged through a crate of assorted nick knacks before finding one and blowing dust off of it. It looked like a large book, with inside columns and roman numerals, looking like it was made by a church. In college she remembered there were three main names for days beyond Sunday to Saturday, which was Kalends, Nones and Ides. Each column allowed the reader to figure out what each day was, along with what needed to be done each month. This was where Shakespeare's line "Ides of March" came from for warning Julius Caesar his life was in danger. Most of the book was gibberish to her, which wasn't that bad given she could shove it in her inventory, and it would translate the whole thing to something useful.

"I didn't expect anyone to not know about our calendar, but I seemed to be wrong. Do you need help with the numbers? That there is a two, and that is-" She looked up at him with a little annoyance. "Again, I'm not stupid, I just don't know your language or how deep you people are in science and astronomy. I highly doubt you know how to do calculus or trigonometry." He coiled back in worry that he offended her. "How much."

"Um… uh, my apologies, uh… three silver?" he asked meekly. She put the coin on the counter and shoved the book into her inventory, not a care about him seeing her hand slip into nothingness as she walked out of the building. "Please come again soon! Our stock is improving with the new-" the door closed as she hopped on Aster and headed to Giles, noticing more traders lining the side of the village, this time with what looked like normal wares compared to some snake oil salesman. Giles was working on some metal in his master forge right when she pulled up and dismounted, with her leaning against the wall and waiting. He glanced back for just a moment and did a double take, pulling off the rag he was wearing around his mouth. He was glistening with sweat as he put the hammer down and stepped forward. "Hey lass, how are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm doing good, just checking in to see if anyone needed some healing or a health checkup, maybe help with some repairs." He laughed as he sat down at a counter to chat with her. "If you do that, everyone is going to come running and drop what their doing, with not much food stockpiled for the coming winter." She opened her character sheet and checked if there was a new tab to open for the calendar. Sure enough it was there, with updated information on what month she was in. October. That was middle fall, heading towards November. No wonder it was getting a little bit chilly outside, though she couldn't tell what season it was from the evergreen trees nearby. An amusing thought popped up in her head as she listened to Giles talk and saw the calendar months were full.

 _I'm not about to pray to the saints I see on these days. Given that your church is probably corrupt and unwilling to help the poor, I'd sooner tell them to go to hell. They'd probably try to flog me for acting in such a manner, but that's what the automatons are for._

"How many ingots you got for me today lass?" he asked. "Um… I can give ten of each, sound good?" he chuckled and nodded. "I'll go get my bag, hold tight." He got up and went inside the house, with Selene watching the traders hock their wares. Most of it didn't look anywhere near what she could make, but there were some silk rolls there that interested her, along with some animals, potentially bugs. Her feet started to carry her over to the wagons as the traders showed the villagers just how soft some of the materials were. "This comes all the way from Salunbal, the jewel of the East. Feel how smooth this fine silk is!" there was a lady touching the silk with worry on her face. It looked like the alewife she had helped before. "Is there a problem?" the dev asked her quietly. She looked up with her eyes brightening as she saw her. "Oh! It's you! I… I just don't know. Some of these wares none of us can afford. That silk roll is worth more than most of us make in a year miss."

Selene looked at the silk carefully and touched it a little bit. "Are you looking to buy some miss? I can assure you, it is of the highest quality." The trader flipped the silk back and forth to show just how good the weave was. "Do you have access to the production of this? Specifically, the animal or bug that produces the material." That caught the trader off guard, along with the alewife. "Miss, um, creating silk is no easy task… I highly doubt Gold Pine has the capability to-" "I'm not from Gold Pine. Do you have access to the animals or bugs that produce the raw material?" she asked again, annoyed. The trader glanced between both women trying to keep a smile on his mouth as he blinked. "I… may… have access to the creature that produces it, yes. Do you wish you buy some?" he asked. "Yes please. I take it they're silk moths?" the dev questioned. He was shocked that someone around there knew about that. "Why… yes! How… nevermind, um… would… here." He pulled out a small wood slat cage with thirty silk moths flitting around inside.

"I'll take them." The trader's eyes widened. "The cost for this miss, they're… I highly doubt you have the coin to buy all of them… how about three? Four?" "I said I'll take all of them." His mind was reeling behind his eyeballs. "That's going to be… be… thirty gold for these little creatures." Everyone hushed as they watched her pull thirty measly gold from her inventory, shocking the trader even further. She easily had the funds with her mine now allowing her to mint gold constantly. What she didn't tell anyone was that she had well over a thousand gold pieces to use to buy whatever she needed. However, she didn't want the finished products, she wanted the capability to make her own.

The trader bit one coin to see if it was real, which it certainly was, then handed the silk moths over. "Be careful, they are fragile. I believe they are reaching their time to lay eggs." Selene looked into the slats and noticed some bumps attached to the leaves. "They already have. Thank you." Her hand disappeared with the cage into her inventory to place them in stasis for later. She already knew the way silk was gained, by killing the moths. It could be done without killing them, but the fiber was usually torn due to the emerging adult. Thankfully, she had simple spells to fix that. Lesser Repair, Repair, and Greater Repair would mend the fibers together as if the moth had never left the cocoon, allowing her to have a constant supply of silk without killing the little things, to keep an almost endless loop. "You have the mulberry that these things eat?" she asked. "That will cost you some more. Five more gold to be exact." He was primping himself up as if he knew she'd never afford that, but another hand pushed into her inventory and pulled out five more gold coins. Everyone gasped. "Has she already gone on an adventure?" some whispered. "Here you are." The trader grumbled as he foraged through his items as Giles walked up behind her.

"Hey lass, what are you doing? Buying things?" he asked as he looked at the trader turn around and hand her some seeds. "Good luck, you're going to need it, he he." The trader grinned as he dropped the seeds into her hand. She sighed and looked at them. "Did you really just sell me poisoned seeds so the moths would die?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. Everyone gasped as they looked between the two of them. The trader's eyes widened as he began to sweat. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems this man needs to realize not everyone will just walk away with delusions that a trader could be a swindling thief." She stepped up to his face and stared him down. "Now now! You have a good eye there! I can see you are a woman wise beyond her years!" He tried to defend himself as he looked around. "Fresh ones. Now. Free of charge." The trader pulled at his collar and took a deep breath. "Or?" he squeaked out. "Or she'll end your sorry life and take your wagon, that's what she'll do you bloody moron! She's the reason Volgo's bandit army is defeated!" Giles shouted at him.

The trader stared at her with awe. "I… I… I am terribly sorry! So sorry! Here, here's the seeds, no charge! May you have all the luck in your endeavors!" "I want the silk roll as well, for her." The alewife looked at her, bringing her hand up to her chest as she watched. "Oh, miss, you don't have to-" "The silk roll is worth ten gold! I can't just-" Selene had a good two inches height advantage over the man. "I'll give half that and you'll like it. Be thankful they don't run you out of the village." He sighed and agreed, handing the silk roll to Selene. The alewife was almost in tears at her kindness. "I don't know how to sew that well though, it could make a fine bed sheet." The dev stepped back a bit and smiled at her. "I can sew it up for you if you want. Just tell me what you need made and I'll bring it tomorrow, sound good?" she nodded with tears building up in her eyes. "Yes, thank you, you're a saint beyond saints."

"Now, you. Cause anymore trouble for these people and you'll have me to deal with. Understood? You've just fixed your reputation, barely, but don't push it." The dev brought her hand up and balled it into a fist. "I understand! I understand! There's no need for violence! I'm a simple a trader, I won't do that again, you can trust me, truly!" she nodded and walked back with Giles to the smithy. A few other traders were selling birds, cats, some jewelry of low quality, a few different foods and some hides. None of them were with the first one. "Good on you lass. I guess you can throw those poisoned seeds away then." As he sat down again at his counter, she dropped the poisoned ones down on it as well and cast Cleanse Lesser Poison. The debuff she could see in her Hud disappeared from the seeds. Giles's eyebrows raised. "Now you have twice the seeds to grow… what did you buy before that? I didn't see." She pulled out the cage for a second to show him the moths. "You want those? Those filthy things?"

"Those filthy things are silk moths, the very ones that produce silk from their cocoons. I'm going to make my own silk." He gawked then laughed. "You're making your own emporium, better than Silvinholm! Oh, it is a joy to have you around lass, I can tell you that much. Are you growing any vegetables or bringing any high-quality cattle as well?" he chuckled out as he pointed at her. "Not quite yet, at least the cattle bit, but I don't want to put the farmers here out of business with my stock." Her brain was already working on ways to research the tree seeds and then use them in the alchemy station to warp the evolution into meat trees, milk trees, fruit trees that she didn't have yet. While she didn't have one yet, crafting a molecular converter system would useful. There was a basic one used in Yggdrasil to change one material into another, but this one wasn't a storage chest, but a full building that could mass swap whatever was required due to steampunk. It would require lots of electricity to function but being able to change things in bulk would be highly beneficial. While it wouldn't work so well on organic objects without lots of alchemical ingredients to stabilize the change, it was possible. There was no way to change living creatures into another, however, or create life. That's how Love Craftian abominations are created. She didn't want those in her fortress.

Giles counted out sixty silver for her, which she put her hand on his and shook her head. "Wait, not this price?" he asked. "Cut it to thirty. All of you are trying to get back on your feet, and with traders taking some of your savings, it wouldn't be right to charge that much. The price can go up once the economy here has stabilized." He got up and gave her a bear hug. "Ugh, Giles… can't breathe…" he stopped and clapped his hands on her shoulders. "My friend, you amaze me at your kindness." "Uh, Giles? I don't know how to say this but…" the smith chuckled. "Say what now? You are my friend after all! Don't tell me you disagree?" She smirked and looked away. "Ok, as your friend, you… you… you need to take a bath…" he stared at her blinking while she coughed a little. "But… it isn't that time of the month yet…" he muttered out. "Month? As in you bathe once a month? Oh Giles, bathe every day, you'll feel better and cleaner and it's… it's… do it for Abby, she'll love you for it."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I… alright, if you say so, but… the bath houses were located in Glass Dale… and… well…" She opened her mouth in acknowledgement as he nodded. "Ah. So, when you visited, then came back… and there's no bath house here?" she asked. He shook his head. "No one cared to make one. Besides, not many people want to sit in cold water just to feel clean. No one wants a man-made lake to wash in."

 _Wait! Your bath houses aren't heated?! Romans did that! Oh, guys and gals, have I got a special treat for you…_

"Cold water? Oh no, that's just… oh I need to fix that. Are there any plots of land open in the village? Any near here?" the man brought his hand to his chin and looked out the front of the smithy. "You could ask the mayor if he would give you the land just down this road, past the fences. I doubt even for a second he'd stop you if you're about to do what I think you're about to do." She nodded and walked down the street with Giles following, others nodding in acknowledgement to the hero. As they both cleared the fence, she focused and built up the foundation, built the walls and finally the roof. It looked similar to the inn, with separate rooms for people to bathe in by themselves or communally. Plumbing was installed right after, with the pipes stopping just outside the building. "Where is your water well?" He pointed just down the street and up a tiny hill. She walked up to it and took twenty steps back, looked down, and started digging with Molecular Reformation. The villagers were watching in awe as she just kept looking down, the hole getting deeper until it hit water. Then she dug deeper. "Usually if you have water there's an underground spring of some capacity. It might not be clean water, but it probably has ample supply. I'm going to pipe that into boilers outside the building that will then need wood to keep hot. Filters will need to be replaced and cleaned every two to three weeks." Giles had no idea what the hell she just said, but he nodded in agreement.

"Now, go take a bath. I'll even provide you some lemongrass soap I have, free of charge, plus a towel." He barked out a laugh as he tilted back, clapping her on the back of her left shoulder. "You keep amazing me every day. Selene, you've done more for us than the kingdom ever did. I think I can give thanks from everyone here." She looked at him oddly. "All I did was make sure you guys can bathe and keep clean. It's not like I own the village or anything." He raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face. "If you asked for it, I don't think anyone would say nay, not even the mayor. Being left alone to fend for ourselves by a kingdom that doesn't care about us, or founding a new kingdom under your watch where we actually get noticed and provided help when we need it? Not much choice there." She rolled her eyes and pulled the soap and towel from her inventory along with a comb and brush, handing them to the man. "Go get cleaned up, stop dreaming. Here, here's a comb for your hair too, and a brush." He took the toiletries from her and chuckled, walking towards the entrance of the bathhouse as others gathered around wondering what it was.

She started to explain to them what it was for, what to do for heating the water, turning the valves and using the faucets on the baths. She sold some soap for cheap, gave some linen towels she still had even though there were cotton ones available. Selene wanted to ease them into normal civilization, not throw massive piles of brand-new tech at them and cause problems. Scientists had theorized that if a middle ages peasant was brought to the future, they'd either die from a heart attack from seeing all the modern technology, die from new diseases, die from trying to worship the electric automated cars driving around at ninety miles an hour, or die from scaring the local populace into calling the cops, then getting beaten due to fighting back. In general, they'd just die.

 _Probably wouldn't be a good idea to advance their technology too much, I'm not about to start selling civilian model automatons to them after all. That's my only edge right now in this world. Besides… If I was going to sell them, not even the rich could afford even one. I don't want to be a bitch, but those things, regardless of my Crafting Cost stat, would normally be pretty expensive and hard to maintain._

She set some wood in the boilers and heated up the water fast, while everyone enjoyed the hot baths and cleaned up. Even the mayor joined in, happy to have her around. Once everyone was clean and smelled infinitely better than before, the dev turned off the boilers. There were a few awwws from the crowd. "Hey hey, it's very simple, just put wood here, set a fire, turn this and this. Go inside, turn this valve here. Done. Free bathhouse. Everyone should stay clean and healthy. Agreed?" she informed them of the workings of the building so that anyone could go and clean up from a hard day's work. Then she provided light healing to those who needed it, at a cheap price.

"Better than any of those magicians out there luv" Moira giggled out as she healed her fingers from a broken mug. "Ok, I've been meaning to ask all of you about this. How many magicians are there normally? Wizards? Mages?" Moira looked at all the other villagers as she started to answer. "Most of the towns tend to have at least one magician, maybe a few. Usually a large town will have a small guild of them. Any city like Silvinholm would start to have wizards, or basically magicians that went to the magic academy. A Large city would have a wizard's guild, with the capital having the wizard's academy near the palace."

"So… no magi?" The dev asked. "I haven't a clue what that is luv. Is it a stronger wizard?" the innkeeper asked.

 _Mages don't normally exist, probably a synonym for wizard anyways. For the most part I always thought wizards specialized in a school of magic, while mages learned all magic equally, they just weren't the best in any one field. It seems magicians here are like the corner shop spell caster, do a little enchanting on the side, heal some wounds, sell some cigarettes, maybe sell a porn mag or three of two-dimensional women._

"So, do these magicians do any special magic? Not normal spells, like… I dunno what I'm saying, creating something from nothing?" Moira looked around at the other villagers. "They make salt and sugar, spices… some create food and water. I don't know what you mean by special." Selene gawked at that. "Wait, they can make all of that with magic?!" One man walked up and started to speak. "The food… it… it doesn't taste very good… but the water, well… I've heard stories of some rich nobility that have a never-ending faucet."

 _A never-ending faucet. That's got to be magic. Only some rich nobility would have it, so that means it's rare. Huh. I wonder if I could make one of those, attach piping to the back, enchant the hell out of a water silo with that capability. The food is either tasteless or tastes like crap, so I can see that used as a last resort. Except… you know, I remember there was a spell for Arcanic's Wizardry that's supposed to add flavor to anything eaten for a person's avatar, regardless of the player not tasting it. They'd just get a pop up saying their character enjoyed that and get a buff for some such thing. I now have to check my spell list to see if I can learn all of these quality of life improvements. Constant water, free food with good flavor, sugar and other condiments with just mana usage. Probably doesn't make other materials, but still…_

"Thanks for answering the question, appreciate it." Moira winked at her. "Anytime luv." The day was starting to fade as she packed up her little hospital and started heading home, getting the request from the alewife on what to craft with the silk roll she bought. She leaned in to talk to Giles a little before she would leave. "I got a question Giles." He nodded at her. "Tell me lass, I might be able to answer." She exhaled as she figured out what to say. "How often do adventurers succeed at quests around here?" He looked surprised for a few seconds before calming down. "You… are you thinking of going out to…" she stared at him. "Right, of course. To tell you the truth lass, I… I've heard the death toll reaches fifty percent in some cases." That was a somber answer coming from him, but it at least told her the chances if she went to those caves before she was fully prepared.

The villagers waved goodbye as Aster trotted off towards the fortress, a Light Orb hovering in front of the rider as she left Gold Pine. She almost freaked out in excitement once she looked at her actions bar. Building, working, and supplying for the bathhouse had given her twenty-five percent of the bar, with other actions including healing the residents adding another twenty percent. Selene was almost at the halfway point for getting to Colonial Era. If she started earlier, added a few more things to the village, there would be a tech up by tomorrow if she continued with her workout. She just needed to figure out what to do for the next two days to reach special forces models for the automatons, then head after that treasure. The research was taking twelve hours each, with security models being available as early as 2 am.

Once she entered her fortress, she got to work building a small sanctuary for the silk moths to live in. There would be no need to boil any of them to get the silk, as now Lesser Repair would probably just fix the cocoon easily. All she had to do was plant the mulberry bushes, which was easy enough with a new garden plot, cast Nutrient Replenisher on it, cast Growth Spurt, and she had her mulberry leaves. She was officially producing silk, or at least growing the worms that produce it. Once some cocoons are opened, she'd have even more. There would also be a need for a greenhouse enclosure in the future, now that she knew it was October.

"Where the hell is Salunbal…" she whispered as her map opened. It was near the East Coast of the continent she was on, towards the South. It was practically on the other end of the world for all she figured. Getting the silkworms was a steal then, given she'd be the only one crafting silk on the west coast. Unfortunately, there was no information on any of the towns, villages, cities or capital that she hadn't entered, which was all of one.

 _Mwa ha ha ha, I will have a monopoly on these materials on the West Coast! Which means I can do whatever the hell I want with them… like selling them for affordable prices to the low-income people in the area and piss off the rich nobility._

Now, all she figured was to get some sort of kombucha growing with a "mother" or bacterial growth with yeast that provides healing and cleansing benefits to the body. She didn't necessarily want to drink it, though that was an option with no flavor issues due to adding berry juice or other things, but to grow leather out of it. Tea along with vinegar, which should be easy with the mother bacteria and some alcohol from her still, and bam! She's got organic leather not harvested from animals. She read about it in a science website one time, but she never expected she might get a chance to make use of it. It was originally going to be used to replace real leather for handbags, gloves, clothes and shoes.

The interesting thing to help with this endeavor was the new spells she chose, "Dry," and "Separate." The Dry spells allowed any liquid to simply evaporate, which didn't sound all that useful unless someone needed to walk across a river, as it didn't work on living creatures as a combat spell. Separate would take apart all materials from a certain object into its constituent resources, whatever those would be; salt, sugar, vitamins, minerals, cellulose, all of that would be sorted and placed in little piles. What she wanted now were all those creation spells. If she could get the ball rolling on all of that, she could revolutionize the trade to Gold Pine, keep them going as a massive benefactor without being cheated by other traders. Vitamin pills, healing, quality of life buildings, top quality materials for Giles. People would flock to the village to live there, turning it into a town finally. She'd just have to be careful what was installed, or she could accidentally uplift them too far for their brains to handle.

As she looked up the spell list and started sorting, she found them. Salt, sugar, different spices per spell, "Food of Ash," that was probably the food spell, "Unending Flow" was probably the water one to enchant, "Flavor from Nothing" was the spell from Arcanic's Wizardry. She honestly wondered if she was even learning Yggdrasil spells right now or if these were modified Arcanic's Wizardy spells, beyond the Flavor from Nothing. As the time reached close to 8 pm, she had learned all needed spells, crafted a water silo that was now enchanted for unending water, which was actually false information. It produced a certain amount of water per size of the object enchanted, which meant a faucet might create only so much, while the water silo… there was probably no way she'd go through that much water in five years if she just opened the valves and let it rush out. With the village attached to it, maybe a year, but then she'd just make more silos. The difference between the magicians and her was she had a quality tier for those spells, making them more powerful. She also had a research station to throw spell scrolls into, to figure out other creation spells that didn't exist yet. Maybe there was an iodine spell? An aspirin spell? Dietary supplements? Makeup? In her mind, she was giggling like a mad scientist.

 _I need my best maniacal laughter and sneaky serpent voice for this… ahem…"I can make all of you thin… for a price… also what horrible eyeliner that is… you should buy mine…"_

The remainder of research stations were filled with magical scrolls to see what would come of it. The only thing she truly cared about right now was getting those automatons up to special forces models. While that wouldn't be all automatons in the future, given they filled certain niches for different jobs, that would greatly help going into the caves. Having a special forces team working with her, potentially honor guard waiting outside to help, military team on the other openings to meet up with her, security models back at the fortress with civilian models sweeping the floor.

As she got into her house, she was met by her butler drone that took her clothing to wash while she walked upstairs to her bed room. Selene realized she had forgotten to go out and tranq the gryphon, but tomorrow would be the start of operation "Sleepy Bird." There would also be chances to research materials she didn't normally have due to the Crafting Cost stat. Given that the bonuses were just to make sure she didn't have to worry about things so much, it stood to reason she'd work on those quickly, so things didn't pile up. This was going to be her schedule for the next two days, along with visiting Gold Pine often with Aster. The wolves were going to come along next time, as they seemed to be getting restless now that they didn't need to hunt; they also needed attention, as the easiest way for them to get that was let them get some pats from the villagers and a few table scraps from the inn. The dev had thought of learning some summoning spells just to give the pups something to chase, but that might be cruel to the summoned creature that were loyal to her.

"I could add tranq darts to the ornithopters… a giant net to catch it attached to… helibots?... take the samples… leave the gryphon someplace nice…" her mind started to think of things she could do to help speed up the Colonial Era. That's when she knew there was something she hadn't made yet, a camera. It was so simple, she'd take pictures of animals and other creatures to attach to the research papers she was writing. Two percent action gain no doubt about it. Experiments might keep her occupied as well, maybe five percent? Three percent? She could settle for three percent if it didn't take too long.

As she set her stations up for the next day, the time slowly moved to 9 pm, which given her sleep schedule now meant go to bed. Her hunter gatherer routine was still engrained into her. "Madam your clothes are clean." She thanked the butler drone, requested the drone to enter her inventory, dismantled him, built a new Light with a personality core, dropped him out of her inventory and knew what his name was going to be immediately. There didn't need to be any model upgrade for him. "Your name is Jeeves," with that, the new butler bowed to her. "I am proud to serve madam!"


	13. Ch 12 Looking For Group

_**6th of October**_

With the final model researched, and at least one of each model Light produced, Selene was able to get a better idea of what each automaton could do before making her team. The civilian model had almost nothing involving features for combat, made solely for assistance in a quiet environment to do chores. It was useful for menial labor, laundry, cooking, building, setting baths, and in general tending to her needs or taking care of her home. While they could be used for combat, it should be considered a last line of defense, as there was absolutely no melee programming beyond punch and kick or grapple.

The Security model, surprisingly, was a step up from the Civilian model by a decent margin, with what looked to be the equivalent of police riot armor attached throughout the body. It even came with a mechanical arm attached to the back to hold a steel shield in front of it. It looked even less humanoid than the Civilian model, with more emphasis on armor paneling. It had melee and martial arts programming; by the looks of it in dummy combat to her the amount was roughly fifty percent, so they knew how to get rough in a fist fight or block an attack from a sword. While it was helpful when communicating, it seemed to have a deeper sterner voice than the Civilian model. The standard coloring for them seemed to be a blue and black scheme. There were two antennas attached to the left side of the helmet, probably for coordination or radar pinging the area for better knowledge of terrain. Gears and cogs could be seen attached to the pauldrons.

Military models were very impressive, changing how the head and body should look from smooth framing to blocky or angular edges to help deflect ballistics launched at it. It was the first model to have what looked like a backpack installed, which added quite a few hidden features, including a belt feeding system if needed for future firearms, jet pack nozzles, shoulder mounts for extended weapon systems, a secondary power system for use with energy weapons or defenses, and armor paneling that definitely sounded heavy compared to the Security model. That sound made her keep the military model in her inventory when not in use or away from her house, as their walking was not subtle, but that also meant they could take some hits from some very hard striking weapons. These seemed to have a fairly gruff voice that was no nonsense, though they showed utmost respect to her while communicating. The Military model was the first model to salute her once she was close. They seemed to have a seventy-five percent melee weapons programming, but also a seventy-five percent martial arts programming for CQB. Even if it was disarmed, it was still quite dangerous against a hostile. The helmets were blocky with the face replaced with two optics under a flattened visor and a steel grid for the mouth. Intriguingly, the standard color for the model was olive green with heavy camo. It also had a mechanical arm shield and one thick antenna on the left side of the helmet with what looked like a laser sight and flashlight installed. The laser sight seemed to be some sort of miniaturized spyglass inverted. These seemed to be the first models that could be adapted to different combat specialties, whether scout or sniper or general purpose, they were quite versatile in all regards.

The Honor Guard model looked like it had fantastic armor like the Military model, but it was quieter, almost the equivalent of the Civilian model. The armor itself seemed to have gold and silver filigree with etching on some paneling, making it look very pleasing to her eyes, made just for a king or queen to be escorted with. The backpack seemed to be streamlined to better fit the design, with very angled armor to look like wings on the leg paneling, or a winged helmet or visor, making them look like some legendary crusader. The one she made seemed to have a red cloak that was made from a steampunk Kevlar with hidden padding underneath, in the event it needed to cover her with it for extra protection. The face seemed to be just a full helmet with a visor dropped over the face, with the ocular systems hidden behind the one V opening in it and glowed a soft green. The mount points were barely noticeable through the cloak for shoulder mounts, but they weren't normally installed due to the cloth blocking movement. The combat programming seemed to be at one hundred percent, as expected for something there to protect royalty. There were open mod slots that weren't crafted for things like an energy shield and some sort of forcefield to block an entrance if enemies managed to get into a castle, among multiple others for defensive purposes. It had a voice that seemed to be capable of professional etiquette of a knight, speaking carefully and with respect. Its salute seemed to be bringing its right fist to its chest compared to the military salute. While the Military Model was adaptable for different combat situations, the Honor Guard seemed to not be meant for different specializations. They were probably supposed to look good and fight as a last resort.

The Special Forces model was… it looked like it shouldn't have been steampunk, more modern technology of the 21st or 22nd century. Angled and blocky armor, with skunkworks quality hydraulics and very menacing looking, the only thing missing was the hexagon looking design of material that most people seemed to think look futuristic, including her. The backpack was upgraded and had forgone the streamlined look for more features, with four over the shoulder mounts and two shoulder extensions, allowing for an impressive display of firepower for its size if the weapons were installed. The mounts allowed multiple target acquisition, fighting multiple hostiles at the same time and coming out on top. The model was far stronger than even the Honor Guard, belying reinforced actuators and manipulator hands that could survive… she didn't really know. A building dropping on it maybe? Some giant undead attacking? The heads were angled with no antennas beyond some small block on the back of the head, with soft light blue glowing optics, a combat knife strapped to the chest and a neck guard installed. If she looked very closely and requested it to open panels, she could still see gears and cogs moving inside the body where possible, telling her it was still steampunk and defying the idea that this shouldn't exist yet. It's combat programming was exceptional, with the fighting style looking well beyond one hundred percent in all categories, but the exact percentage she had no idea. This thing was made to slip in quietly and wipe out an enemy force before they knew what was happening; if things went south, it was more than capable of going loud. Oddly enough, it was the only one that came standard with a mana bar. They were also fast, very fast, capable of keeping up with a vehicle even, as well as being frighteningly quick to dodge strikes and fight back. The training auto dummy was in shambles in less than five seconds.

The Special Forces model also had one unique feature. It had a form of active camouflage that would appear when two curved rods, she thought they looked like bug antennas, came out of the backpack and arced over both shoulders, creating an invisibility field around the drone. This did not consume mana, only electricity which it had ample amounts of given it had three power cores. Apparently, it had power to spare in a lot of cases. She could only imagine what these things could do with advanced technology, whether steampunk or future tech. If she got to the higher tech tiers, it was possible to completely upgrade the drones to newer designs, really making them unstoppable beyond their level and current equipment shoulder allow.

Unfortunately, she was still trying to get the newer weapons developed, as she tested the lasers and tesla rifles and found them to be interesting but needed to have some improvements to the firing method. The lasers seemed to hit the target perfectly, but beyond starting a small fire and melting a clean hole through it, there wasn't much damage. This would be great to destroy armor or kill key targets like generals or captains, but it wasn't as effective against organic targets with low armor. The current set up was a pulse laser system, and in order to fire it continuously, the battery pack would be drained in one shot. Due to this, it was being put in research to create a continuous laser system and better energy containment system. If it could be improved beyond the standard schematic, it could cut down entire armies in one strike just by flailing the thing left and right.

The tesla rifles were great against just about everything, especially effective against armor as the electricity was amplified by the metal. An added feature was it tended to chain link to multiple targets nearby, allowing entire groups to be killed. The side effect was the charge up time to fire took almost three seconds, an eternity if someone is charging at you with a sword. Another side effect was the deaths of targets could be… gruesome, not so much as frying right there, but sometimes exploding with entrails launching everywhere. This was tested on some bags of vegetables… and one hapless squirrel nearby. Selene had a split second to realize there was a small creature running around before the arc connected and blew it up.

 _Nikolai Tesla was a fucking genius, and Insane, but still, genius._

The phlogiston flamethrowers were tried and true weapons, along with standard gunpowder rifles. While they took time to reload, it wasn't as bad for the brand-new lever action rifles and cartridge revolvers she just got from Pre-Industrial Era assisting steampunk designs. While they were considered rim fire cartridge weapons, they didn't need to be loaded from the muzzle, allowing quick reloading. Technically rim fire cartridges weren't invented until 1859, smack dab inside the Industrial Era, Advanced Steampunk seemed to allow a few advances in weapon designs, obviously. This also helped the revolvers, even though they were still single action, as cartridges were not used in them until 1871, with the first double-action revolver in 1877. All she'd need to do is get to Industrial Era and those would easily be available, probably allowing some radical designs in steampunk versions.

She had upgraded her consumables to Large now, including the skill potion and finally, the Stat Potion. Selene didn't drink one of them until the upgrades were at least Medium, as each one was precious to get an upgrade to the next tier. Before she got them made, she shoved her last remaining Attribute Points into Crafting Time, increasing it to one hundred fifty percent. It sped up the crafting of stat and skill potions from Medium to taking only half an hour, with larger ones taking quite a bit longer. She spent one day just drinking the potions where she could every hour to let her stomach settle, with yesterday not even touching them due to constant indigestion. That made her not exercise and feel like she was a little ill the entire time. Fortunately, she did get something out of consuming them, eighty Skill Points over the course of sixteen hours. This allowed 50 points to be placed in the Alchemy skill to speed the process up even further, as well as adding two abilities, one was passive. "Potent Mixture" gave a bonus to any consumables from the alchemy station or from a chemistry station equal to ten percent of her Alchemy skill. "Controlled Substances" completely removed any chance of anything blowing up while crafting, sacrificing or in general anything involving the stations.

Her perks were a bit upgraded and reworked, with the two fifty percent bonuses to bows swapped to guns, fifty percent mobility for chainmail armor changed to steampunk Kevlar, the two fifty percent accuracy bonuses for catapults were replaced with faster attack speed for auto mortars due to the accuracy already being controlled by an automaton, bonuses to all repair spells, speed boost spells, creation spells for things like spices and sugar and one bonus to a new spell called Mana Blast for use against other casters. She also took two fifty percent boosts for armor rating in her new armor, and three fifty percent boosts for stats now that she had professional gear. Her health was higher, basic stats like strength and agility increased along with dexterity. They weren't massive boosts, but it was mostly a twenty-five percent increase, with some not receiving anything. That allowed enchanting to fill the gaps. She now had really good gear for her level.

"Ok… time to get these models ready and stationed where they need to be." The dev had sacrificed almost all the Civilian models excluding Jeeves and the specialized gatherers plus five more to help around the fortress including a female maid version that she produced another five of which looked amazing, then crafted one hundred Light Security models for the walls and to guard the gate. She could make Medium tier autos right now, in which she had two standing at the gate entrance for intimidation factor. The Mediums seemed to look like they were the size of a king size bed in width and depth, with the height being somewhere around ten feet. They were completely covered in heavy armor with pauldrons that had extended panels hanging down the arms that kind of reminded her of big doggy doors that people installed in their houses. The things had almost no neck, at least none visible given the extended chest armor and neck guards, the pauldrons even had a raised point near the head. Two long armor skirts dropped down the front of the thighs with a thicker one draping between the legs, with the extremities being as thick as her waist.

The Military models she made sixty Lights, twenty Mediums along with six auto turrets to guard the entrances of the caves and act as secondary teams to meet up with and keep barricaded forked tunnels. One of the caves would be sealed off with only a light defense to keep it from being opened, while the spare teams would go through the second opening. There were eleven APCs built, one of which was a Special Forces model. Each one was fully automated, not even needing a driver. This went for all vehicles and planes, allowing her to be chauffeured around if she didn't want to ride Asterion. That was a good thing, as she still hadn't gained any pointed in Driving Skill. The set up was just too different from a normal car back on Earth.

Honor Guard models were not made beyond the one that was used as an example for Selene to see. She positioned it back at the house to look pretty. That left Special Forces.

Her first Super Medium was crafted as a Special Forces Model, with the head looking almost triangular with a single visible optic in the middle, with potentially far more sensors hidden. It had what looked like solid blocks with cut points for legs due to how much armor plating was layered on the front, making the actual legs look bigger than they actually were. The shoulders down to the arms were heavy armored, with what looked like latch points for spare ammunition, not magazines, but drum connectors. There were even smoke launchers on the shoulders, something that should have been on a vehicle. She was naming him Jorge. His accent sounded British but very deep, calming, and stable, with being the tank of the group meaning he'd need to be the solid foundation for them to continue forward. His main armament was a two-handed Morningstar mace, a tower shield which seemed more wall than shield, two double-barreled sawed-off shotguns that were technically just considered large fowling pieces attached to the shoulders that fired alternating buckshot or incendiary, to assist in evening the odds in a fight or draw targets to him. As a ranged weapon beyond the mace, he carried a steampunk smoothbore semi-auto 20mm cannon that latched to the back of his shoulder and fed from the backpack.

The second member of the team crafted was a Super Light that she named Ethan. She knew an Ethan in college that seemed to sound similar to the voice of this automaton. It had somewhat of a wedge-shaped head with angled helmet plating sweeping back on the sides, two thick antennas on the back of the "skull" that weren't standard for the Special Forces drone and two optics glowing a soft blue glow. His pauldrons swept upwards similar to Jorge's, with two hidden spots for combat knives under one. The front chest plate seemed to have a neck protector sticking out the top shaped like a V, multiple latch points that looked like metal versions of a MOLE vest, with a six-block panel skirt below a utility belt. Below that his leg armor seemed to rise up instead of down, with extensions from the knee joints and ankles providing better protection if he crouched. He seemed to be easy going, American accent, with a sense of humor at times. His main armament was a carbine with an underslung single shot shotgun, a revolver, a rapier and a large extendable shield. His back mounted shield arm was replaced with an alternating healing beam and repair beam system. He was there to help in all directions when required, as an off tank, spare damage, support or limited healing. A Jack of all traders but master of none.

The third member was a second Super Light designed for long range or rapid pistol action that she named Deacon. The head looked like it had a mixture between a spider's eyes and a theater camera projector squished under a helmet with four antennas that could drop down for stealth. Its backpack seemed to be inverted to allow him to hide more efficiently and if he laid down, the silhouette looked kind of like a boulder. Most of his armor paneling was like Ethan's, with the exception of a bandolier over the chest replacing the combat knives hidden under the pauldrons, with assorted ammunition the size of two of her fingers. There were two holsters on the thighs for revolvers and a latch point behind the right arm just before the backpack that was meant for a sniper rifle or carbine. He was going to be the marksman of the group, with his Australian accent and antagonistic quips towards enemies. With Ethan and Jorge, he was pretty likable and tended to make her chuckle, he just swore a lot in training combat, sometimes too much. His main armament was a 30mm sniper rifle with multiple different types of ammunition, two revolvers and a carbine when he couldn't snipe.

The fourth team member was the healer, which looked about half as tall as everyone in the group. "She" had an Icelandic accent and had an incredible bed side manner. Selene decided to name her Turnie, shortened from Tourniquet, given she couldn't figure any other name for her besides "Doc" and it fit well. She didn't have any legs, rolling around on a massive ball bearing covered in a metal skirt for movement with what seemed to be an anti-gravity field and booster nozzles to jump over obstacles. She could easily keep up with everyone else in the team, there was no trouble with that, and small rocks and stairs didn't stop her in the slightest with the gravity field. She had six arms that looked kind of like a French battle maid's uniform in design, two of which had healing beams that could be shot out of the palms, two of which could fire what looked like wielding beams that seemed to repair parts on the damaged training auto dummy, two that fired a smoke screen, oil or sleeping gas. She had what looked like a Brodie helmet reminiscent of World War I, with two blue optics just under the lip. A smaller backpack was seen, with what looked like a tow cable attached to the very back, telling the dev she had more torque than the heal bot let on with the anti-gravity field. Her armament wasn't weaponry as is, with a flashbang launcher and stun mine deployment system to be the closest she had. Her systems were four arms for healing and repairing, a pulse emission system that could be turned on for AOE healing and repairing around her, a heal mist gel condensing launcher so it wouldn't run out of ammo, a concussion system to knock back enemies that got too close, a panic system that was ear splitting for the enemy and warned she was under attack, and a shield generation system similar to the next team member. As a side gear package, she also had a sewing kit and bandages with poultices and balms, as well as a multitool for when she ran out of mana and energy to keep the team going.

The final member of the team was an interesting one, as instead of choosing to make an ornithopter or automaton, the dev decided to make a Light helibot, which seemed to be the size of about two meters in width. What showed up from the design was… awesome. It looked like a flying saucer with hover fans at three parts of the ring body attached to gyroscopes, three jets on the underside and was the support for the team. She decided to name him Orlo, which he was happy to have. Surprisingly he had a German accent and seemed to be very good at psychology. The domes seemed to serve as his personality core and sensor suite, stronger than all the others combined. Surrounding the two domes were four pods on the top and bottom totaling eight, with a double engine system on the "rear." The pods contained a phlogiston flamethrower, a small auto turret, rocket pod, mortar system, a mana battery that slowly recharged and acted as a secondary mana bar that Turnie could siphon from, a grenade launcher with multiple types of dispersion grenades for debuffs and poisons, and a shielding system that could encompass the entire group for about thirty seconds until it needed to recharge. The final pod had a "mini drone system" that apparently had five little drones that looked kind of like Batman's batarangs but could provide harassment of enemies with small slow firing tesla pods. The little drones could be replaced with some sort of beam from the bottom dome firing into the ground, somehow pulling materials up like her Molecular Reformation ability and using the very same pod to rebuild the small flight of micro fighters like a mini fabrication unit. They were also great for disposable reconnaissance.

All the team had an assortment of steampunk grenades to use when required, along with auto repair as a standard feature, some spells dependent on their "class" and all of them were painted straight black, with their icons on her mini map for her Hud showing Jorge as Green, Ethan Blue, Deacon Red, Turnie White and Orlo Purple. The interesting thing Selene noticed was once the team was assembled, she found out each had their own special abilities for what they were built for. Jorge seemed to have all defensive abilities to somehow gain "aggro" from enemies or keep himself from getting damaged, Deacon had similar abilities to her with aimed shot and rapid fire as part of the list. Turnie had, as a healer should, quite a few healing and repair abilities along with backup defensive capabilities. Orlo was entirely support, so it stood to reason he had debuff and buff systems available to turn the tide along with his armament. She had no idea how some of the abilities should even work in real life, as aggro was just a set up to allow tanks to do something in games. The abilities seemed to come from the personality cores, as the regular drones didn't have them. What she also noticed was their levels. Each one was level 78 while the tank, Jorge, was a whopping level 104. It seemed being Special Forces gave a thirty percent boost to their level, along with Steampunk Mechanical Engineering doubling the level for all automatons. Even the military models were level 66, with the Mediums level 88. She never tried checking the levels of the APCs sitting outside the walls.

Unfortunately, due to the shoulder mounts potentially causing more problems than benefits in tight enclosed areas and the weapons being researched for improvements, none of the automaton team had them installed. While it might be helpful in some cases, they all begrudgingly agreed with Selene that the chances of bringing the tunnels down on them was too high, even though she could feel that each one of them thought they were more than capable of using them without issue and were being handicapped due to a worried creator. Maybe she didn't have enough trust in their abilities, but it was the first time they would be heading out.

As an emergency precaution, Selene had in her inventory multiple auto turrets and portable blast shields, wall and door bracings, consumables to keep herself up and a cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner ready with a few snacks. She had absolutely no idea how long they'd be in there. There was even a premade campfire and bedroll with blanket just in case she needed to rest while the team watched over her, but there were also anti-fatigue potions and stamina potions available with Lesser or Greater Rejuvenate spells ready to cast. Some might consider what she put together overkill for the adventure, but she wanted to make sure that they succeeded. Giles had told her the survival rate of adventurers in the area was fifty percent, so one half of them never made it back. The dev intended to increase her odds as high as possible with "the power of steampunk". Sadly, she wasn't yet at the capability to tech up to Super Steampunk or Space Steampunk afterwards, but right now, both really were overkill. Industrial Era was a good choice in the future.

 _There is no such thing as overkill, there is only open fire and I need to reload._

Once she knew all about her team's capabilities and had all her gear ready from the two spare days, they all stepped outside to the waiting Armored Personnel Carriers that she built. The piston arms on the sides were heavily armored to turn the giant wheels and give decent horsepower and torque, with the wheels being an adaptive tire that pushed inwards like piano keys with smaller hydraulics depressing. This allowed the hulking things to even go over fallen trees. There was a Medium auto turret installed on the top of each one for defense, a 70mm burst fire cannon.

"Scared ma'am?" Ethan asked as she stood there watching her military drones pile into the APCs and get situated, with Jorge coming up behind her and listening in. "I… yeah, a little. I mean… no, I'm scared a lot. This will be the first time assaulting a place, not defending. I was pretty gung-ho before, but now that I'm doing it…" Jorge softly put his giant paw of a hand onto her shoulder. "You've got us ma'am. No need to worry. We'll get you there and be back before you know it." She exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding and looked at both of them. Deacon jogged right by and looked at her. "She'll be apples ma'am. Back before dinner."

 _Trust your new team and automatons. This isn't some random adventurer team of newbies, this isn't a Pick-Up Group, these are Special Forces Units with MILSPEC automatons. The fort is safe with Security, the wolves are napping. I'll be fine._

As much as she wanted to psych herself up, she was a civilian with combat experience compared to these things. Granted, they were fighting goblins, which was proven by one of the ornithopters catching view of two of them coming out of a cave and then catching something outside. "Bronze Team" as she wanted to call them due to being steampunk, got inside their own SF APC as the hatch door closed, with the entire thing driving without need for a navigator. There was a decent amount of space in the vehicle, given it was made to carry a full team of five Medium autos inside or as many as ten Lights. Asterion was finally going to have to stay home, though he'd get ridden to Gold Pine later so as not to scare the villagers with her mechanized army. Turnie was latched into the very front near the "cockpit" that had no one inside, with Jorge right at the hatch door to exit first. Deacon and Ethan sat near Jorge, while Orlo latched himself to the ceiling and provided more intel as they moved. That left almost an entire seat bench for her to lay down on if needed, with extra padding and a medical cot that could fold out.

With Communication is Key special ability, she could hear her automatons communicating to each other, which made her cut the different models into "chat rooms" to know which ones were talking about what. They could always contact her with an emergency if she was in the wrong chat room. The ride wasn't bumpy at all given the hydraulics built into both the wheels and the shocks, as the APCs rolled towards their destination. "So, everyone knows the plan?" Ethan asked. All of them nodded as Selene looked at her map. "We're going to block off one entrance to the far right with boulders, then we as a team will enter the far-left cave opening while Bravo team will enter the middle. They will check and hold any forks in the tunnels, using barricades and spare auto turrets to watch their backs until they find the time to double back and move down the other tunnel."

"Meanwhile, we go spelunking in the scrungiest cave possible. Eh, time to get fuckin dirty anyways, need to pick up the shiny at the end and push some shite into the green gobs" Deacon added in. Selene smiled at that while suppressing a chuckle. The ride was mostly uneventful while she listened to chatter from her task force. "APC 1 clearing forest, no hostiles detected." "APC 3 reporting visuals of large game in area, suggest hunting season start early." As they neared the caves, with all of them heading to the right most one first to seal it off, the doors slowly lowered with Jorge leaping out, his shield ready to go and mace in hand, an audible thump heard as his feet landed. "You are an absolute unit Jorge" Deacon chuckled out. There was no sign of enemies anywhere, with the soft chirp of birds nearby. There were eleven APCs in total to carry her spare task force, not wanting to risk having to pull each one out of her inventory in the event of things going bad as soon as they got there. APCs 11 through 9 had stopped at the cave they were going to enter, with 8 through 5 setting up at the second cave. 4 through 1 were ready and preparing the defenses as Selene collapsed boulders into the opening, which seemed to be about the size of Jorge. The other two caves were almost triple his size, making her worry there were things even larger inside that could take him on.

 _A Troll? Ogre? What if Jorge can't tank one of those? They might be far bigger than him, he'll get swatted around like a fly! God, I hope there aren't any in there with the goblins…_

"Time to see how many Derros are in there" Deacon said as he headed towards the first cave, swapping his sniper rifle for a lever action on his back. Given that he was the ranged damage dealer for the group, she didn't doubt for even a second if he could rapid fire all rounds and reload to clear a room. It would only get better with higher end equipment. The team headed for the cave and stood at the entrance. "You ready ma'am?" Ethan asked. She took a deep breath and nodded. Her new Professional tier steampunk Kevlar armor having a dust grey and black quilt sheen, with paneling on the front and back. The dev was carrying a lever action rifle and a revolver, like Ethan, with a short sword and shield ready in case she got into melee. Her spear was waiting in her inventory to fast equip at a moment's notice. As backup weapons, she brought along crossbows for any silent takedowns. It was doubtful they'd ever run out of ammunition, given she could manufacture more just from her stations in her inventory.

Bronze Team headed inside with some military drones and turrets set up along with the APCs watching their backs. Bravo Team was heading into the second cave alongside them. "Keep alert, there may be hidden passageways" Jorge quietly said to them through chat as he led the group forward. Orlo pulsed the area to track enemies within fifty meters, seeing via X-ray through some unknown sensor in his dome. "Second floor everyone, I doubt they know we are here." He fed his tracking into her Hud along with sending the data to the rest of the team. This wasn't an adventurer group that had to communicate via voice, they were all talking via Communication is Key, making the ability priceless. "Entrance expands up ahead." Ethan was watching the left side while Deacon tracked anything on the right as they moved forward. The tunnel started to head down and reached a fork in the road. "Left sends us to an underground cavern, right connects us to another fork. The cavern will continue to… ruins…" Orlo explained as even he was surprised by what he found. "Any idea of how stable the ruins are?" Jorge asked. "Unknown, though the rubble seems structurally sound. Just don't go rampaging through collapsing support pillars and we'll be fine." The helibot marked multiple pillars with small waypoints, letting them know "do not touch."

"From how high are we coming out in the ruins? I have a feeling the buggers are living there" Deacon said as he looked down at the floor towards the underground theorized nest. "Third floor, just above the original main entrance it seems. Advise caution, multiple other caverns branch from that location." As they continued down, Selene got a report from the second team they reached a fork as well, placing auto turrets and sealing up one opening with a barricade so they can explore the other tunnel. She acknowledged and followed her team further inside. "Hold, patrol of two heading this way. Neutralize or avoid?" Jorge asked. "Wha? Uh… um… possible to neutralize quietly?" she asked. The dev, despite being their creators, didn't have the full tactics and strategy knowledge that they had as the Tactics skill hadn't been taken yet. "Copy." She made a mental note to max the hell out of that skill as soon as she got the chance.

All of them turned on their invisibility fields, cloaking from view. Her backpack had the same equipped, with a spare power core installed. It was a little heavy given it was originally made for an automaton and altered significantly. The bars arced out of her pack as she saw a distortion around her while two goblins slowly turned the corner with torches. One seemed to have constant drool coming from its mouth, the other was making some sort of low growl for no reason. Just as they reached Jorge's position, Ethan came up behind the first and slit its throat while Jorge just grabbed the second by its head and popped its head off with his giant gauntleted hand and thumb as if it was a cork on a bottle. Neither had a chance to even make one noise. The bodies were laid down slowly to further keep any noise from carrying down the tunnel, with Orlo listening in for any other movement they might have missed. The team was very efficient, having training that shouldn't normally be available until far later. The training programs of navy SEALs took years to perfect, with most of the skills developed not being thought of until the 20th century or later.

"Small clearing up ahead." The team reached the clearing without any other issue, with a small light orb being cast for the woman to see. There would be no torch use in the caves, as the autos in her team didn't need light to detect their surroundings, with the light orb being extinguished each time they were informed hostiles were nearby. Selene really needed to make some low light goggles to wear in the future, she felt like a spare tire sitting in the back of a run flat car that wasn't latched down. "Hostiles just up ahead, gated entrance down" Ethan quietly said via her "coms." They counted six goblins, two were playing some sort of dice game, with another two sitting at a table chewing on what she only hoped was animal meat. The last two were watching down the tunnel, all of which seemed to look completely moronic. "Think we can get them all in under ten seconds?" Jorge asked. "Are you fucking with me? I got 4 if you got two Ethan." The GP auto acknowledged as they both readied their weapons. They counted down from three, two, one. Six shots rang out from both, four of which Deacon fired, each hitting a head. Ethan's shots were center mass, not going for a vital point. All of them dropped dead on the ground, with Jorge not even needed to tank.

"If that didn't tell them we're here, I don't know what will" Jorge said as they started to lightly jog forward, the gate on the door ripped off its hinges by the big guy. The auburn-haired woman got a report from the second team the tunnel they were heading down connected to ruins, they'd meet up with them on the third-floor veranda. Surprisingly, they had only come across eight goblins, with no hidden spots for them to ambush the team. Even if they did, Orlo was keeping his "ears" open the entire time. The team slipped through the new opening and headed to the large cavern. Jorge stopped all of them and crouched. "One hostile, large. I'll hit him, the rest flank." Jorge slowly crept up towards a hulk on the ground that seemed to be ignoring the tunnel they just came from. As they got closer, she saw what it was, a troll.

 _Fuck! I knew it! That thing looks huge! No wonder the caves are so big. Can Jorge really take that thing on? Don't trolls usually die from acid and fire? Orlo I think is the only one with a phlogiston flamethrower beyond the incendiary grenades we have._

Jorge came up right behind the thing before it even knew he was there, and just as it turned its head and started to get up, he slammed his mace into its head, collapsing it with a resounding crunch. There was no guarantee it wouldn't regenerate even with an imploded brain, so Orlo came up and sprayed the thing with the flamethrower to cook the body while Deacon watched the second entrance heading towards the ruins. "Ma'am, permission to speak freely?" Jorge asked. "What? Yes, of course, you guys don't have to ask that from me." Ethan and Jorge shared a little look between each other. "These things have almost no wits to speak of. It's like it's been sapped from them. Not one of them has kept a proper eye on their surroundings. I believe we're fighting idiots, ma'am."

 _Witless… is that the reason the last time I fought them I couldn't understand what they were saying? They spoke almost in baby speak, and if I was able to understand the villagers of Gold Pine, it stands to reason I should have understood what those things were saying. Is someone using the Orb of Experiences to drain them? So… an army of goblins that turns out to be an army of cannon fodder._

The team slowly moved through the next tunnel expecting some sort of attack given the sounds from the flamethrower. Nothing happened. "They could be setting up a massive ambush for us" Turnie said to everyone via coms. "Possible, but that should have happened back there" Jorge replied as they all kept on their toes. As they reached the entrance to the ruins, the team saw down below the number of goblins just lying around. There were a good two or three hundred of them, with one goblin shaman sitting on a worn throne on one side of the place. Sitting next to him was a dais rising from the ground with what looked like some sort of dragon's claws grappling a glowing orb. There were four branching tunnels from the ruins below them, with an unknown potential for enemies inside, until at least Orlo could check them. His pulse only extended so far past his position, hence the need to use the drone fighters he was equipped with for reconnaissance any further.

"Should we take out the pint-sized Joe Blo first and mop up the stragglers after?" Deacon asked as he surveyed the area. "Wait, hundreds of goblins to you are stragglers?" Selene asked in surprise. He looked at her, then at Jorge. He nodded an acknowledgement to her. Just then, Bravo Team made their way into the ruins near them, the sound of their armor making a little racket up above. "Time to move!" Jorge shouted through coms as he leapt off the third floor and slammed into the ground, startling the goblins with the intimidating visage of an armored mechanized infantry that took one swing with the mace and splattered five of the green creatures. Deacon opened up with his rifle, taking out six goblins and taking out another twelve with his revolvers. Bravo team was doing work cleaning house, with their lever action rifles putting holes through goblin chests everywhere. Selene ran down a destroyed ramp to the second floor and climbed down some rocks, with Turnie following to keep Jorge and her creator safe.

Jorge used an aggro gaining ability, "A New Challenger Arrives" as an AOE gather, causing all the goblins to charge his way. The problem for them was Deacon and Ethan, along with Bravo team, all threw incendiary grenades at the pile. Huge amounts of the Demi-humans were dropping like flies, with the goblin shaman trying to attack with spells, not against Jorge, but against the only human in the ruins. While the tank of her team was busy keeping the waves of little attackers under control, Selene figured it was her turn to be useful in the group as she dodged the spells or ignored the damage with her heavy resistance. The resistance didn't stop her from feeling the heat before the spells struck, it just stopped the damage, so she still recoiled occasionally, due to instinct. She aimed and fired a bullet from her rifle, with the round pinging off a protective shield surrounding the shaman. He started to cast something, but she was faster as she threw most of her mana into throwing chain lightning and a magic arrow to penetrate the shield.

"You think you can hurt me with those little strikes? I am magic now! I have all the knowledge of the stupid adventurers that brought this thing here, along with all my nest. You cannot break through. I'll add your knowledge to the list, ha ha!" the shaman cackled out just as two trolls charged out of one of the branching tunnels and headed for Jorge. Two more came from a different direction, with some goblins charging up to fight against the Lights on the third floor providing ranged fire.

 _So physical attacks are useless towards him, my team must fight hundreds with trolls coming in. I… if I don't pull back my team, they might be destroyed, but if I… I'm going to trust my team to handle that while I deal with this asshole. I can't physically hurt him, but there's one spell I at least learned for anti-caster combat… Mana Blast. Molecular Reformation is my back up._

Selene cast the spell on the shaman as he cackled against her futile attack, but then realized how bad it was going to be as all his mana charged up at the same time and detonated, blasting chunks out of his body like it was swiss cheese. He was still alive, though critically hurt and interrupting his shield. Apparently, he didn't have the resistances that she had with all the resistance casts and potions she drank before coming here. She fired a second bullet, piercing his chest and puncturing through his heart. His body collapsed on the ground, giving the dev enough time to turn around and see the trolls leap at Jorge. "JORGE!" she screamed out loud as the world seemed to move slowly as he took a defensive stance with the first one slamming its arm down on his shield… and it held.

For a moment, his hydraulics shocked downwards a little, before regaining composure and knocking the troll's leg out from under it with the mace, ripping the knee out with the strike and sweeping up with his shield to slam into the second troll to send it flying. The other two couldn't reach him as his movements brought him up behind the second giant creature, jumping onto its back and ripping its head off, with Orlo coming down and firing an acid grenade at the other two and firing off his flamethrower at the head. Turnie bounced back up to the third floor and repaired extremely minor damage to one Light that got stabbed at the left leg, only scraping some paint and scratching a gear a little bit, not actually doing anything to the automaton. That was the extent of her needing to be there along with one flashbang to blind the things. Selene was in awe at how fast they dealt with the goblins and trolls, with Jorge and Orlo just wading through them like they were nothing. Jorge just wasn't even taking any damage, with one troll landing a strike on his shoulder and he just shrugged it off as a love tap or a pat on the back. He could have easily dodged it, he just didn't care. The movements of her tank were so fluid, like watching Tai Kwon Do being done by a fully armored knight. If she didn't know any better, the military model that got stabbed once probably didn't consider the goblin a real threat, given it only scratched the paint. This was practice for them, they weren't fighting for real. The few Military Mediums that had gone with Bravo team were just stomping things, not even putting any real effort in moving.

Orlo's drone fighters flitted out to distract the third one as Jorge cleaned the fourth's clock, firing incendiary shells straight into its chest on auto over the shoulder while Orlo fired more grenades at the third one reducing it to a pile of goop. Deacon was an absolute gunslinger upstairs, while Ethan swapped to rapier and cleaved the little creatures up into bits and pieces. For all she knew, this was training practice for them, probably even easier than that, as none of them seemed to be moving near half the speed she saw at the fortress. They were just taking their time, tearing through this army. She didn't really know their top movement speed yet, as they never got to that point during test training. Even the military models were fighting like it was a field trip to some museum, "oh look at that one, it has missing teeth, let's kill it." Now that she could see just how brutally effective her automatons could be, there wasn't a semblance of a doubt. She had a legendary team, a legendary army… a Steampunk army.

As the fighting died down, with reports of goblins trying to escape the horror that had just beset them down below, she heard her cave security was cleaning up. The whole fight took maybe five minutes at maximum before everything was quiet. The dev even got a kill in, with taking down the shaman herself. That cheered her up quite a bit. "Area clear ma'am, no more hostiles detected" Orlo reported as he hovered nearby. She turned around and looked at the dais with the orb set in it. "Want me to help?" Jorge offered as he looked at the thing. "No, I think the claws are just a container." She looked around the sides of the dais and found a rotating lever that she spun until the claws slowly opened.

As she looked down at the orb, small sparkles were flitting throughout the sphere showing colors of amber and pink with a little lime green and silver in the mix. "A shame you couldn't suck the knowledge from the dressed-up pig there like an oyster" Deacon commented as he jumped down to the first floor. Selene slowly moved her hand to the orb, expecting it to react to her touch. Nothing amazing seemed to happen as her fingers wrapped around the sphere and picked it up. An ever so slight glow appeared as she tried to focus on it as if it was a plasma ball toy, seeing if there was any experience left inside; sadly, none remained. As she unfocused from it, the glow dissipated, as if she disconnected from using the thing. At least she knew it wasn't a for life kind of deal.

"Got what we need?" Ethan asked as he looked at the dais. "Found something else" Deacon shouted as everyone turned to see where he had gone. The sniper had entered one of the side tunnels that opened up to a large cavern. As he came back out to the ruins with everyone wondering what he got, his hand was holding a dragon scale, a very old one. "Whoa. Are there anymore?" the dev asked him. "Only saw one ma'am, and I doubt the lizard could fucking fit down here anymore with its fat arse." There didn't seem to be any opening large enough for even a drake to fit near them. Maybe in the past there might have been a den, or someone who lived here owned dragon pets, but not now. That time had long since gone for these old hallways and rooms.

"So, yeah, these guys were about as dumb as door knobs. I take it the shaman was sucking their brains dry?" Ethan commented. Selene nodded. "It's as I thought. Little bastard sacrificed his nest or tribe for more power. In the end, all these guys were just brainless drones drooling on themselves and knew the pointy end of a knife." Turnie looked between everyone. "Well, now that our little excursion is tidied up, what say we head back? A little fresh air for ya ma'am should do some good." They started heading back up to the APCs, with the whole "adventure" lasting about two hours. Selene wondered what it would have been like with Civilian models. Would they have succeeded? Would they have taken the whole day to fight off the small goblin army? Would they have failed, with her head on some pike? She didn't really know, but one thing was for certain, she was happy with the outcome. She had no worries about having the shoulder mounts installed after this.

As they reached the top and saw daylight, the world welcomed them back to the valley, with the APCs prepped and ready to leave. Once all the equipment and automatons were packed up, they headed back. The whole thing didn't feel like a dungeon at all from a video game, with the fights lasting all of a few seconds or minutes at most due to the number of enemies and close quarters restricting certain fighting styles for the autos. She sat there looking at the orb, as if trying to decipher its capabilities with her eyes. There was no level or quality for the thing, which made her believe it was an artifact without being artifact tier, maybe special or unique. Given the effect of it, the orb was probably just an early magical camera someone created, but she still wanted to run some experiments on it.

Once they got back to the fortress, she got out of the APC and requested a Driller drone to come over. She wondered if it would even work on a drill arm to touch it, but she just had to see if her first experiment would yield results. If it didn't, the thing would be a nice trinket trophy showing her first successful adventure. As the tip of the drill touched the top of the orb, it glowed. She didn't dare use it on her automatons that had personality cores.

 _Was that a connection?! That was a connection! Oh… wait wait, don't get excited, you still need to see if the next step of the experiment works._

She ordered the Driller to head down into the mine and gather ore. The Woodcutters and Drillers were previously told to stop gathering due to the abundance of resources she now had given it didn't disappear anymore with her teching up. Once the Driller was in place, it started to dig, with Selene's eyes glued to the orb to see if it did anything. There was a sort of experience bar, if she could call it that, showing on the orb as she had temporarily connected to it herself. It showed zero of… there was just a dash at the end, telling her it could store unlimited experience. The experiment she was running was to see if experiences or memories were the same as experience points for her.

What she saw in the orb after a few seconds had her elated. It had gone up by three points, which wasn't much. Now she just needed to connect to the orb and drain the experience. Due to how the drone wasn't a living creature and programmed to work a certain way, with the capability to "learn" via computer data instead of brain waves, she wondered if the drone would just keep going about its business without losing anything to the orb, being a machine and all. The three experience points were added to her bar. On top of that, she gained something she wasn't expecting, one action point. The Driller looked to be completely unaffected by the orb as she had hoped, meaning any automaton, regardless of it learning her habits or other programming she could provide, would not lose any of it, continuing to function at peak efficiency. It wasn't a transfer of a program for them, more like copying data and sending it to the orb like sending an email with an attached file. She may have just found a loophole in this special treasure.

While the experiment was successful, this meant she'd have to leave the orb alone for a while as it gained experience and action points. This also meant that all her gatherer drones would need to be connected to the orb, with a potential renewable resource they could easily gain to build up the points. She needed to max her Gathering Skill to make the most use of Renewable Resources special ability. If she could get a tree farm, an orchard, a regular farm and an herb farm going, with lots of specialized drones on them, the orb would probably fill up fast. The problem was making sure she didn't wipe out the forest near the fortress and lake, as each of those farms would take a sizeable space, with not even factoring in extending her walls to protect those farms. Middle Ages farms weren't usually behind the castle walls, making peasants run for safety and leaving their homes and vegetables out to be trampled and destroyed to save their lives during a siege. This would be a massive undertaking to get all the land leveled for efficient farming. A 1 km2 claim for each farm could work, only using the area she's already cleared for sight lines from the fortress. Her main problem was expanding the walls, adding defenses and just getting everything up to speed with irrigation, compost, greenhouses, organic pesticides, good bugs to keep around, even trying to get a beehive or five up and running with domesticated hives. It was possible to create a vertical farm with each one layered on top of each other to not use so much land.

 _Could help with a full trade line to Gold Pine too. Food, clean water, oil from algae, etc. get some more actions each day by having my own shop built there… could put the general store owner out of business though… he is kind of a dick._

Selene checked her clock, noting it was 1 pm. The expedition barely took the morning, with enough time to get in a late lunch and check with Gold Pine for new traders, maybe get the resources she needed to start building the farms. While some of it wouldn't be truly required to buy, given that beehives could start near the trees if she just grew them, the vegetable farm would be in greenhouses, the orchard would be the only one needing some good bugs. She just needed seeds really. "C'mon Aster, let's take a ride." Asterion was saddled up and mounted with Bronze team ready to follow her. "Wait, I don't want to scare the villagers, no offense meant by the way." Ethan looked around at the others. "Ma'am, did you forget we can cloak?" he asked. She felt like a ditz. "We'll keep out of view, promise!" Turnie saluted her with one of her hands. "Ok, fine." They took an SF APC with the same invisibility field equipment installed and followed her on horseback.

As they neared the village, with Bronze Team exiting the APC just outside the fence and disappearing from view, the dev headed in, greeted by the people living there. "Hey there Selene! I got some nice meat from a hog this morning, interested?" One of the men asked as others offered to hand her things for free. "I'm fine, really, just here to check if any other traders are here with seeds." Abby walked out of the smithy with a pot to go to the well. There was one trader just up the road with decent supply of things that could be used by these people, shovels and farming equipment along with seeds and even fertilizer. While she was able to buy apple seeds, orange seeds, lemon seeds and lime seeds, there were no pears or peaches, no berry seeds, and one guava seed. She had no idea where he got it, but all of them were paid for. There was no guarantee the guavas would grow around here, even in a greenhouse, but she could try.

Abby came by to see what she was buying and talked to her while they headed towards the smithy. "Hey, guess what I did this morning?" Abby asked. "Um… lemme see… learned a few tricks in the smithy?" The smithy wife shook her head and smiled. "Worked the bathhouse?" Abby shook her head again. "I got the plans for a new road for mayor Stafinson. I like drawing and painting when I have free time, and it spruces the home up which Giles is happy with. So, I offered to draw up a new road for people to build houses on a little further out. That brings up another thing, people are coming to live here now!" she jumped a little with her hands bunched up in front of her in excitement. "That's great news! Soon this place won't be called a village, but a town instead. Glad to hear you're doing the city planning." Abby looked a little confused. "But… it's for a town, not a city." Selene laughed.

"That's what it's called, city planning, getting the design prepared so that utilities and transportation can be set up nearby to stop residents from being cut off from everyone else." Abby mouthed an Ah with her lips as she thought. "The mayor paid me thirty silver for it! He wants me to-" Both of them stopped as they heard a commotion behind them at the front entrance to the village at the sign. People were gathering there to watch something. "What's going on? A speech?" The auburn-haired woman asked as she saw the top of the mayor's head in the front, but it sort of looked like he wasn't facing the crowd. There was a stage coach waiting at the sign with a driver and two light plate wearing guards with halberds.

"I wonder what's happening. I don't remember the mayor saying anything was planned." They both walked back towards the main road connected to Gold Pine to get a better look. Selene slipped through the crowd with Abby right on her heels as they made their way to the front. There was a man dressed in elegant clothing with a beret and a really stupid looking mustache with a pointed goatee. "You've got to give us some time, we're just a small village. The people can't pay that!" The mayor was trying to convince the man about something with money. "Your people are only allowed to be here under the express funding of the Artinian kingdom. It is not our fault you can't pay back your loans or your taxes required of citizens of our most beloved king. We have been lenient with the past few months, but now you must pay in full what you have missed." The villagers were getting angry, raising their voices as they told him to leave them alone.

The mayor turned around, looking at the peasants, the hard-working people who lived here. "Please don't do this!" "Stop taking our hard-earned coin!" "We can't afford to live without that!" The mayor asked each person to head back to their homes and get their purses. The crowd sadly agreed and left to get their money, given it wasn't really needed to carry around unless they were buying something. "How much are they wanting from each person?" Selene whispered to the mayor. "Two gold each worth of coin." She gawked. These people had maybe one gold in total coinage, maybe not even that. It was highway robbery. The villagers slowly walked back, with most of their purses being small little bags that could be tied to their belts. A few of them were crying. The people handed whatever money they had to pay their taxes to the mayor, who collected the coin and put it in a larger drawstring bag to hand to the tax collector. "Hmm, I noticed she didn't give the full amount required." The man pointed at the alewife. She looked around embarrassed at everyone and visibly looked frightened. "Please, have mercy! There haven't been many traders due to the bandits and-" "Why you do not have the coin to pay your amount is not my concern. If you cannot pay required taxes, you will be arrested."

The two guards walked up and tried to grab at her arms. "Unhand her!" the mayor yelled as he got between them. "Are you willing to take her place to pay for this?" the tax collector asked. "I'll pay her amount. Just leave her alone!" The mayor jogged back to his somewhat larger home and picked up his purse, pulling two gold coins and bringing them back to the ugly man. Once the coins were in his hand, the tax collector clinked them together and looked at the mayor. "Now that the payment is complete, Mayor Stafinson, for interfering in the arrest and disrupting justice, I will have you arrested in her place!" The guards walked over and grabbed his arms, pinning them behind his back. "You can't do this! He paid! He was just trying to give you another option!" The villagers were in open protest now as they led him to the coach.

"LET HIM GO!" Selene roared out, with the crowd quieting down and the tax collector looking her over. "Are you a new villager? You seem a little more… refined. Almost look like the daughter of a nobleman. Which house are you from?" "Let him go, now, or I swear I will end you." She looked furious. He looked her over, her attire and her stance. A small yawn escaped his lips as he came to a conclusion. "Oh, I see, playing adventurer, venturing on your own, just like all the others rebelling. Well, I'm sure your parents would be happy to have you back. Again, which house are you from?" Selene was getting angry. "I'm not from any house you dumb ass."

 _What the fuck? You think I'm a teenager? Am I supposed to take that as a twisted compliment? Technically at my age people would be considered middle aged or even elderly due to quality of life and lacking medicine._

The tax collector looked at his finger nails and picked at them. "If you are not willing to tell me, we can bring you in and have notices sent out for the nobility to come and pick you up. Guards?"

The guards started to walk towards her as they slammed the stage coach door closed. That's when Selene drew her revolver and cocked it. They didn't stop, given they had never seen something like it or considered it a weapon. She fired once then cocked and fired a second time, both rounds killing them easily. The tax collector was visibly scared, a full brown pants moment happening to him as he backed away with his hands up at his face with his mouth letting out a mix of a screech and a yelp. The driver got up from his seat and pulled a crossbow, but a light click was heard behind his head. Deacon had a revolver to the base of his skull. "Want your head air conditioned? See what these things do to your brain pan? Then keep doing what you're doing."

The entire team decloaked surrounding the coach, with Jorge coming from behind a building and bringing his shield to just barely in front of Selene. Two guards came out of the coach with swords only to be met with Ethan and Orlo aiming at them, with Orlo's flamethrower lighting up. "Get the mayor out of there." Jorge walked to the stage coach and ripped the door off its hinges, not because he was trying to use his full strength, but due to the door being so fragile. Stafinson stepped out with manacles on his wrists, Orlo removed them with a special tool. He had a lockpick system installed, which allowed him to easily get through any door.

"You… you won't get away with this! The kingdom will come to avenge me!" the tax collector said as he had his hands up with open palms in defense. "You're going to leave, now, before I change my mind in letting you live." The man scurried and stumbled towards the coach and leapt through the opening that was once a door, with Deacon getting off the side and the two guards jumping in as well. The driver whipped the horses into turning and headed down the road towards the ruins of Glass Dale. The entire village looked at the mechanical creatures in awe and a little fear when Jorge walked up to Selene along with the others. "Think they'll send an army next?" Ethan asked. "I doubt they'd go that far. It's a village, with no guards. There's nothing threatening them." The mayor walked up to Selene, wary of the hulking automaton in front of her. "These… creatures… they helped us…" The dev sighed. "These creatures are mine. Don't worry. Sorry I kept them hidden from you, I didn't want anyone jumping into a panic or running for the hills. I've… well, I figured you'd all think they're evil incarnate."

"We're definitely not something you want to fuckin mess with" Deacon mumbled out. The mayor was almost in shock at how big Jorge was, his towering form armored from head to toe and looking very dangerous. "Are these… demons you summoned?" he asked. "Hey, who are you calling a demon ya arsehole?" Deacon snapped and pointed at him. "Deacon, seriously. Settle." He stopped pointing and slowly meandered to the village sign. "They're not demons. Just… just understand I made them; they won't hurt you, unless you try and start something with them, then all bets are off. So… I know this sounds like I'm slow but bear with me. That was the tax collector from the Artinian kingdom? He finally came here?" she asked.

"Yes, after five months of no sight of those blasted vampires, they rear their ugly heads." "Ugly doesn't begin to describe that goatee on his face, I'll tell you that much" Ethan chimed in. "Well… you're safe now." The mayor came up to her and held her hands softly. "I don't think you know what you've done Ms. Selene. You just put yourself in danger. They won't stop like you think they will. I'm sure they'll send more next time, and you only have, what, five of these… men?" he told her. "Hey, who are you calling a man, simian?" Turnie barked. The mayor twitched a little in surprise and some fear as the rolling automaton yelled at him. "Easy Turnie." She mumbled something under her "breath" as she rolled down the street with Orlo. "I have more, many more. If it comes to that… I'll come in and make them see reason. There's no way they can see coming to this village in force worthwhile. Maybe they can rework the tax system for all of you temporarily if someone just talked to someone… less of a… less… ok, not a complete dick hole."

"Damned chunderhead better not show his face around here again, these battlers don't need that shite." Deacon looked around through the trees in the event the coach decided to come back. "If they do come back, will you… I know this is a lot to ask, but could you come to help with the negotiations? I… I'll need help Selene." She nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. "Once we get a chance to talk to these people, I'm sure things will go easier. I know what people say about governments, usually they don't know how difficult it is to run one or manage even a city or town. It's probably not as evil as everyone thinks it is." Stafinson looked away from her and coughed. "I… believe you are wrong Ms. Selene, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. I just hope through some miracle you can make them see reason." The dev agreed and looked at the bodies of the guards. "Hey, Jorge, help me get these into a grave?" she asked. He nodded as he picked up the bodies and walked behind his Lady as she headed outside the village and dug two graves for them to be thrown in. Once the bodies were in, she covered them up and put small headstones.

"You show more respect for the dead than those vultures, lass" Giles said as he saw what she was doing from the fence. She then casted Dry on the blood on the ground and told the mayor to just sweep and it would come off. "Ms. Selene." She turned around as she walked back to Aster. "Where do you live if I need to send a messenger?" he asked. "Don't worry about it, I'll know if they're coming before you will." It was true, with her ornithopters keeping an eye throughout the valley, she could easily see if another army went up the road… and she now had a Quick Response Force ready to take them on if they were looking to fight.

The village might be under the control of the Artinian kingdom, but if they threatened her friends, she'd show them just how aggressive she could be. The dungeon she just finished improved her sense of confidence, as even though her team had killed most of the goblins, she at least took out the leader. There was also no telling just how effective the Orb of Experiences was going to be. Abby ran up to her as Giles walked behind. "I was going to tell you both, I… remember that story Giles?" she asked as she glanced over her shoulder and continued on. "I do lass, what of it? You aren't seriously thinking of going, are you? It's just a myth-" "It's no myth, because I already have it. Got it this morning." Both Giles and Abby stopped dead in their tracks. "You what? You… you actually found it?" he asked in surprise, his brown eyes widening. "Goblin nest hidden in some caves up North, wiped them out and got the Orb. Nice little toy, works like you said it would." She didn't want to tell them the full features that she experimented with, it was doubtful they'd understand.

"That's… incredible… you… you really got it? You're not lying?" Abby questioned her. "Why would I lie Ab? I got it and it's back home. Wasn't too difficult." Abby started mouthing something, but nothing would come out as she looked at Giles. "You're a legend lass, there are few out there willing to waltz into a goblin's nest for some worthless trinket."

 _It's not as if I did it alone._

"Eh, did it, got it, now to plant these seeds." The hero of Gold Pine dropped some ingots on his counter and mounted up on Aster. "No payment?" "No payment this time. Just worry about taking care of Abby and the others." They waved goodbye as Bronze Team walked to the APC and got inside as Selene cantered Aster back to the fortress. As they headed back home, the dev opened her character sheet and checked her level. Three levels gained, probably due to group experience with her team and exterminating the goblin nest. That meant thirty more Attribute Points and sixty more Skill Points, three more Perks to work with. Given she was going to need better stats for Molecular Reformation soon for building the farms, she threw the Attribute Points evenly between Control, Power, Crafting Speed of the ability, Range and AOE, with her last remaining five into Control, which would now allow three stalagmites at the same time, she just never attempted it on more than one target. She threw fifty Skill Points into Steampunk Electrical Engineering to match Mechanical Engineering, adding an even larger number of upgrades and improvements for steampunk equipment and automatons, along with speeding up production. Mediums barely took any time now to build, allowing her to focus now on Heavies and maybe Very Heavies.

Her last thirteen points were shoved into Strategy and Tactics, immediately increasing her knowledge of how to perform basic flanks, how to be aggressive and defensive, how to feint weakness and draw enemies into a counter, basic ambushes, targeting commanders first, pincer maneuvers, combined arms even. This would only improve with more points added, which was going to be a major priority with skill potions. The few things she knew before gaining the skill was "target healer first, then the rest of team collapses due to no heals" for pvp, as well as how to raid with a set movement for each boss. She gained one ability so far from it, "Blitzkrieg" which allowed a boost to all army or team movement speed by one hundred percent for one hour. This allowed any forces she had to rapidly get to one place or another or get into position even faster to fight. This made a QRF extremely dangerous. The three Perk points would add another bonus to stats while wearing steampunk armor, with another boost to mobility to make it feel like she was wearing nothing but a set of clothes. The final one would be fifty percent boost to Crafting Time when working on Research for steampunk. She was going to work on new ammunition schematics to pierce magic barriers, along with debuffs even if the round didn't pierce defenses. Currently only grenades conferred those benefits, with shotguns shooting incendiaries or fragmentation rounds. There needed to be a closure of that gap, for all weapons, not just gunpowder.

As they got back inside the gate, she looked around at her home. It was still a little empty given most of her stations were in her inventory, but that could soon change with a Molecular Converter along with a few other things. "Need to change the name of this place. No more Fortress of Solitude, I'm not alone here and that was stupid to call it that." She thought for a moment as she looked at her team and the other automatons. This wasn't some superhero place to live, this was her home, build from steampunk utilities and should be called something to reflect that. "What do you guys think about Clockwork Castle?"


	14. Ch 13 The Start of an Empress

**_NOTE: There are three songs recommended for scenes in this chapter, I suggest looking them up on YouTube or other sites to listen to during each event for mood music. Thank you._**

 ** _10th, October_**

Selene had spent the past four days upgrading, expanding and installing new features for the Clockwork Castle. The walls were extended out to a ten-mile half decagon with reinforcement now placed on the mountain range to keep any mud slides or avalanches from ever occurring. The trap walls were removed entirely, with no need for them anymore, using the resources and some paneling to build standard emplacements. Outside the walls, whatever ventured nearby was most likely dead if it was deemed hostile. Inside the walls, however, there was a second water silo installed, a filtration station connected to that for purified water, along with a distillation station for distilled water to drink.

Packed near the mountain side was a one-kilometer orchard, now well seeded with maybe half of it untouched yet, fertilized and provided a greenhouse thirty feet tall, with a second floor above it installed for a standard farm at fifteen feet tall. A third floor was built for the herb garden, with farmer drones with mana available that could cast Nutrient Replenisher and Growth Spurt; mana batteries were installed in the corners for the drones to replenish that would use electricity converted from a generator. Below ground, beyond view of anything, was a tree farm growing that had a height of almost four hundred meters, enough for the "roof" to never touch the top of a tree, even if it was a redwood. Each farm had installed artificial sunlight racked on the ceilings, a full irrigation network and even mist sprayers. There was an elevator and a staircase connecting each floor.

Outside of the stack farm was a large Molecular Converter, the size of a building, about roughly the height of the dev's house but twice as wide. It was made to start processing raw materials that weren't in demand right now, or that she had a massive excess. To keep the excess staying stable, there were one hundred fabrication units in a third inventory she had now made that just manufactured Light automatons, then another one hundred units to dismantle them for the resources she took out of the crafting process with the Crafting Cost stat. For the most part, this worked extremely well, keeping her well stocked with all materials required to keep her stations pumping if need be. As an added bonus, it gave her a chance to upgrade all her crafting stations to newer versions, the foundry was the only one that was updated beforehand. Her alchemy stations were improved to chemistry labs, blast furnaces for the foundries were upgraded to induction furnaces using power provided by ten large generators below ground, with one reactor planned for the future. There were capacitors and battery backups installed throughout the place now, with full electric lighting.

The mine was cleaned up as well, with even more efficient conveyor belts installed to replace the mine cart rail lines. The Drillers were now on light duty with orders to not disturb the fish or ecosystem in the glowing cavern. Apparently, one of the Drillers found a second cavern about two hundred meters lower and to the North, again sealed off from the outside. Nothing that was hostile could be found after a full examination, which started to turn it into a research location. There was a nagging question in the back of Selene's mind as to how the fish were glowing so much, as well as what they were ingesting to cause it. Until she could get around to it, that would have to wait, as her research stations were already in full swing to give her more bonuses or drop maintenance for equipment even further. She now had twenty-five of the things, each had a project going at least once a day when she could remember to change out the samples or prototypes. Given she now had so many different stations going, it was difficult to keep up half the time and work on her new castle.

The foundation was now complete for her brand-new home, along with the reinforced concrete that was enameled with a brand-new marble she was getting from the Molecular Converter. She had another ten in her inventory, but it was useful for the specialized drones to place ore into it by themselves without her needing to supervise all the time. The main advantage of the converter was that it could turn whatever she had into whatever inorganic material she needed. If it was organic, it involved enchanting essence solidified, at least one of each color gems, green and silver. It still did not get used on something living, just things like hide, grass, bark, wood, or even seeds with limited success. The disadvantage was that it wasn't the most efficient with the materials provided, with some fine tuning being needed. One hundred copper ore could be turned into marble slabs easily, which didn't make sense, but it could also be turned into… one "bronze" ore, not ingot. It was like the different materials were already mixed together and just needed to be smelted into a brick, but the problem still remained, it wasted so much ore just for one of a higher tier. In a lot of ways, it was far cheaper to just smelt the ingots separately provided she had the materials. She could also make different mixtures of bronze without having to worry about it not being strong enough, as the bronze was still useful for placards and ornamental items.

One converter was already shoved into a research station to see if she could get a more efficient version of it, but one thing she was happy with was gaining two new spells, which she hoped she'd never have to use. Those were Lesser Resurrection and Greater Resurrection. Lesser could be used on anything below human, like an animal or fish, even non-talking creatures like a gryphon if needed, so it didn't ostracize mythical beasts. Greater seemed to work on anything human and above, allowing anything that was capable of communication with her to be brought back from the dead. She was no dummy, she knew about resurrection in Yggdrasil taking levels and experience, which was why she gained the Arcanic's Wizardry versions which required a payment provided to the "ferryman" either by the dead, which could potentially be two coins on the eyes just like in myth or paid by the caster. The payment, if Selene must unfortunately do it, was one percent of her coin each time, which didn't sound bad… unless she attempted to resurrect a whole village, town or city. Luckily, there was the capability to loophole the thing, simply providing two gold coins to the eyes and preparing the body. The coins were given to the family of the deceased, allowing them to "own" the money and staying near their dead family member until the resurrection was complete. It had to be two gold coins, nothing lower would be accepted.

To top it off, she researched both scrolls of those spells in a research station, which gave her a new project to be crafted by a fabrication unit. It took one week to craft one, regardless of Crafting Time or anything that sped up Steampunk equipment due to the fine tuning. It was called a "Lazarus System," a once per hour resurrection tesla tower. Somehow, it healed the body and prepared it in a certain way to allow the soul to be reconnected back to the corpse, but it had to recharge each time and took a good ten minutes to perform. This meant it could only resurrect a small amount of people each day, but still useful due to it not requiring mana, only electricity. It just took too damn long to make though, but the dev already had one in production, just in case. As a side use, it was fully capable of obliterating an undead army within one kilometer of it with a massive pulse. The resurrection was a targeted ability on one person.

There was a mass resurrection spell that could be learned, but the problem was there were huge debuffs provided to the newly living to their bodies and annoying issues that came with it, one issue of which… her mana bar wasn't high enough yet and no mana battery worked to balance it out. She was going to learn it, it was already in crafting for a scroll, she just couldn't make much use of it as a learned spell until she focused on upgrading her magical prowess, which was somewhat taking a back seat compared to everything else. Right now, she wanted, no, needed, to build a palace. She was already getting the first floor constructed with a courtyard and gates, along with the start of each room. The palace didn't take up the entire area of the walls, however she didn't know how large some castles could really be. She remembered hearing about one castle being five miles in size, which seemed massive… but cool. Selene could always expand even more if need be, with surprisingly very little need to cut down the forest much further. The forest she lived near seemed to be roughly one hundred miles in size, spread out and facing only a quarter of her home, so it was pretty easy to not do too much damage to the biome.

Unfortunately, the past four days she had spent the entire time cooped up in the brand-new walls, just building and expanding. At least one of those days was just getting the walls up with specialized construction drones helping hold materials up or leveling the area. She had military models patrolling the valley, in which they had found another mimic, and promptly devastated it. She had enough warning to acknowledge they found a hostile, heard the weapons going off, then heard an all clear from them. That was the extent of the scary mimic problem.

"That's it, I'm going stir crazy. I've been laying these walls and setting up the courtyard for rosebushes and hedge rows… haven't even finished the palace, can't even think of the furniture yet… I need to relax." Bronze Team was sitting around at a table, seemingly doing nothing. "Hey, I gotta ask, what do you guys do to stay busy while I'm asleep or doing this?" They all looked at each other, with Ethan looking at the ground. A small holographic picture appeared, showing… mine sweeper. "You guys are playing games?" she laughed out. Jorge was playing what looked like solitaire, Turnie seemed to be playing some sort of skiing game, Deacon was playing some sort of asteroids game, with Orlo working on new ones. He was the mastermind for all the fun little programs they were using to pass the time. "Sorry ma'am for being unprofessional" Jorge said sadly. "Oh, no, don't worry about it. You guys aren't doing this in the middle of a fight or before a fight are you?" she questioned. "Absolutely not ma'am, we would never think about it."

"Unless we're stuck doing recon, then I'm gonna see who can fuck up the Nazis the most in the next shooter" Deacon quipped. For Selene, she just knew they were thinking faster than she was for a lot of things, so letting them play games to keep them occupied was perfectly fine. She was just surprised they were making games just like Earth played. The dev was happy they understood and communicated in a way that reminded her of people from Earth, even knew memes and jokes that only someone from her home world would understand. She figured they must be getting pre-programmed with knowledge from both worlds to be able to work so efficiently for her. It was immensely helpful, not just physically for protection, but because she now had friends she could talk to. Selene missed home, her real home, her family and her human friends, but this was her new life, with it probably never ending until the day she dies. It was either get used to here or be depressed. The woman chose the former.

"I'm going to head to Gold Pine and work on some stuff for them." Jorge stood up, towering over everyone as they got ready for a trip out. "You guys, and gal, can stay if you want to. I was actually going to just ride over, fix up a water pump and head back after talking to people." They all looked at each other. "Ma'am, unless we're on a mission, we'll stick with you" Ethan said as he nodded at her. As she saddled Asterion to get him some exercise, Bronze Team piled into the SF APC and rolled out after her, with ornithopters flying through the skies just above. She had upgraded their frames with aluminum, not normally gained from around the castle due to no bauxite mineable from the area. It required a tropical or warm location, which might mean the swamp with the alligators. Her main source of aluminum was just converting steel into the metal and gaining a decent amount of the ingots to install upgrade modules into the fabrication units. It wasn't nearly as strong as steel, but it was much lighter, giving a noticeable improvement in speed and agility. New materials were already in the works, including plans to test Mithril once she got a fair amount of it, Orichalcum, Adamantite even. Giles had given her a small list of the different metals he knew of, but Selene now had access to an entire array of standard metals, New World metals, alloys and even some steampunk mixtures.

If she could get her tech up enough, there was a guarantee for graphene armor, potentially even a theorized stronger material called Carbyne. While Adamantite was strong, unbreakable even, it could be super-heated and melted. Graphene and Carbyne didn't really care about heat due to the dispersion characteristics and how it was created, along with being very light, though Graphene would probably be not on par with Adamantite. Two layers of Graphene was harder than diamond, with Carbyne theorized being twice as strong as Graphene, though the information was old with newer atomic models created since that was open to the public. Composite armor with a mixture of different materials would be the most effective. None of this stopped her from attempting to create her own metals, but that would take some serious work, with a full lab working on the project. Newer custom metals also weren't in her normal schematics, so plenty of research would be needed. One of her research stations was constantly working on projects for newer materials for automaton frames and building, with so far aluminum steel alloy being a standard for fliers.

She was barely at the cusp of Industrial Era, despite working so hard on adding new features to the Clockwork Castle. Her only real need was to travel to Gold Pine, add new piping to bypass the water well, install the water pump, and everything would be ready for a tech up; in a backup situation, she could enchant the pump, or faucets in houses with Unending Flow. If it wasn't, a little trading and checking up on the villagers would finish it. There was no need for money right now, excluding one thing that she was willing to ask Giles to give in exchange for lower end coin. What the woman wanted was that platinum coin he had stashed away. If he was willing to give her that, she could start minting them in large quantities, given there was one vein found deep underground, probably a small blob of it. Gold was a non-issue now, with well over ten thousand coins readily available and more on the way, with the converter seemingly able to turn a few of them into a pile of silver coins as well. There was spare copper she was minting now for coins too, but that was a minor thing so she wouldn't argue about change with any traders that come by Gold Pine.

Once she reached the village, she met up with Giles who helped her test the water pump as well as seal the well. "There, no need for that old thing, this will bring up dirty water, which will flow here into the filtration block, which will give you clean water. Sound good?" she said smirking to him. "Amazing. It looks so simple too." Selene chuckled. "It is simple, none of you knew how to build it really, that was the only problem. Well it's fine now, it won't be perfectly clean water, but it will be drinkable without causing any issues. If mayor Stafinson has someone set a fire under it, it should boil the water and kill anything that can harm you."

Giles ran his hand over his hair and blew air out of his mouth while blinking. "To think, we could have stopped some diseases just by doing this." Selene looked confused with her eyelids half closed and a furrowed brow. "Is anyone sick right now? What do they have?" The smith looked up at her and blinked again. "Oh, no one is infected now, but there was a scare of a really bad plague a long while ago, I heard about it. Something… something black was the name."

 _The Bubonic Plague?! It was here?! Oh god, that normally is curable with any modern medicine if caught very early, but it probably wasn't for these people! Hope Cleanse Greater Infection works on it, but holy hell… I should probably make some antibiotics on the double now that I know about that._

She thought back to the small hamlet she found with no one alive, just skeletons lying around. That was probably what ended their lives. This meant fleas were around at one point that carried the disease, which meant she needed to keep a look out for rats. Luckily, she was testing out new designs for automatons and smaller mechanical creatures, including the spider mine now had a cousin, the lightning mine. It didn't blow up, just latched to things and fired ten amps of current with a voltage of roughly 250, enough to kill a target without making much noise. This allowed them to be christened as a Special Forces piece of equipment to stealth kill or incapacitate high profile targets. They were also nice to have as a miniature battery system to plug into for weapons or even a mini fridge. Oddly enough, Bronze Team could inject limited amounts of drinks and food into a port just inside their neck, allowing them to "taste" consumables and burn it off with a miniature incinerator hidden inside near their power core. They couldn't get drunk off beer, but they could at least enjoy it. That made her wonder if a mini fridge might be an interesting picnic item to hide in her inventory for when they wanted it. If they work hard, they get to play hard, given they now had small inventory hoppers systems attached to their arms connected to her fourth inventory set just for them.

Selene had now started to spread out her inventory and organize things, with spare resources and useful items in her first inventory along with food to not spoil, her second inventory was manufacturing, her third inventory was resource production that could feed into second inventory, her fourth inventory was Special Forces exclusive and her fifth was for military applications and security usage. She also could auto sort with tags placed on certain items and they'd just move automatically. Her search feature allowed anything from any "tab" to be found regardless.

"Huh, I'll uh… let me know if anyone gets sick in the future ok? Especially what happened before." Giles nodded and smiled. "Will do lass, will do." Her thoughts were on setting some hunter killer lightning mines on search and destroy for rats hiding in the buildings while throwing a small party for the villagers. They'd easily clear out any infestations given they could also be equipped with invisibility field emitters. That was a scary thought for anyone that tried to sneak up and cause problems for Gold Pine, a thief or serial killer sneaking through the pass through Azaltos mountains only to get jumped by one of these and zapped to death.

They both walked back to his smithy, with her dropping off some "spare" ingots for him to make use of, no need for payment. She got invited into their home and got to see the paintings Abby was making, which made her realize she keeps bringing things for Giles, not for his wife to make use of. "Hey Ab, how about the next time I come by, I bring you some interesting paints, would that be nice?" she asked. Abby jumped up from her stool and looked between Giles and Selene, confused as to whether she should question her or smile. Instead, she just gave her a hug. "I'd be forever grateful. Any colors you bring would be nice to have." That did it, the dev was going to bring her an entire paint kit next time she visited. From what she saw, the paintings she made were beautiful with the limited colors she had available; she could only imagine what she could make with her talent and better tools and mixtures.

The entire village was warned by the mayor to attempt to buy any interesting seeds for Selene if any traders came by, with her paying them back. She had provided a small bag of coin to the mayor for spare funds if she wasn't there to do it herself. They were all more than willing, given that it expanded what she could trade to them, at a much lower price for much better goods. The silk sheets the alewife wanted were completed, along with a silk dress she was too embarrassed to wear, given it showed a decent amount of skin. For her husband, it looked fantastic, but it wasn't something to wear outside in her eyes. The dev didn't think it looked like lingerie or a negligee, but people were a little prudish here, so she didn't argue.

"So, you got the shovels and pick axes all finished?" Selene asked Giles as they all sat down for a light glass of ale. One of the new spells she had learned in the past four days was a really easy one, almost considered a quality of life spell given what it did. Since she already had Spark Finger to light torches and campfires, it stood to reason to also finally get "Frost Finger," cooling things down or freezing items if need be. This allowed her to cool down the cups or heat them up, which made her impatient for the apples she recently grew to ferment correctly and turn into spiced alcoholic cider with some bourbon that she was working on at the still. Given the fact she didn't need to cook much anymore, her free fun time was involved in making different alcoholic beverages and playing with the wolves who were in sore need of some attention. The day before she took them on a hunt even though there were already hunter drones ready to work, just because it helped keep them in shape. Blue and Ash got to enjoy the pool as well with her during exercise, while Luna was learning her dog paddle with some steampunk floaties. The woman couldn't stop laughing at the sight of the white wolf swimming around with those things on. She eventually got the hang of it, which allowed her to take them off.

"I did, got them ready for the new people who moved here. They said they were miners, figured they could set up a mine nearby and get some ore in here. I told them they'll never bring back better than what you give, but they want to at least be useful and it's a job. It also brings flagstone and clay to be used to keep the roads in working order, build small stone fences for expansion and help with ramps." The dev nodded in acknowledgement as she took a swig of her ale. It was better now than the last time she tried it. The alewife, Brilne was her name, had made a much stronger batch. The lighter ale was probably for summer, the last dregs of it.

"Oh, that reminds me, um… can I ask you for a favor?" Selene asked Giles. "Anything lass, anything." She twiddled her thumbs a little. "Can I offer to trade one hundred gold coins for that platinum coin you have hidden away?" he looked at her a little surprised. "Well, sure, I… you really want it?" he asked. "Yes please, if you're wiling to give it up." He got up and walked into the smithy, checked the hidden stone and pulled out the box. Once he was back inside the house, he dropped the coin right on the table. "It's yours, lass." The dev pulled out one hundred gold coins, then added an extra five to the pile. Giles looked at the glinting and then at her. "You're always so generous lass. I doubt anyone would want you to pay with a platinum coin in the future though." She picked it up and looked at it. "I'm working on other avenues instead of trading with it." Both sides had different symbols again. Somehow she had an odd gut feeling that those symbols would become useless in the not too distant future.

"What's that commotion outside?" Abby asked as she leaned near Selene and looked out the window. "Maybe the mayor wants everyone to understand the usage of the new water pump" Giles muttered out loud. "It's not difficult, you just have to push down and pull up on the lever, water comes out. Then you pour that water into filtration block and let it do its thing. I wonder if I can get a faucet made for everyone, that might be on a schedule though." Giles chuckled. "You keep trying to make life better for us at no cost. Truly a miracle you are lass."

"I don't think he's calling people to see the water pump, I think they're just gathering around him. Oh god, I hope the tax collector isn't back again." Selene jumped up along with Giles as they looked at each other, with the red auburn hair of the dev flailing as she shot out the door towards the crowd with Giles hot on her tail.

 _Motherfucker, if he's back I'll end him right now!_

She stormed towards the crowd as they parted like the Red Sea for Moses, she stepped up right to the mayor and didn't see the stage coach anywhere. Stafinson looked somber as he read a scroll unrolled, then looked up at her. He sighed. "Here ye! Here ye! The Artinian kingdom has declared the village of Gold Pine to be rebelling against the divine power that is king Teiyan Erelius II. The heretics have refused to pay taxes required of all decent working men, for the preservation of the lands and keeping of order. By order of his majesty, the village will be… smited… for its actions to thwart his highness's divine rule." Everyone was whispering to each other, scared about what was happening. "That's it then, no negotiations, no attempt to parlay. Damn that man! Damn that blasted king!" Giles started shouting as he pointed towards the scroll. The mayor looked amongst the people there, including the miners, who had just moved here for a better life. Now that life was in danger. He finally looked at Selene. Everyone looked at her after that. "What can we do? We can't fight, we don't even have a militia."

"I've seen what kinds of armies he sends to stop rebellions once… only once…" one of the miners spoke as everyone laid eyes on him. "You're looking at around five thousand strong, maybe ten thousand if it was a large town… I dunno what you can call this place now with more people living here. They… they might… gods almighty save us…" he nearly broke down as his friends put their hands on his shoulders. That's when Stafinson stepped closer to Selene and showed her the scroll, which she couldn't read. "I know we have no right to ask it of you, but we're now just an abandoned village. You stopped the bandit army before, and we are without a kingdom now. Of what kingdom would you call yourself? Would we… could we be allowed to join you?" he asked. Everyone was silent. This was a massive question looming over her.

"I renamed my fortress, it's now called The Clockwork Castle. These guys…" she sighed and looked at the miners and everyone else. "They won't stop it seems. Going after a village that is barely coming into its own as a town just because you can't pay right now is… this is bullshit. Look, I dunno how good I'd be as a… what, leader?" she ended with a question. "You'd be our Queen" Abby hinted. "I don't like the sound of Queen. Queen is just…" she was trying to find the words she needed, but it was getting all garbled up in her head. She finally just snapped. "If I'm going to be in charge, I'm being an Empress, because if I'm being declared war on by being in control of this village, then I'm fighting back and taking them out with overwhelming force. Are you my citizens? Say so now." They all put their hands up in acknowledgement, not one of them walking away, even the miners. They had heard stories about her, with today being a chance to see what she could really do. "The Clockwork Empress Selene. Let all who lay eyes on her know that name and refer to her as majesty or highness. Her divine light will shine everywhere and cast the darkness that is the Artinian kingdom away" Giles yelled loudly for all to hear, accepting the name and letting everyone know it. She actually liked the title. This was the start of the Clockwork Empire, with one village.

"Now, before anything else happens, I need to talk to mayor Stafinson, who will continue with his duties as mayor here and his fine work in taking care of all of you while I am busy doing… regal stuff. I… will do my utmost to protect all of you, don't worry. You may see… things… popping up outside, if they look like the previous creatures I brought with me, then they are mine. That would mean they are there to watch out for the village. Leave them alone please, they are there to do a job." Just then, Bronze Team decloaked nearby, with Jorge crossing his huge arms over his chest and nodding. "About time our girl stepped up to the plate that's been waiting for her" Jorge whispered to the others. "Damn straight. She'll do a bang-up job, I know she will. It's gonna be the ant's pants around here from now on, just you watch" Deacon chuckled out as he hit his knee with his hand while he crouched. "Finally, our builder gets to show what she is made of. She's going to need constant help to create this new empire, and we'll be right there with her" Turnie seemed to say while beaming in pride. "It was about time she shot for the stars. With these people, she is loved. With everyone else, she needs to be feared, if she cannot be both" Orlo told the others. "Oh, we'll make sure of that" Ethan snickered out.

The villagers kneeled before her and looked at the ground, some even looking like they were praying to her as a goddess. After a few moments, she stepped away from them and tapped the mayor on the shoulder. "We need to talk about taxes and requirements of the people." Everyone stopped kneeling and watched. "Will you continue with the normal taxes? Of course... of course, you'll need the funding for the empire to help it grow" Stafinson said as he wrung his hands. The others were looking at her wondering how high she would set the tax rate to, due to all the efforts she had put into easing costs for traders and her own goods. "I… first off, what was the tax rate set at again?" she asked. "It was forty silver a month, not including earnings from our jobs." Selene looked at him as if he was growing flowers on his skull. "Um, wow, ok, how much of that went to local government? Like, here, or to you?" He looked around at everyone. "I received a small stipend of five silver per head in the village every month, with another one gold per month for my job. It… sometimes it isn't enough, sometimes it's plenty. For the village… I haven't the foggiest if we've ever had money provided for use. I've usually had to pay for anything to keep the village going."

"Alright, then may I know how much you have saved up?" she asked. He leaned in and whispered. "Six gold." While that wasn't poverty level like others were, he was willing to give up two coins to pay for Brilne last time. "Alright, so let's do the math. We have, what, one hundred…" she looked around at people standing there "One hundred thirty is the headcount ma'am" Jorge said over the coms into her head. "We have one hundred thirty villagers now, I'd say that's the start of a town. Ok, what's the average amount anyone makes around here per month?" Abby walked up. "For most people here, it's around fifty silver, if that much." A woman walked up and looked at the men. "That barely affords us food for the month or clothing."

"Ok. So here's how this will work. Whatever job you do, fifty percent taxes on the earnings kept on paper. All store owners, smithies, or amenity buildings will from now on provide receipts upon sales or work paid for, signed and verified by the recipient. Keep your receipts, I'll have a new tax collector roam around every month and collect after it checks through the receipts." Everyone was looking at each other and smiling. "That's half what we were paying before" one man mumbled to another. "Now, I'm hearing some say it's half. That may go up due to your job requiring you to do more work as more people decide to move here, so you won't make as much money if your wages increase. This is to offset the quality of life improvements that will be built around here. For one thing, I'm getting a fucking hospital somewhere built, and a school for the kids to learn some stuff. Things are going to change, hopefully for the better." People were cheering at what she was telling them, it was like a presidential candidate at a rally.

"Now, of that fifty percent, twenty-five percent goes to me, I'm your empress, I get to use that for stuff in the royal treasury. The other twenty-five percent, ten percent is going to the mayor. The other fifteen percent goes into paying for village maintenance and funding projects to… liven this place up a bit, pay for artists and sculptors, there's not a single statue anywhere or murals. Get some people here to work on making this place nice looking, public musicians, paying for building a market for traders to come instead of just lining up on the road." The people could see the vision she was painting. And it would be paid for with their taxes, their town would look amazing because of their money, not just seeing it disappear.

"Now, you. Keep everyone inside the village until… until I have some defenses set up. You received that sheet of paper today, right? How long until you expect an army to show up?" the mayor looked up at the sky and brought his hand up to his bearded chin. "Um, I was in an army before. I know how long it will take" one of the miners raised his hand. They all looked at him. "Go on my friend, how long?" Stafinson asked. "You got that sheet today, it'll take three days at most before they reach here given there are a few forts just south of the Azaltos Mountains, before Glass Dale. Given Glass Dale is destroyed, they won't be able to resupply, so… they might pillage a little if they reach us." He looked around at everyone as if he was a black sheep. It was probably a normal thing for them to do that against an enemy town when he was a part of the military.

"Fine, they won't reach you, I'll have something set up before that. They won't even make it down that road there." Selene pointed at the road heading towards the ruins of Glass Dale at the front of the village. "We believe in you your majesty, your… eminence." Brilne the alewife was almost in reverence of her. "We'll do as you say."

"Alright, I'm going to go get prepared to take on this task, the rest of you, go about your business but don't leave the… the… you know what, Gold Pine is no longer called a village, it is a town because I say it is so." The "townsfolk" cheered. If things kept getting better, it could turn into a large town, then a city, or even a metropolis. Giles was almost reaming while standing, thinking about how Gold Pine could become even more of a trade hub than Silvinholm. Selene walked back with Giles and Abby as the people still followed her, just before she got back onto Asterion they all did small salutes with their hands over their chests. "Alright, let's go get started guys, we have a lot to do." Bronze Team had disappeared back to the SF APC, rolling back to the castle. As they entered the main gates, her security looked scarier than fort Knox with auto turrets, manned turrets, security models patrolling the walls, there were even anti-air weapon systems ready to fire against an attack from the skies, whether gryphon or even dragon.

As they entered and she dismounted from Aster in the stables and took his saddle off, she turned to Bronze Team and was trembling a little. "Look, I'm gonna just say this now. I'm going to need help. No real leader does it on their own… so… here's hoping you guys, and gal, are with me on this." Jorge looked at the others and then looked right at her. "Ma'am, we'll always be loyal to you. We'll always stay by your side to get things done. You deserve this, we all know it." "Good, because I'm making you my commanders for special forces. I'm going to need a chain of command for each tier to handle things, so I don't always have to interfere. I have an inventory set just for you guys, let me know whenever you need stuff and I'll make sure you've got it. Same goes for my military and security. I'm going to fortify the hell out of this valley, make it so everyone wants to live here in safety with amenities fucking everywhere. We're gonna make the Artinian kingdom wish it never messed with us, while showing its people the grass is practically glowing golden on our side." Deacon shot his fist into the air. "Atta girl! We've got your back, whatever you need." She thanked them and told them to get ready for the coming war, then turned around and surveyed her unfinished castle. That wasn't the only thing she now needed to build up. Tech up was ready. Industrial Era was ready to be entered.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – El Dorado)**_

"Time to work up a sweat and get this thing finished." She set her harvester drones on full power, set her fabrication units to start pumping out civilian models, security models, military models, honor guard models and special forces units. She then set on building construction drones and had them leveling the outside, set her sights on finishing the castle with some help of the construction units and sent her military on full patrol through the valley. Anything was hostile, they'd eliminate it. She needed to make sure it was safe so Gold Pine didn't get attacked from behind, with plans to add checkpoints and guard stations down the secret path through Azaltos mountains and along the road to Glass Dale. Another plan she would build right after the castle was an airfield for bi planes and later, turbo props. If she could, she'd get jet fighters too, given there were a few used in World War II. With the construction crew helping, the castle was practically building itself, with crafted cranes moving materials everywhere, pouring concrete into reinforced steel rebar. Marble was installed on the walls to make the whole thing look majestic.

She built one hundred mediums for the sole purpose of sacrificing for heavy tier automatons, more mech than infantry. She posted two of them at the gate as military models, easily capable of soloing those five thousand soldiers coming to attack Gold Pine at levels 150 apiece. With digitigrade legs to help with balance, and entirely automated, each one standing at a height of twenty-five feet tall, they easily dwarfed Mediums in everything but versatility in buildings. Her thoughts made her think it might be a good idea to add a Special Forces Super Heavy to Bronze Team as massive firepower and anti-vehicle support. Her research was completed for new ammunition for a variety of damages, including magic shield piercing. It didn't do anything else, but magical shields didn't do anything to the rounds. There were acidic rounds, high explosive, armor piercing, tracers, flare rounds, rubber rounds for riot control, rifled slugs for shotguns, fragmentation rounds, the list kept going. Production in vehicles also increased, with some LRVs or Light Reconnaissance Vehicles used to help get visual on ground targets and help patrol the valley, LAVs which were Light Attack Vehicles expressly there to move in fast and hit hard then disappear, Light Armored Personnel Carriers for rapid transit to drop off security models with capability to support as a barricade with two Light auto turrets on top, Medium APCs for enforcing borders and cities and Heavy APCs for military grunt work and long term transport across lots of terrain.

Light tanks were also being made for fast hard-hitting mobile artillery that can be easily transported, Medium tanks or Main Battle Tanks for rear defense and support, Heavy Battle Tanks for showing the enemy whose boss. Aerial support was ornithopters, helibots, bi planes, soon to be turbo props and jets… and more than likely, some airships. She was going to show these bastards what a real military can do, but not quite just yet, she didn't want to show her hand completely. "Jorge, can you hear me?" she asked over coms. "Always ma'am." She made sure the rest of the team was listening as well while she worked on the castle floors. "I've been thinking about the first deployment, to stop this army. I don't want to use the normal military. I was thinking, can we take them out in a stealth surprise attack so no one can make it out alive? Middle of the night catch them off guard, they'd never know who they're fighting, because we can't have anyone report back what they saw. Sound good?" she asked. There was a slight pause from them.

"What do we have to work with" Ethan asked, Jorge chiming in on that as well. "Ethan, Jorge, you know me. Anything you ask for, just make sure it's as quiet as possible so you can get the jump on them. Not one of them survives. Chances are, if they're sent this far out into butt fuck nowhere to take on a little "village" then they're probably just mooks with no real intelligence, no intel to gather, right?" The team didn't seem to be deliberating, just trying to figure out what they'd need. "Understood. We'll get it done ma'am. I'll have a requisition order made up" Jorge told her. "Nice. Thank you." "We're here to serve ma'am, to protect our glorious fucking empire!" Deacon said almost too happily. He was ready to start cleaning up the filth that had the citizens of the Artinian kingdom cowering in fear.

As she completed the first and second floor of the castle with the building crew, she received the requisition order from Jorge and checked through it, then set the fabrication units to craft everything. They were Special Forces, they needed the best to do their jobs. She had so much faith in them after getting the orb that she knew she didn't need to be looking over their shoulders, that would just hamper them. Selene would just get a report once they completed their mission or let her know if any issues arise and she needs to send back up. Given how things have gone so far with steampunk, she highly doubted they'd need any help beyond what they requested. Jorge was smart, really smart. She was glad to have him and the rest of the team with her.

 _ **Three Days Later, Midnight**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Cyrus Reynolds, Gregg Lerhmann & Keeley Bumford – The Wolves)**_

Three SF Heavy lifter Helibots flew low over the road heading towards Gold Pine, with visual of the army that had set camp for the night. They'd be on Gold Pine's doorstep the next day. All three helibots dropped their cargo silently into the night, landing near the Boramar Mountains behind the edge of the Gold Pine Forest, with small parachutes engaging then disconnecting. Bronze Team along with three other Special Forces teams slammed into the ground and charged through the forest almost silently and completely invisible, their speed well exceeding seventy-five miles an hour. The teams got into position as lightning mines crawled nearby, ready to engage. "Most of the soldiers are done eating and already sleeping, tracking one hundred guards on patrol." Orlo was providing intel from above as he pinpointed targets with a full network of SF ornithopters spread out above them, silent watchmen. Little icons appeared over each of their heads as the teams moved in and started their work.

"Go for the casters first, make sure they can't get any spells off, then hit tent armory. Down the commanders right after" Jorge commanded them. He was de facto leader for Bronze Team, and he was doing it well. Deacon was hiding at range on the mountain side with his sniper rifle tracking three wizards sitting next to each other. "I count nine, cancel, make that twelve of the fairy dusters." He zoomed in with both his optic cameras as well as the scope, allowing him to see the whites of their eyes. "Team 2 in position" "Team 3 in position" "Team 4 in position" was heard from the drone teams. The mines moved in as a grid pattern throughout the tents, with five being regular spider mines to detonate the armory. "Three, two, one. Execute" Jorge commanded.

The mines latched onto multiple guards and electrocuted them quietly in the shadows, with Jorge pulling one behind a tree and snapping his neck. The rest of the teams followed quickly through, making their ways to the other tents and killing quickly. Deacon took out the casters by himself, rapid tapping two shots per second, each hitting a head without need to reload. There was no noise from the silencer system built in. They had enough time to realize their friends were dropping like flies before falling themselves, no way to even get a word out. About halfway through, someone found a body and an alarm was sounded, but by then it was too late. The explosive spider mines detonated, obliterating a massive amount of spare equipment, sending swords flying into nearby soldiers and ending them. Lightning mines continued to latch onto panicking men as they tried to figure out where the enemy was coming from, who was attacking.

The commander shot out of his tent and looked around with a torch to see a slaughter as little creatures grappled his soldiers and fried them, with humanoid like creatures slipping about and snapping necks or firing some sort of weapons in their hands or on their shoulders that seemed almost silent. One clotheslined one of his soldiers and flipped him end over end as it continued towards another group, with anyone who made a noise quickly dealt with. Another was a massive creature charging through the remainder of his ranks and launching bodies into the sky like they were confetti. He was about to panic as well, turning around running as fast as his legs could carry him from the tent city down the road. He stopped mid run as he saw a few glowing blue lights appear in front of him, all looking at him. His breath caught in his throat.

"Oh gods… oh gods… what… demons… stay back… stay back!" he was trembling as he waved his torch around to keep them at bay, then tried to turn around. He came face to face with Jorge who crept up right behind him. His giant paw of a gauntleted hand doused the torch, consuming the area in darkness. A muffled scream could be heard from that position followed by silence. "Op completed" Ethan confirmed over coms. Not one soldier survived the assault. No one would be providing a report back as to what happened to them. Not one single automaton, spider mine or humanoid was damaged in the entire quiet battle beyond the explosives in the armory. Orlo swept to the wizards and collected the ammo with a magnet to make sure there was no evidence bullets were even used. "Bronze 1, have visual on something, check right bearing 230, cave entrance noticed" Deacon said in a serious tone. He didn't do that unless there was something that peaked his interest and made him stop swearing.

 _ **2 am, 14th, October**_

Selene was asleep in her bed as she received a coms request. Her eyes shot open as she breathed in and looked around, still hearing the request. She acknowledged it and waited for whoever was on the other side to talk. "Sorry to wake you up ma'am, but we have a report to provide you" Jorge informed. "Um, yeah, sure, no worries, it's fine. How'd the operation go?" There was an ever so slight pause as Jorge reviewed his data. "Op was a success, no survivors, no damage accrued, no wounded on our side."

"That's… that's great news, glad to hear it. Looks like the walls we were planning to build around Gold Pine won't be needed much after all." She rubbed her left eye to get the grit out as she looked at the still sleeping wolves lying on her bed. "There's another issue though ma'am." She stopped rubbing her eye as her right eyebrow rose. "Is everything ok?" Another pause. "The op was a success, but we found a cave entrance."

"O…. k…. what… are there hostiles inside or?" she questioned as she didn't have all the details yet. "From what Orlo has been able to find, this was the bandit camp used before they came to attack you, before we were made." The dev cocked her head a little backwards. "Don't tell me there are bandits still on the roads that are using it." "No ma'am, it's been abandoned by them, all of the brigands went to attack your fort." She felt relieved, no more thieves and cutthroats to worry about. "The issue is what was left behind."

Selene was interested now. "Ok, what, materials, grains, food, weapons, some magic stuff pillaged?" she asked. "The sacking of Glass Dale ma'am, they had captives. These people were taken as prisoners." Her blood froze. "How many." "Two hundred fifty ma'am, one hundred women, seventy-five children of varying ages, twenty-five men. All of them are in poor health." Her head was reeling with thoughts. Are they going to die? "Shit. Their homes are long gone. Signs of abuse?" "Plenty ma'am, the women were used for… gratification, the men were used for paid fights. The children… sometimes for target practice."

 _Holy shit. This is a really bad situation. How… I've been an empress for all of three days and this is the first thing I have to really deal with beyond an army waltzing towards my town?!_

"What do you want us to do with them ma'am?" Jorge asked. The question to her sounded rhetorical, but maybe he was really wondering what she would order him to do. Hell, if she wanted to, there's nothing stopping her from commanding them to exterminate all of them and be an evil bitch. Lucky for them, she was anything but. "Get them to Gold Pine, wake up Moira. Tell her to get some rooms ready for them. Remainder we'll… I'll get military teams sent with tents to set up and supplies. Have Turnie check on them and heal where she can, I'll have auto docs on standby." Jorge acknowledged. "Ma'am, there's a woman here whose gone into labor as well."

 _Fuck!_

"Ok, um, auto docs will help with the birth, keep her taken care of, APCs are already going. Make sure Turnie stays with her." She sent an immediate flash order to military units to pack and send supplies to Gold Pine. More helibots were being sent to pick up the spider mines and SF teams beyond Bronze Team. She immediately built more manufacturing stations for blankets, pillows, cots, even teddy bears for the kids and told Jeeves to stash some sweets in her inventory, along with making spare rations with Food of Ash spell and then flavoring them with Flavor from Nothing to combine with fruits and vegetables with some meat cooked into meals by Jeeves and the maids. Her chemistry benches went into overdrive as a pile of healing potions were crafted with antibiotics and scrolls to Cleanse Lesser Infection, even antidotes in case of poisons. She even crafted pain killers for the woman in labor, along with more maid automatons to help keep people calm and act as assistance mechs for the frail or old. The large inventory hopper had military models pulling out crates of supplies and stashing them in APCs and helibots.

 _God damn it! I haven't even built the road to Gold Pine yet from my capital!_

 _ **(Recommended Song – Jeremy Soule – Fear Not This Night (Guild Wars 2) (feat. Asja))**_

Selene jumped out of bed and got dressed, calling Jeeves to make a quick cup of strong tea to help wake her up. There was a cake made with the sugar and other ingredients she now had available by the auto maids, in which she ate a small slice for the sugar boost and ran to jump into one of the waiting helibots. "Go go go!" she said as it took off over the gates and headed after the convoy going to Gold Pine with all props spinning, immediately using Blitzkrieg to speed up the convoy. "ETA three minutes" she heard from Jorge as the SF helibots could be seen in her Hud, little markers against the night sky due to them being almost completely invisible even without cloaking. As they set down and people were pulled out carefully to not hurt them, small rations were provided along with blankets and medical aide. The whole town was waking up as they came out to see what was going on, with two hundred fifty people being air lifted to their location.

An emergency tent hospital was set up, followed by the most fortunate being brought in by Moira who was still groggy and almost stumbling. APCs rolled in, dropped their doors with crates opened with food. Selene brought maid autos with her to help ease the crying kids and handed out teddy bears and small toys to keep them occupied. Security was set up at the town road entrance. "What can I do to help" the mayor said as he came up behind Selene half asleep. "Uh, grab those blankets, we gotta get this woman into the hospital, she's going into labor." Turnie rolled inside to take charge of the hospital with the auto docs assisting, with pain killers provided. The dev ran to people who still had cuts and bruises, with so many of them crying and thanking the automatons and her for rescuing them. Whatever fear they might have had at the beginning was completely gone, as the automated army got them to safety… to hope.

"Alright, they've got malnutrition, keep them from wolfing down those rations right now, they could die from eating too much." Some of the people had their food forcibly taken from them, almost seeming cruel as the auto docs checked on each patient while cots were set up in spare tents. The total time to get everything ready was maybe a half hour at the most. The children were confused but at least in better shape with the toys and healing provided, but were confused when they were being helped by the maids, with some of them getting candy that was made by Jeeves for Selene. Given she told them to use whatever to calm them down and take their mind off things, it worked perfectly once they got some sweets. The woman who was in labor gave birth after another three hours, just as dawn started to break. Selene was exhausted taking care of these people, but she didn't do it alone. The entire town was out trying to help, with her military aiding and protecting. The new baby girl was going to be named Mirai; it meant "miracle."

 _I don't believe it, I just did what FEMA does._

"I've never seen anything like those soldiers" "Those… things… they saved our lives…" She kept hearing the people whisper to each other. "Those are her soldiers right there, our Empress." Some started to ask about her as she moved from one tent to another. "She's an empress? What happened?" "Gold Pine isn't part of the Artinian kingdom anymore, they declared war on us because we couldn't pay the taxes. She's taken over, she's incredible." The refugees were watching her, now getting more information due to their time in the caves. "Glass Dale is… gone? Our homes… our… our families… friends…" one woman started crying as she realized everything she had was gone. "Please, don't let them touch me again, I'm begging you!" another screamed as she held onto her son, who probably had to watch things being done to her by bandits. Traumatized citizens of the Artinian kingdom were sitting in her lands, with the now dead army not even caring if there were survivors from Glass Dale.

"Should we tell them they are technically citizens of our enemy?" Jorge asked quietly to Selene. "No, that won't do any good, probably scare them even more. We'll tell them their homes are gone, but they can make a new life here if they want, or we can transport them near any towns or cities they wish to live at, give them a small purse of coin to start up. It's the best we can do. At least here they can get some help with their traumatizing experience." As the people calmed down and daybreak arrived with the sun coming up, all of them safe and at least somewhat healthier with slowly provided food and water, she stood with the mayor in front of the tents.

"Listen up! There's an announcement to make. You are currently in Gold Pine Township, under the protection of her Divine Majesty Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. Your homes are gone, Glass Dale is in shambles. You have two choices once you are well enough to move on your own, with those being to stay here and start a new life; you may think that Glass Dale had many shops, many opportunities for jobs. Gold Pine has far more to offer you, if you give it a chance and help it build. If you do not wish to stay, the alternative is our majesty has allowed transportation to any other town or city for you to start anew. A small amount of coin is generously being provided by her highness if you choose to leave to help you in that new life or if you wish to be here, among a new community, among friends."

There was almost dead silence as everyone listened to the mayor speaking, with Selene sitting down in a chair, trying to stay awake. Jorge came up quietly and draped a blanket around her, which she was grateful for. "I have a question" one man asked. "Yes, go ahead." "Why didn't Artinia come to save us? No soldiers arrived, no protection, and without them no hope!" the mayor sighed. "We are no longer part of Artinia. They have betrayed the citizens that worked so hard to fill their purses without care for our needs, let alone our wants. The Artinian kingdom declared war on us, a village that is now a town, because we wouldn't, couldn't, pay taxes to fill their coffers. Our majesty has done more for us in a few weeks than the Artinian kingdom did for us in decades. Join us and you can know what it's like to be under her rule. After all, her army was the one who saved you, when no one else would even lift a finger, they pulled you from death's door and brought you here to us, to care for you."

A child walked up to Jorge, looking to be no taller than halfway to his knee plate and looked up at him. He kneeled, with the child looking right into his light blue optics. The Super Medium didn't move, just rested his arm on his knee as they looked at each other.

 _Hearts and minds._

The boy touched at his "face" without receiving any retaliation from the massive automaton as the town watched. "Well that's a painting waiting to be made if I've ever seen one" Abby whispered to Giles, who nodded in agreement. By the start of the morning, with everyone so tired, the town was allowed some time off, a sort of holiday agreed upon by Selene and the mayor. Not one person that was saved wanted to go anywhere else but stay in Gold Pine, or if she managed to rebuild it, Glass Dale, if it was under her rule. Temporary homes were already planned beyond the tents, with permanent homes being marked by Abby and Stafinson on a crudely made map. "Hey Jorge, I think we're done here, I'm going to go back to the castle now to get some sleep." Jorge acknowledged and brought Bronze Team with them as they got into a helibot and flew back, making all the new refugees stare in awe.

"I'm going to need a flag symbol or something soon…" she weakly said as Selene laid down on a pillow in the helibot. "I can think of one thing that would look good" Ethan commented. "The inside of a clock" Turnie answered for him. She agreed, but her thoughts though were drifting not to cloth flapping in the wind, but maybe to a mechanical statue of gears and cogs turning for each town or city, Gold Pine and beyond. As they touched down inside the walls, the empress got out and headed to the house to her bedroom. The castle's palace wasn't complete yet, so her royal quarters weren't actually made. Until the next few floors were finished, it was going to be her little custom cottage house, although she could sleep in a guest room already built. "Get some sleep ma'am, you deserve it" Orlo spoke up as he floated just outside the door. "Yeah, after coordinating that, I feel like I could sleep the whole day away." She yawned and stretched as she closed the door and went upstairs, the wolves blinking at her as they wondered where she had gone. "Back to bed for me guys, I'm sleeping in today." They lowered their heads and stretched out, enjoying the extra time to snooze with their alpha.

Before she fell asleep, she opened her character sheet and noticed she received two levels from that entire event, now a level 40. She threw all forty skill points into Strategy and Tactics, raising it to 53 percent. There were no stat or skill potions used in the past few days, as she didn't want to have an upset stomach while trying to build her castle. The twenty attribute points went into Molecular Reformation Crafting Time to help improve the speed at which she could get things built; given what she was going to have to do soon after the castle and Gold Pine, it seemed the most logical thing to invest in. She was going to rebuild Glass Dale, along with giant walls in front of Gold Pine and another before the road from the ruined town. Any traders traveling down that road would be well protected.

She received an ability for reaching a much higher skill level for Strategy and Tactics, "Time for Heroes," which allowed any of her forces to once a day double in levels, stats, skills and equipment capability for one hour if they are defending a location.

The speed of how she had dealt with the issue through the night, getting supplies rapidly produced and brought to the town in a few minute's notice along with helping save each life had given a decent chunk of experience and knowledge of what to do with situations like that. It also provided her some self-confidence. She didn't need to be on the front lines, she needed to be in command, leading her forces to a new beginning. One with the Artinian kingdom not running things, where the people had some real hope for once.


	15. Ch 14 Unknown Force

_**20th, October**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Peacefully Drowning)**_

King Teiyan Erelius II sat watching the scene in front of his throne in enjoyment as he draped his legs over the side of the seat, his purple cloak falling off the other side and part of his silk robe open. Multiple pillows were placed under his blonde short haired head with a small table set next to him, a glass of wine with aged cheese and grapes ready for him to taste. His blue eyes watched as two combatants fought each other down the steps from the throne, one of them being a woman. The man was wearing full plate armor with a long sword and metal shield, while the woman… had barely some padded armor and a short sword with a buckler. She was cut up pretty badly, with the blood already proving who was winning.

The female warrior was at a clear disadvantage as she kept trying to defend against the strikes from the male soldier. A quick strike to the back of her left leg cut her hamstring, with a scream erupting from her lips. He grabbed her head and knocked her sword away from her as she tried to break away from the assault in vain. That's when he stuck his finger into one of her eyes. An ear-piercing scream erupted from her throat from the pain as he then ripped her chest armor off, exposing her to the few men watching the show. "I can already see who is going to win this fight, so please, do as you wish with the loser and dispose of her body carefully, I don't want to see another stain on these floors the next time."

The king got up and yawned a little, then left the throne room of his palace, just in the middle of Aureos, the imperial city of Artinia. As he left the room, he could hear the sounds of the woman being abused and laughter from the men, his own mouth curling in a smile. He liked rewarding the victors for their ruthlessness. "Your majesty, a word if I may be allowed" a man said standing near a door with his hand over his chest, black leather armor with engravings covering the different pieces, a long sword and dagger at his hip with a silver wolf's head as the pommel for both. His hair was brown and slicked back, with a full beard and two piercings in his right eyebrow. "You may speak Rogas, though I am heading for my harem right now." He continued walking with two slaves holding his long cloak as Rogas followed.

"I… have news of the army we sent to Gold Pine." Teiyan waved his hand nonchalantly in the air and rolled his eyes. "Have they finished destroying that pathetic place or are they so stupid they got lost?" he asked. "They're… um… they're all dead your highness. Not one of them survived." Teiyan stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, two maid slaves standing at a corner with their heads down, their bodies partly exposed. His young face, no more than eighteen, screwed up in anger. "Who." Rogas backed off a tiny bit. "We don't know your highness. There were no traces of the enemy, no bodies. We're… not yet sure what weapons they even used." The king growled, turned and raised his hand to backhand someone; instead of Rogas, he hit one of the maids. She squeaked as she turned her small face, a large welt showing on her cheek, a mark from one of his rings as well.

"Find out who it was and end them! I… this… this might be who I think it is who did this." Teiyan waggled a finger in the air as he started to think about who could have had the power to wipe out five thousand men. It couldn't have been Gold Pine, they were a bunch of dirt diggers with no defenses, completely on their own. Not even a group of adventurers could have defeated an army of five thousand strong. "It very well could be them" another voice rang out around the corner as another man walked out wearing a mixture of banded plate and leather etched with different symbols. His hair was salt and pepper colored and cut with a slick back undercut style, his mustache curled upwards and waxed with a large goatee with a white streak down the middle. "Nevil, it gets very annoying when you sneak around the corners like that around me." Nevil walked up with his hands behind his back. "My apologies my king. I'll endeavor to stop doing so in the future."

The three men continued to walk as the maid did her best to hold back her tears. As they continued around the corner, the blonde-haired man gave a cursory glance backwards. "If it is them, we-" Nevil interrupted. "We've received notice. We can now gain possession of the artifact." The king stopped and turned slowly around. "Nevil…" Teiyan said with a cold smile. "My apologies your highness, I will never interrupt you again." They started walking again. "Are you sure the Siren's Song bombs will work?" the young king asked. "I assure you, your majesty, they have been seen and function as the stories foretold."

The king stepped up to a set of double doors as they were opened for him, inside was an orgy ready to start with Teiyan as the main benefactor of pleasure. "Then you better get to work on gaining those little things to stop those lost wretches once and for all." The king entered with hands reaching up at his legs while he unrobed, with the doors closing. "Can we be sure the bombs will work? They were only used on slaves; how would we know if they could function against… them?" Rogas asked. "They will work for one reason. They look like us; they can act like us, and if the stories are true, they can breed like us if need be. That tells me these will work on their temptations." Both members of the Ghost's Ash division, the assassins and scouts of the Artinian kingdom walked briskly down the hallway and out of the palace.

"So, we capture them, yes?" Rogas asked as he stepped down the steps after his commander. "What, just to have pathetic spawn bred out of them? No, our project is reaching fruition thanks to our majesty's connection to… her. I still can't believe he was able to make contact with the summon." Rogas looked around at the guards as they patrolled the grounds. "Do you think the project will be a success?" Nevil stopped and took a breath. "Did you not read the notes I sent you or are you so pathetic your puny brain couldn't grasp what they mean? Imagine the strength of a team of those! She was helpful indeed in figuring out how to turn them into those… creatures. I only hope our king has enough control over her to stop all of the blood from our people being spilled to sate their lust for power. There have been too many sacrifices already to nourish her." A guard kicked a slave and proceeded to beat her while she was on the ground for some reason or another. He didn't stop until she was no longer moving.

Both men left the premises and walked through the streets of Aureos, through the market and towards their waiting horses. The market had all manner of items, drugs, slaves, food, even some "magical" weapons, if they could be called that. The enchanting was strong due to the wizard's academy stationed in the corner of the city, but most of the magical enchantments were still far too pricey for what was offered. A little extra luck, sharper edges, unending durability even seemed to be the standard. Very few items stood out, not like the Crimson Rose sword that Nevil had at his hip. It had the special magical effect of draining the lifeforce of an enemy pierced by it and feeding it into himself, even if he wasn't hurt, increasing his health and stamina each time. Given he was the leader of the assassins in Artinia, that was quite often.

"Are we heading immediately to the rendezvous site?" Rogas asked as he saw some rather beautiful high elven slaves chained to a board, bruises and small cuts on their legs with scraps for clothing. All elves seemed to have an unnatural beauty to them, some well beyond even the most gorgeous human woman. His lecherous thoughts were cut short as Nevil mounted and pointed at him. " _You_ are going to the rendezvous point, I am heading back to headquarters and seeing if I can get the rest of the men ready. Once everything is prepared, we will supply and await a chance to use those bombs. Do not lose them or I will have your head on a pike!" he ordered as he rammed the spikes of his heels into the haunches of his horse and pulled on the reins, turning it and charging out of the huge city.

"I'll do as you say." Rogas brought his hand to his chest in salute, then got on his own horse. He had a package to receive.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Selene had spent the past six days working on installing fortified walls cutting across the Azaltos Mountains and Boramar Mountains to protect Gold Pine and seal the road from Glass Dale. Once a trader got through the main gates of the wall near Glass Dale, they were one hundred percent safe for the rest of the trip to Gold Pine, with a freely provided escort the entire way. The road was improved from a well-worn path to concrete with a secondary path to the side for horses without horseshoes. The path up through the Azaltos Mountains was found and had a wall built to protect against anyone who would try and attack from the rear. There were a few other paths that lead up to the mountainside, but none of them crossed over into the Mirian Valley. Military patrols were a welcome sight for the citizens of Gold Pine, with Security holding the walls much further out, letting the townsfolk do their own thing while they were protected. A minor goal of hers later was, once Glass Dale was rebuilt, install something no one here has ever seen along that path between both towns. She was going to build a railroad system. That would increase travel speed by multiple orders of magnitude, also allowing her to rapidly move from place to place without teleportation, or her citizens.

The Empress had found out something new about the security models compared to the military models. At first, she thought they were a better grade of automaton that just did everything better, but the security models had a drastically improved efficiency when working behind fortifications, easily having pin point accuracy when on walls or using any sort of turret or mortar. Their defensive ratings increased immensely as well, making sure that if they had the chance to build up a fort, they were almost uncrackable by any force. Military did far better while mobile, allowing a compliment to the security forces, being a yin and yang of each other. Military fought, security made sure there were places to come back to after the fight. The civilian models were very good at keeping the castle grounds taken care of and clean, with the automaton maids being considered attractive by the townsfolk of Gold Pine before they were recalled back to the castle.

Each maid automaton had two spindly legs that looked like a ballerina dancing on their high heeled toes, with anti-gravity fields emitting to help them float when not standing in one spot, making them look like fairies moving from place to place. Though they were made of metal, the features were pleasing to the eye and calming when they spoke, asking if she ever needed any assistance. They never needed to sleep, always working diligently to keep the area clean, her clothes washed and folded, food prepared at a moment's notice. Now that the castle was complete, it was awe inspiring, being twenty-five stories tall and showing almost entirely white marble or silver and gold etching into the paneling. Most rooms had an almost velvet carpet installed, with royal furniture finally crafted and placed meticulously by Jeeves himself commanding the butlers. The throne room had high columns raising fifty feet tall, with hidden defenses if anyone attempted to attack the empress. In the event of an emergency, the cylindrical panels dropped open from the columns revealing auto turrets and tesla pylons, with the whole area having built into forcefield systems and a personal shield emission system around the raised throne. The throne itself was huge, made of constantly moving gears and cogs with a glass paneling overlay, large plush seating installed with spare pillows readily available and a raised foot rest. There were even ornithopter vents in the walls that could constantly pump in spare aerial forces.

There was a red carpet leading to the entrance of the throne room, heading down the dual staircase entwining a circular room and heading outside to the main courtyard, with a second set of staircases moving down to a large garden of roses bushes and hedges. Beyond that, reinforced gates that led to a marble bridge arcing over a man-made river with some fish and lily pads inside, well filtered to keep the water clean for the little creatures. A marble gazebo was at the end of the bridge with a large table surrounded by chairs, allowing sunshine to filter through for morning or afternoon tea time, or maybe breakfast. There were hallways branching off in six directions under the staircases in the circular entryway, with one allowing multiple guest rooms, the second heading to another small courtyard with a varied garden beyond roses and a tree purposely grown for shade, the third hallway heading towards one of the kitchens of the palace. The fourth hallway led towards the library that was currently empty, along with a music room and "party room" for balls to be thrown if she ever felt like it. The sixth hallway wrapped around the palace, allowing further connection to many other areas. The top three floors were like this, with the remainder sealed off from anyone else as personal space for the empress, either for her own use or for potential future personnel. Though it was a lot of space for one person to have, she didn't care, as if she was going to be an empress, the palace was going to be grand.

The whole thing was massive in scale, with constant assistance in what should be placed where by a brand new Super Civilian model Constructor automaton she decided to name Juliet. "She" oversaw all construction for the castle, expansion, and even helped control the Drillers for the mine, working on architecture for her building teams for towns and cities as well. Multiple other mines were now opened throughout the West side of the valley, which had her command the drones working in them. Her alter ego, "Romeo" was a Super Military Combat Engineer in control of all military installations that would soon be built, including the new airstrip, about to become an airport if the need arose. Bi planes were used through the skies to ward off any potential attacks from over the mountains, despite there being no known hostiles detected anywhere nearby due to the new scanner towers installed in the mountains, guarded by small platoons of Military Lights and SAM systems. The missiles were basically upgraded spider mines with fin control, making them deadly for everything dragon and below. They would probably take out anything even beyond a dragon, but she didn't know of anything that large beyond future airships she wanted to make.

Gold Pine had started to get used to the improvements that were being planned for their larger town, with the roads cleaned up a little more, lamps installed everywhere, a fire department set up, hospital built and the general store upgrading to three floors. There was even a dentist and barber now open. Faucets were now installed with Unending Flow, with an after system attached. The unlimited water came from something that looked like a garbage disposal, not the actual faucet, allowing a heating unit to be installed above the piping for washing dishes. All torch sconces were replaced with oil lamps throughout the town. Of all the townsfolk, two were taught how to cast Nutrient Replenisher due to a light affinity to magic. They wouldn't be magicians, but they could at least help the rest of the farmers, greatly increasing the yields of vegetables and wheat, even Flax for linen clothing. The quality of the linen wasn't anywhere near what Selene could make, but it was getting better with some of the refugee women from Glass Dale now opening a sewing shop. The bathhouse was enjoyed by everyone, keeping hygiene taken care of, along with pantries added to each house that were fully sealed. They wouldn't keep things cold or hot, but they did keep rats out… which became very rare given the little group of lightning mines hiding away, ready to fry some rodents when they showed their little heads.

The two openings in Boramar Mountains and Azaltos Mountains were being scouted for potential sites to build a naval shipyard. Having some steampunk frigates and destroyers roaming around was going to be interesting for the dev, even some cruisers and battleships if she wanted to make a few. The thought had occurred to her that she could make aircraft carriers, allowing overwhelming force projection from the ground, air and sea. Between airships, aircraft carriers and X Heavy autos, which she was working on getting to but hadn't yet reached its predecessor, there wasn't much of a chance for anything to fight back, let alone a middle ages kingdom. If she threw all of her time into building a massive army, there was a very real possibility of taking over the whole world and even beyond. That thought process would have to wait, as there was no guarantee there were other kingdoms that acted like the people were nothing but dirt. There had to be some governments out there that cared about their citizens.

"Almost done with the fitting" Jeeves said as he put another pin into the clothing Selene was wearing in front of three standing mirrors. The dress wasn't being made for any real purpose, just seeing what could work for a varied wardrobe. She was going to need to start looking the part of an Empress and not some trader or warrior. While her clothes before did let her blend in with the residents at the town, now she needed to look like a true ruler. She finally got around to upgrading to Elite quality tier for equipment, which also went for clothing. Her standard look was that of light banded plate scale mail chest plate that was gold bronze polished, but underneath it was a composite mixture of Steel Tungsten alloy. While the armor was relatively light, it still could keep up with hard strikes against any paneling, which was where the tungsten came into play. Under that was a layer of ceramics with a heavily padded piece underneath made of fine fur and cotton with a silk trim, making it feel very comfortable to move in. The top of the chest wrapped around her neck like a halter top. The chest piece had a matching plated skirt that had a small drape at the crotch guard, with black shorts underneath. Meeting just above the knees were a pair of black stockings with similar gold bronze plate thigh high boots with medium heels and spacers on the edges for better balance.

The pauldrons were sloped and slightly angled with gears and cogs etched into them, a few small gems found where carved and embedded on the edges. To compliment them, black arm gloves were worn with gold bronze plated gauntlets reaching up to her elbows. To wear on her head, there was an open skull helmet that flowed along the sides, with a visor sticking out the front that half of which also locked down and acted as a face mask. All of it was enchanted heavily with health increases, dodge, block, parry, movement speed, stamina and even regeneration and rejuvenation. She had found a trick she could use, given she didn't want to look too ostentatious in front of others, which was to install rings inside the gauntlets themselves, along with rings attached to touch panels in the boots for her toes. All combined, along with three amulets installed into the chest piece, she had thirty-two parts to her armor set, all of which were Elite tier, the same equivalent to high tier for Yggdrasil. Her rings were crafted with resistances in mind, then enchanted with more resistances to magic. With all of them combined, her magic resistance for all forms of attack were at five hundred percent, well over two immunities worth. If there was a spell that could naturally cut through immunity or resistance, it would cancel out the first one, but the second immunity would kick in after, nullifying the spell. She didn't know how high a tier the people on this world had from Yggdrasil, but she knew of some spells that ignored those defenses. Divine Apocalypse features were allowing these high resistances thankfully.

Her amulets were crafted with armor rating increase in mind, with enchanting following the same mindset. While there were certain attacks that would hurt due to no Attribute Points being spent on Pain Tolerance or the health bar, she'd survive without much issue. Her stats were already increased by ten percent across the board due to Elite quality, with modifications she was adding providing some bonuses to the stat boosts. Her crafting of the armor allowed all sorts of different things to be done to it, with hardening done to the plating, enhancing, imprinting the armor to her now that it was a stat boosting armor, which allowed her to improve stats by another three percent. The armor was custom fitted to her as well, nullifying all mobility penalties she might have had with any previous armor. Her earrings when wearing the suit were created to provide a polarizing armor effect, making most metals naturally deflect from hitting her, melee weapon or otherwise. While it wasn't perfect, it did add to dodge, parry and block capability, making it somewhat difficult to land a straight blow to her.

To top it off, there was a thin film she was able to research that allowed immunity to tier one spells. While she didn't know if that would work on Arcanic's Wizardry spells, she somehow had a feeling there weren't any other people who knew those in this world, given she had seen a few traders casting Yggdrasil spells along with that wizard she had killed from the bandit army. She was hopeful in further research projects to figure out how to block tier two and tier three spells as well, potentially getting up to the tenth tier, or even super tier. The capability to ignore some of those would make her feel a lot safer, especially Reality Slash. The film was already being inserted into the frames of the automatons, even the Civilian models and maids. It wouldn't stop much right now, but it was better than nothing, with the armor still doing most of the work. Her Heavy Armor skill was at fifty percent, providing a boost to defense while wearing anything considered heavy; even though the armor she had created was light banded plate scale mail, it still fell into the heavy range.

"Your majesty, we have a bit of problem" she heard through coms as she continued being fitted for her lounging clothing. She already had a silk robe made up for her, along with slippers and comfortable pajamas, but now she needed something that didn't intimidate or make her look like she just woke up. There were going to be three different attires at the start, with far more clothing options later as she got the chance to see designs and styles throughout the continent; there were simple sets of clothing she could use to bum around in as well. The three attires right now were casual, professional, and ball gown, with the ball gown probably never being worn. The professional was going to be a skirt and blouse with flat heeled shoes, a tiara and earrings with a necklace and two rings. She didn't really like wearing a crown and given the fact she didn't have enough gems just yet to craft one that would make most kings cry tears of joy, it was on the back burner. Juliet had already found a decent spot to drill down, finding a few rubies along the way.

"What's the problem Jorge" she asked plainly as Jeeves put another clothes pin to hold a fold. "Gold Pine has something odd happening. Miners just came back carrying some injured from Azaltos Mountains, said something… someone attacked them. Ten in total, the hostiles left after scaring them. One of the miners might not make it, he's been pretty cut up… update on that, he just past away." Despite Jorge not breathing, she could hear an audible sigh from him. "Wait, what? What about the hospital? The auto docs? Surely, they could have stopped that from happening? Where's Turnie? We've got combat medics in both security and military, what are my drones doing? Why didn't they respond to the attack?" she asked, confused as all hell.

"There was something blocking healing from happening, it wasn't poison we know that much. Orlo is looking into it, his theory is it might be a strong curse of some kind originating from somewhere. They did what they could to bandage them up, but in the end, we have at least one casualty. By the time the QRF reached the mine, the hostiles were gone." That got Selene worried. "Where are they mining? Did they hit a ceremonial burial site or something? Did you guys see anything roaming around? I haven't received a single report from the military patrols that anything was around to do that." Ethan chimed in. "Your highness, there's been no sight of anything hostile throughout the valley. Whatever this is, it came in fast and hit hard, then disappeared. We think we might have some spots to investigate, but it's going to take a little time." The dev acknowledged with a sigh. "Keep me in the loop on what you find. Until we figure this out, the miners aren't to go near their tunnels, understood?" Both acknowledged. "Oh, and one more thing. Unless speaking in public, stop with the majesty and highness bullshit. This is just us talking. Ma'am is fine." Jorge acknowledged and cut coms.

 _Damn it. We just had six days of nothing happening, things were getting better around here. No armies coming to retaliate or search, no brigands, mimics are wiped out in the valley, no disease. Now suddenly this. I wonder what the hell attacked them?_

Jeeves finished placement of all needles and clothes pins and helped her get undressed. "I'll have the clothing ready for you by the end of the day your majesty." She thanked him and put on some cotton run arounds, then walked off out of the room and headed towards the treasury vault. There were six Military Heavies guarding the door, with heavy auto turrets that looked more like a tank's gun mount. The armor paneling for them now had magnetorheological layering added, with a brand-new layer of Titanium Tungsten alloy as the standard material used. Combined with the other defenses installed, polarizing armor, sonic defenses, microwave emitters and even Foucault current systems just to name a few, and it was surprisingly difficult to harm them. They even had reactive armor plating installed. While there was no energy shielding quite just yet, it was coming. Testing showed long rod penetrator shells couldn't punch through the armor paneling with all defenses on, couldn't even come within a foot before most of it was slapped away or destroyed.

The main gun for the auto turret was a 40mm Autocannon, not the thing she had previously used to fire grapeshot at bandits, but a fully auto Vulcan cannon that could potentially be used as the spinal mount for old fighter jets used for close air support and anti-tank combat. They used specially hardened armor piercing and magic piercing ammunition with hardness rating on the Mohs Scale of roughly 12 specially researched, with an absolute hardness of well over 2500, causing the barrels to have limited anti-gravity fields so they wouldn't just fall apart from the bullets flying out and shredding the metal. If they fired, there was a good chance the solid walls behind her would be vaporized, along with anything standing between the walls and the bullets. The vault opened for her, detecting her as the creator immediately, allowing entrance to the huge open cavern that was the treasury. The ceiling reached up to roughly one hundred meters, but it wasn't the height that mattered in here, but the number of floors going down. There was an entire extra palace below ground set just for the coin she had access to now, with no piles of money, just small vaults with organized cases and coin slots. The treasury could be easily expanded as needed, with a new project already being researched to spatially dilate the floors, allowing "condensing" of space to make it larger than it really was.

 _This place is gonna turn into the Tardis. It'll be bigger on the inside!_

What she knew she had right now was well over one hundred thousand gold, with another five thousand platinum; some silver and copper was also available when needed. All her coin was completely replaced with newly minted ones, with the workings of a clock stamped onto each one. The quality was quite a bit better than the old currency used, harder and more difficult to chip or damage. While in her head it might be interesting to insert paper currency to the economy, she doubted the citizens of the Clockwork Empire would take to it very well until there was a far larger populace, and a banking system governmentally controlled. Gold Pine had its currency changed to her own now, given they were her subjects. The coins could be injected into her inventory at any moment, so there was no real need to go down into the treasury unless she was checking on artifacts or special objects stored down here.

As she walked towards a certain brand-new dais, the latch system unlocked at her presence and allowed the Orb of Experiences to float above it with help from an anti-gravity field. "Alright… let's see just how much you've built up these past… few… days… whoa…" she trailed off as her eyes stared at the orb. There was a new color building up from the bottom, a deep blue that couldn't decide if it was going to be a fine powder or a carbonated liquid, so it looked like both at the same time. As her Hud scanned the object, her eyes widened in surprise. Every drone that was working right now was connected to it, excluding the Supers as they weren't drones and had personality cores. Her Civilian models were working in the farms, mines and constantly cleaning or building or taking care of her, the Security Models were patrolling the walls and maintaining watch over her castle as well as Gold Pine and the road down, the Military models were mobilized and moving throughout the valley, trying to find targets to eliminate, with Honor Guard… standing in the Throne room looking good or placed throughout the castle to guard. The amount of experience and action points the thing was carrying due to their actions was… astounding.

The total number of experience it had was well in excess of two hundred levels easily due to the number of things all the automatons did. Even combat for the drones was deemed higher exp compared to the constant trickle from the Drillers and Woodcutters. The Action Points could easily make her hit another five tech tiers right now without even trying, probably more towards seven or eight. The next normal tech tier was Pre-Atomic Age, which was pretty much World War II level technology. Having drone versions of a P-51D Mustang flying around or mixtures of war planes steampunked would be amazing as a replacement to her bi planes. While bi planes would still have a nice use for scouting and light reconnaissance, the turbo props would be damned effective in the sky against any aerial threat, with potential to even bypass those and adding early jet fighters like the Gloster Meteor.

All of that could be ignored if she just shot right by it and used all the Action Points, but she felt really weird when she teched up more than once in a day. That worried her, as so much information was being pushed into her head that for all she knew, it could cause brain damage if she teched up too fast. It was probably a safety and control measure to keep her from going up the tech ladder; if she tried too hard, she'd get light headed or maybe black out. She had shot up multiple tech tiers at the beginning, but there wasn't much to really learn at the time, and it was the start of the tech tree. Now, it seemed like a good idea to limit it to one tech up a day, maybe every two days. Given she was already a 1st world power, Selene could afford to take it a little slower. The same effect applied to leveling though, except it seemed to have a higher ceiling before bad effects happened. The bandit army had made her shoot up thirteen levels, which after the battle had made her need to rest and fatigued her immensely. The dev thought it was just fighting at night and her circadian rhythm was telling her to sleep, but there might have been something else telling her to settle down. Given the orb was her new way of gaining levels, going up by five levels each day seemed doable, with ten probably pushing it. If she went for fifteen, there might be another resting day required, despite her stamina staying up and having her food and water bar full.

This could also be balanced with the Stat and Skill Potions she had available. Given the tiers, they seemed to cap out at eleven points per potion if using an Ultra tier. Unfortunately, she had just reached Very Large, which provided seven points from either one. In a sixteen-hour day, she could take one every hour for a total of one hundred twelve Skill Points or one hundred twelve Stat Points. Of the past six days, she spent two days drinking those potions and gained an equal amount of both. She dumped forty-seven Skill Points into Strategy and Tactics to get it to one hundred percent, receiving three abilities in the process, "Divide and Conquer," "Peace Through Superior Firepower" and "Golden Army."

Divide and Conquer added an aggro effect that could either pull an experienced army out of position to attack, ignoring their commanders due to blood lust for kills, or soften aggro and make an army focus on one direction, which was fantastic for pincer attacks or flanking maneuvers. Peace Through Superior Firepower drastically increased the damage of all combat forces under her command by two hundred percent for two hours, along with bypassing immunities and resistances to standard attacks. There could be a super wizard out there that wouldn't need anti-magic rounds fired at him or her if they went up against her army, or trolls wouldn't need acid or fire rounds. The cooldown for it seemed to be forty-eight hours. Golden Army seemed to be an odd one, as it didn't do anything until some of her forces were damaged or destroyed. It would auto repair them even from a completely destroyed state, rebuilding the army back to fighting capability, even from melted down parts and pieces. It could be used once per twenty-four-hour period. While it was powerful, it didn't look like it would come into use much given the strength of her forces. If she kept upgrading their materials, weapons, modules and modifications along with research, they wouldn't take much damage to begin with.

She put another fifty points into Alchemy, gaining the abilities "Lead into Gold", "Philosopher's Stone" and "Fast Reaction." Lead into Gold allowed a limited conversion of one material into another without the need of the converters, but with a twist. It would only convert to a better-quality tier of the material used, regardless of the amount. The advantage was it was always an equal conversion, with no loss compared to the converters in her inventory, despite them getting better with upgrades. Philosopher's Stone seemed to allow transmogrification of stats in any consumable or even her equipment, however, it was a random roll of the dice on what it would improve, always defaulting to the original stat or number provided if it rerolled the number too low. This could mean she'd use an Ultra Skill Potion, and instead of gaining eleven points, she could instead get twenty? Thirty? The main issue was the stone could only be used once per week, with only one allowed, a second one produced would make the first one crumble. It also only worked on one item, as in not the schematic. If she used it on a skill potion, it worked only on that one skill potion, not the stack she would create.

Fast Reaction removed the indigestion effects of most consumables as they were absorbed instantly, excluding Upgrade Potions like Stats and Skills. This meant she could down multiple health potions without any ill effects, but it seemed a little low end as a one hundred percent skill passive ability due to healing being widely abundant now via spells and automatons, including Turnie. Regardless, it did mean she could fully heal or regenerate any of her bars without issue if she somehow managed to get interrupted or if her pain tolerance wasn't up to snuff. She threw her last fifteen points into Logistics, but oddly enough didn't receive a new ability. Given she had gained five the last time, it stood to reason it frontloaded the whole thing with one final ability added later. This changed things around, as now she had skills that would give an ability every twenty points, skills that didn't give any abilities but gave huge boosts to things and now ones that gave everything at the beginning and just allowed the remainder to help as a normal booster.

Of her Stat Points, she spent sixty-five on Molecular Reformation's Control to provide near effortless use of the ability. She could easily use it no matter what now, without issue, without rest, instantly. Selene could just sit around in a chair and read while she fired it off and did whatever it was that she was attempting to do, moving one slab of a room to another like a jigsaw puzzle without caring or anything else. It also made firing off a defensive stalagmite or protecting herself with it as easy as breathing, just like casting a spell with no cooldown or restrictions. The empress threw another fifty into Molecular Reformation's Crafting Time, allowing easy piecing together of any buildings without another thought, or constructing spare equipment beyond her inventory. While it didn't sound that great to use anything other than her stations to build, it did allow rapid placement of homes if another refugee situation ever happened. Her final seventeen points she had right now went into Movement Speed, giving her a little more pep in her step. It wasn't a massive boost, but there would be a noticeable decrease it time from getting from one place to another… she also was getting a little weirded out by her automatons being able to dead sprint through the valley in record time while she had difficulty playing with the wolves, they were so fast.

She looked at the orb and sighed while deep in thought after closing her character sheet. "Ma'am, we may have a lead on where the miners were attacked from" Jorge reported over coms. Selene snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the ceiling. "Go ahead." Orlo started talking. "I may have found what looks to be… a temple. The place seems to be in disrepair, but there was movement in it not too long ago. I've got heat sources through an entrance in the middle, ten of them." The fact that Orlo was that efficient at picking out anything was a marvel of just how good he was at his support role. "Understood. Have you ventured into the temple?" Turnie spoke up. "We were wondering if you might want to take a look at it before we did anything. There's a path right up the side of the Azaltos mountains, just above the mine."

 _So… what… the miners were building a mine under the temple and some religious zealots attacked them due to it being right under their feet? It's not going to collapse the whole mountain down damn it or displease their gods._

"Alright, maybe we can talk to them and make them see reason. We're not destroying the temple, the mine is… I dunno how far down it is but it isn't touching the place." Jorge acknowledged and ended coms as she sighed and looked at the orb. "A quick use of it today, but I won't have time to set points until after." The empress touched the orb and focused on connecting to it, then drained the required amount of experience, and actions, required to level up five times and go up one tech tier. She was now level 45 and had a quick tech up that she completed… to Pre-Atomic. Tomorrow would be Super Steampunk maybe, but right now having an understanding of WWII era stuff to make steampunk versions of was the best thing she could do. Besides… she really wanted to play around with a P-51D Mustang.

Selene left the treasury vault, with the doors closing behind her. It took a little time to make her way to her royal bed chambers to change into some nonthreatening clothing. While it might be a good idea to wear her armor, she didn't want to be telling the ten people at that temple she was ready to fight, maybe they would understand they don't mean any harm to their religion and just want the ore deep below. It could be possible to play to their fervor by providing repair to their temple, given it was mostly ruins. As she finished with getting dressed yet again, she tied her hair back in an arcing ponytail then looked at herself in the mirrors. A simple blouse with leather pants and boots, some bracers and a brown belt. Nothing ostentatious, no jewelry. As much as it might be a bad idea to go in without much defense, she did have Bronze Team escorting her there, along with a contingent of military autos ready to swarm in nearby.

The dev headed downstairs to the courtyard and to the helipad for a waiting helibot. Riding Aster would take too long and trying to weave an APC up an unknown path could be dangerous for a large vehicle. Once she was airborne, she called Bronze Team and had them ready for pick up, then continued on to the coordinates that were provided. As soon as they touched down, she was able to get a good view of the surroundings. "These are… er… this is a Norse god temple… I didn't think something like this existed." Orlo floated nearby her. "The ruins seem to date at least six hundred years old, though show extensive disrepair. No one has taken care of this place in some time." Deacon looked at the damaged statue sitting behind an entrance in the middle. "It's definitely not in a good nick. You'd think these ratbags would be trying to fix up their home, not taking shots at the battlers down below."

"There's the entrance" Jorge said as they headed towards it and down. They moved silently as they tried to ascertain who these people were. Despite not wearing armor, she had cast all of her protection spells. As they entered a large rectangular room, the torches lit up by themselves showing support columns spaced throughout, with a mural of Norse mythology on the wall with runic language. "Not good" Ethan said as they got ready to be ambushed.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Atlantis)**_

What they saw immediately standing on a stairway from another direction were ten women in full battle armor with long skirts standing spaced out on the steps. "So, more of you vermin coming in here after we tried to scare you away from the hole you were digging out from under us." Selene made Bronze Team lower their weapons and one woman in the back stood at the top of the stairs. "Look, we don't want to fight, we're here to talk. Why did you attack my citizens?" she asked.

The woman peered down at her. "Your… citizens? My sisters, we have a so-called queen here!" some of them laughed. "Empress actually." The rest of them laughed hard at that. "There is no discussion found here. Your people were attempting to harm the very foundation of this temple, this home of the All Father."

 _Wait, All Father? ODIN?!_

"Um, they're not trying to damage any foundation, there's nothing down there other than metal ore, they're also digging down and-" the woman at the top took one step down the staircase. "Leave this place mortal, unless you wish to offer your prayers up to him. Stand their gawking and we as his battle maidens will end you."

 _VALKYRIES?! REAL VALKYRIES?!_

Standing before Selene were ten Valkyries, the real ones, not a job class from Yggdrasil. These were the women who took dead heroes to Valhalla as Einherjar or to Freya. She activated her scanning in her Hud and saw their level, 100, which might not be reliable given they served Norse gods. They were immensely powerful warrior women, probably immortal given they were living here and not aging. "I'm not gawking, I was hoping we might be able to come to an understanding. They aren't trying to harm your temple, we didn't even know about it until you attacked them. Why would I want to destroy a historical site? It's actually quite beautiful, even if a little run down." Three of them stepped forward readying their weapons. The middle one raised a hand for them to stop. "You insult, and yet you praise. This temple was for those who wished to become Einherjar, not some little garden to primp and fawn over by a little ruler like yourself."

"Getting tired of her propping up her ego" Deacon said over coms. "Then is there a way to stop the attacks? Can't we come to an agreement? There must be something we can do to fix the situation, we don't have to be enemies at all. I mean… I thought Valkyries-" she was interrupted. "Valkyrja human, do not taint our very being with your pathetic mispronunciations." She corrected herself. "My apologies, um… might I ask of your name? I feel like I'm also doing a disservice for not being able to say it."

The Valkyrja walked down the steps and stood in front of her, easily seven feet tall and towering over Selene, but nowhere near the size of Jorge. "My name is Sigrun, I lead the last ten of Valkyrja after Ragnarök." That made her blood go cold. Ragnarök was supposed to destroy Earth.

 _No no no, Earth isn't gone. It must be a mistake. This must be the world that went through Ragnarök and that's why no one comes here after six hundred years._

"So Ragnarök has already come to pass? Here?" she asked. "A simple creature you are. Is it so difficult to understand? The final battle has happened; however, this world has healed after some time due to the last vestiges of power from Odin. We were sent here to watch over this temple until the gods come back."

 _If Ragnarök did happen like she said it did, then the gods are dead. No one is coming here. It's a lost religion, they'd just sit up here waiting for nothing for the next millennium, many millenniums even. They're forgotten. Odin probably sent them here as a last chance to save at least some of them from death, or as protectors to help cultivate the world. Their orders might have been lost somehow, like playing telephone._

"Did he give you direct instructions to watch over the temple or the world? I'm just asking to understand what's happening, apologies." Sigrun sighed. "We stay here and watch, ready to bring strong warriors, living or dead, to Odin once he comes back. The dead will go to Valhalla once it is rebuilt, with the living ruling over the weak of this world with his blessing." The empress thought on that for a moment. "So, two people come to fight at this temple and decide who is stronger? The victor assumes a place of power?" Sigrun seemed to be getting annoyed explaining things to her. "Yes, if that is how it works for your little brain, two are brought here to show their true warrior spirit. None have come in some time though." She seemed a little distraught about that, her face softening slightly. They might be worried they were forgotten, cast aside and not worth anyone's time.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Back to what we were talking about, is there some way I can come to an agreement?" Another Valkyrja stepped forward, black long hair coming out of the back of her helmet. "Sigrun, why even talk to this woman who wants to burn your ears off and your patience? Just end her." Sigrun looked at her. "Hrist, is it not normal to teach the lowers so that they may soon remember the All Father and the reason they still exist?" Hrist grunted a little then stepped back, glaring at Selene. "You wish to come to an agreement?" Sigrun asked. Hrist, despite being another Valkyrja, was six foot four, smaller than Sigrun, but still quite a bit taller than the empress.

"Yes, maybe we can settle something so that the miners can continue their work. They're not trying to harm anything, just working to make a living." Sigrun looked behind her at all the other women standing. "Will you do anything required?" she asked, a slight glint in her eye. Selene looked between all of the faces staring at her. "Uh, I'll do what I can to protect my people, that's for sure." A slight smile crept up on Sigrun's lips. "Then acknowledge the rite of this temple." The empress looked confused.

"What does that mean?" Hrist now had a small grin on her face. "Acknowledge the rite of this temple and we will allow the "miners" to continue." Selene somehow had a bad feeling about this. "I… accept and acknowledge the rite of this temple then." The Valkyrja laughed but were silenced by their leader. "You have three days to prepare, as it seems you did not come here well equipped. It will be an interesting battle."

 _Wait, what._

"Battle? Wait… I… you want me to fight as a potential Einherjar?" she asked shocked. "Given there are no others here that meet the requirements of a human, I would say yes, you will fight." Selene was trying to figure out a way to get released from this rite. "I… can't fight, I don't… there's no opponent. I doubt there would be anyone who would wish to fight me down below anyways." She straightened up and nodded her head. It was possible she was the strongest person on this continent. "I will be her opponent Sigrun." Hrist stepped forward again, her eyes gleaming. Now that she was closer to the torch light, she was seeing that most of the battle maidens were quite beautiful, Hrist especially. There were stories of them having love affairs with strong warriors in history, or even some soldiers seeking them out. There was no way for her to know if those were true or not.

"You want me to fight a Valkyrja? I can't… there's no way." She'd be annihilated. Hrist was a bringer of the slain to a god, she probably wasn't even capable of dying like a human. "So, you refuse? Perhaps the miners would accept the punishment then? Or your town?" that hit hard. If she refused, the miners would be killed instead of her, or the townsfolk, close to four hundred lives. "Can I choose a champion instead?" she asked. The Valkyrja laughed at her. "Are you so pathetic that you need someone else to fight for you? Maybe hold your hand when you walk down a difficult street? The answer is no. If you do not fight, then there might as well be armies, which suits us just fine. We've been waiting for some practice" Sigrun said. These women didn't discriminate between soldier and civilian, they were willing to kill defenseless townsfolk.

"What is your answer? You accepted the rite; do you shame yourself or do you grow a spine and die with honor?" Hrist asked with a smirk on her face. "I…" Selene thought hard for a moment.

 _There's absolutely no way! This is like fighting a raid boss solo! I don't have Celestial equipment! I'm not even level 100! I've been feeding skill points and stat points into things to help with building the empire, not fight by myself!_

"I accept."

"Very well. You have three days. If you do not return on the fourth by the time the sun is at its zenith, we will come for the town to end this mine once and for all. This mountain will not be sullied by cowards." Selene took a deep shaky breath and nodded, then walked out of the temple underground and back out. "Your majesty, we-" Jorge tried to say. "Not now Jorge, we have to get back to the castle." Bronze Team could see she was doing her best to keep it together, but under the façade she was scared shitless. This wasn't fighting a bandit army behind fortified walls, this was fighting something well and truly above what she could handle. This wasn't another player either with the job class of Valkyrie, this was the real deal, a true, fucking, Valkyrja, Hrist. There was no telling how fast or strong or resilient she was, but chances were that she had immense if not unlimited stamina being a battle maiden and bringer of the slain for Odin.

The helibot took off as Selene just clenched her hands into white knuckled fists, doing her very best not to just break into tears. What was she, a level 45? How quickly could she level up with the orb without affecting her health? Ten levels a day? If she could get forty levels by noon of the fourth day, that's level 80. She'd still be twenty levels below Hrist, with that level maybe not even being her true level. Some games had bosses simply show a level in different colors like red, however, in all actuality, they were far more powerful; others provided stars in replacement or skulls telling you that chances of survival were slim to none by yourself. As she took breathes, they were trembling, with thoughts of what she needed to do, not to win, but just to survive this.

"Ma'am…" Jorge tried to say again softly. "Bronze Team, I need all of you to do your best with helping me train in the coming days, or so help me you won't have a living empress to follow after the battle." Everyone acknowledged. She had been relying on her steampunk automatons the entire time to steamroll through the valley, living on easy street. Now, she had to fight alone, or the citizens of Gold Pine would pay for her accepting the rite like an idiot.

 _God damn it I am so stupid! Oh yeah Selene, accept the fucking rite without knowing what it is! I fucking knew this was a place for ceremonial combat! What, was I supposed to figure it was a sign of respect, light some torches or fast a day or two?! Smoke something and see my ancestors?!_

The helibot landed with the empress storming out of it and heading back to the vault. She pushed Skill Potions and Stat Potions into crafting stations and set to work on further improving her armor and equipment, already working towards Blessed tier. It was the start of raid gear for Divine Apocalypse, which she sure as hell was going to need. While her automatons and other steampunk items had a vast assortment of features and abilities pre-installed due to modules for defense, her own equipment didn't follow the same principles, so she was going to need to be extra careful in the crafting and put all effort into producing the most powerful maxed out Blessed armor and weapons she could make, entirely customized from the ground up. Unfortunately for her, that was going to mean ranged weapons wouldn't work here, as Hrist would probably be able to close the distance very fast to get at her. This left sword and shield, spear, martial arts… everything Hrist would probably be fantastic at. She might get a shot or two in, maybe some throwing knives, but that would be the greatest number of projectiles before it was fighting up close.

Tears were trying to fight their way out, but she kept trying to push them back in as the vault doors opened and the orb came into view. As she touched it, the dev already knew she had gained five levels today. "How many can I afford to do per day without hurting myself." She tried for eight more, feeling the lightheadedness from last time and fatigue almost immediately, just like with the bandit army. Selene wanted to tech up, to get that little extra edge in technology to maybe Atomic Era or Super Steampunk, but that could very well push her over the edge.

As she left the vault and headed back upstairs, putting her hands on the safety rails she had installed, her character sheet opened showing the extra points she had just gained or hadn't used. What she also saw was psionics was now unlocked near her magic list. She had no idea how effective it was going to be, but she was going to need every trick in the book to fend off a raid boss Valkyrja. She cast Greater Rejuvenate on herself to help with the fatigue, which seemed to help a little, not nearly as much as it should have. What it would normally do is cure all fatigue and give her a massive boost to energy, almost like coffee and sugar overdose; sadly, it didn't. Her psionic abilities seemed to go by a "usage allows stronger abilities to be unlocked," learn by doing sort of leveling. Her first five psionics were Telekinesis, Cryokinesis, Pyrokinesis, Electrokinesis and Biomimetic Barrier.

The first four were relatively self-explanatory, but unfortunately each was pretty weak due to no usage yet, with Pyrokinesis being almost the equivalent of an early tier firebolt. What seemed to be a saving grace was the Biomimetic Barrier, which didn't go by usage and instead created a form fitting shield around her body that was equal to her health bar. Given that wasn't very much without her armor on, it was damn low right now. The only advantage it did have was it didn't drain her psionics bar, just provided a slowly regenerating shield. While some would think that was amazing, she doubted it would save her from the strikes she was expecting from a bringer of the slain. She had to practice with everything she had available as hard as she could. Psionics, magic, martial weapons, unarmed combat, she was going to need to physically push herself to instinctively do things, dodge things, fight to her absolute limits.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Proud Heritage)**_

As she sat down in a chair in the entranceway to the throne room, with Bronze Team standing near her, her mind just wandered.

 _I'm a human, fighting a Valkyr… Valkyrie... Valkyrja. I'm fighting a fucking Valkyrie. I'm a little mortal that's probably going to die…_

She put her head in her hands and rubbed her face, pulling down some of her face as the bottom of her eyeballs were showing, her mouth agape. Selene sighed and decided right then and there.

 _I'm also an American. I may not be on Earth, but I am an American, just like anyone else would be proud of where they hail from, their country. I know what my forefathers did to fight back against the British. They were outnumbered and sometimes outgunned, so how do I fight this?... I'm going to use every damn trick in the book that's what I'm going to do. They want honor. Honor doesn't win a battle, the winner uses everything they have available, and I wasn't restricted on how I can fight by them. I have steampunk, I have so many features from so many different games to help me. Time to make use of all of that._

"Alright guys. Time to get to work. I think I have a plan."


	16. Ch 15 Valkyrja Battle

_**24th, October, Midnight**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Nick Phoenix – Forge)**_

Swords were crashing against each other as the sound of battle filled an arena inside the castle walls. It looked like a tournament area for the middle ages was built, with the ground changed to dirt for easier grip of boots. There were destroyed training dummies lining the sides, with burnt bullseye targets in the distance, some with bullet holes, others with armor installed into them to test how strong the ammunition was. There were a few that looked perfectly fine, albeit had been launched from their original position by a shield bash, telekinesis or leg sweeps. Very few, if any, were any real practice for the empress. She needed a threatening enemy to spar with. Ethan made a good candidate, along with Jorge.

Selene was busy practicing with Ethan who was roughly the same size as Hrist. She had been working hard the past few days just to get herself into shape, building her body up with exercise and learning how and when each move or maneuver worked. Of the three days, at least one she didn't sleep at all, with the others having only four hours of rest. She couldn't afford to relax, either constantly training and using rejuvenate spells or checking on her crafting. Most of her physical special abilities, her combat actions were committed to muscle memory by now, with Ethan having a hard time breaking through her defenses… but he was only a level 78. Hrist might not even be level 100, just a placeholder for a raid boss with far higher stats. It was possible she was seeing level 100 due to Yggdrasil standards, or possibly the scanner just wasn't showing the correct level. She could be 200, or 300 even, maybe higher.

She had entirely scrapped her Blessed armor to rebuild a wholly new design from the ground up into Magic tier without even using the previous set, sacrificing one hundred early raid tier gear to produce the new pieces. The design was purely steampunk powered armor in the complete sense of the word. Each item was crafted not as a whole piece, but individual parts that were connected together. She customized the design as much as she could, not really for aesthetics, but for function in the coming fight, going for firepower, strength, defense and speed. The list of things she did to get the most stats from her equipment was huge. Primary Materials, Secondary Materials, Tertiary Materials, Primary Additive Materials, Secondary Additive Materials, Main Focus, Cleansing, Imbuement, Primary Forging, Secondary Forging, Tertiary Forging, Tempering/Bit sewing, Filing, Primary Sharpening, Secondary Sharpening, Additive Sharpening, Socketing, Fitting, Imprinting, Enhancing, Blessings, Auras, Runic Etching, Primary Modifications, Secondary Modifications, and finally Enchanting. That wasn't even the magic abilities the armor was going to give.

The primary materials were mainly Tungsten Steel for the plating, with secondary material being an underlayer of steampunk piezoelectric Kevlar to protect against piercing and cutting. The tertiary material was expanding padding that sealed when punctured, as well as placed pressure against wounds to staunch blood flow. The main focus was set for what the item would be, building around it in sections to all interlace, further improving design and functionality via a personal schematic. Cleansing was done on all materials, not because it was smelted wrong, but because it removed any sort of "bad luck" or previous supernatural connection, like a Miko Priestess removing bad vibes or curses, or provide good luck. This was to stop anything from interfering. Imbuement was done to improve the general stats that the materials would provide, increasing the number by anywhere from five to twenty-five percent, depending on how many times the equipment was imbued. She had gone for the maximum.

Primary forging was done, then secondary forging, then tertiary forging to make sure everything moved exactly as it should, without fail. These actions allowed excess material to be moved around in the pieces, providing more space for extra armor or special features without sacrificing defense or offense. Tempering hardened the finished product, further increasing the protection values, with Bit sewing adding steel thread or steampunk Kevlar where needed to keep straps from breaking and cloth in the right place. Filing was done on the weapons and armor to allow the parts to connect without difficulty or be taken apart for repair or cleaning, with primary, secondary, and additive sharpening used to hone the weapons she would use into a fine sword and spear that any king would drool over. The main sharpening was done to increase damage potential, with the additive used to provide a secondary damage capability instead of physical. The long sword she was going to use would provide both physical and electric damage, hopefully being able to bypass Hrist's armor.

Socketing was done for gems that would also be imbued, blessed and runic etched with enchanting piled on as well. The armor was fitted so she would take no fatigue while wearing it, made entirely for her body shape. Imprinting was done to remove mobility penalties of any kind, with Enhancing providing extra armor plating and scale mail for critical spots, maybe adding a second belt or spare straps. Blessings were provided to add bonuses based on actions done, with low chances of them happening. Regardless, a one percent chance of fully healing when attacked was going to be invaluable, or five percent chance to double damage from a swing with the sword, if unlikely. An aura was placed hidden on each part, with the effect mainly for use in a party like a paladin. It would provide minor boosts to defensive or offensive stats, nothing amazing, roughly ten percent of whatever the stat was at the time. That was where she was going to throw everything into key stats to help fend off the strikes she knew Hrist was going to try and land against her to bolster that bonus.

Runic Etching provided a power boost to whatever action was taken for whatever equipment was used. If she was running, it would increase her movement speed with the etching on the boots, with attacks, it would increase her attack speed on gauntlets and damage from the weapon. Primary modifications were added on top of the equipment, like her shield having an electric field installed with batteries on the back, her armor having jump jets on her back, the cloak being able to piezoelectrically harden, or even reactive armor plates installed over what she already had. There were sonic systems attached as well, in which when an attack tried to hit her, the weapon would receive high volume of sonic waves that would cause stress fractures, eventually causing it to fail and potentially chip or even break. Her armor polarized to help deflect against any magnetic materials coming at her, including a sword. Foucault currents flowed through the material to add circulating energy to help disperse force from an impact to the rest of the armor, making sure her shield and other equipment would break from one strike from the Valkyrja.

Secondary modifications were just minor improvements to primaries, with spare capacitors hidden away, auto glue spray for cracks in armor, backup wiring hidden inside or emergency power. Her armor was now considered fully powered, with a miniatured steampunk exo frame installed under the hood. The backpack she was going to wear would have the cloak wrapped around it and bolted down so that it couldn't flap around and get in the way. Finally, enchanting was done on each separate piece before connecting everything, with before hand Selene trying her best to upgrade her enchanting percentage. She hated constantly swallowing enchanting gems and enchanting dust over and over and over, but it got her to one hundred percent, with a lot of sacrificing crafted items. Given she had the materials for it easily, it wasn't an issue, just the constant eating and then drinking was very annoying combined with the drinking of skill and stat potions.

She had rushed one hundred chemistry stations to produce each tier of the Skill and Stat Potions for the past three days, with another one hundred used to give her what she had available at that time. She had started with Large, and finally moved up to Very Large, Grand, Super, Mega, and finally Ultra to attain eleven points each drink. She did the math as carefully as she could, sciencing the shit out of how often she could drink the potions before she'd get really nauseous. It took half an hour, not an hour like she thought before her stomach would settle enough for a new potion to be consumed, while still practicing with Bronze Team. The orb was used each day to increase her level by fourteen, including an extra level on the day she found out about the entire battle she had entered into. Each day, she gained the levels, barely reaching tunnel vision but having enough time to cast rejuvenate on herself multiple times and laying down for an hour to clear her head, with Turnie and Jeeves watching over her constantly if she ever swayed. The empress knew, she was going to need every ounce of her skills and stats to break even against Hrist.

On this third day of hard training, she had reached level 96 due mostly to the orb. Within the past three days, she had consumed one hundred forty-four potions, even while sleeping due to IVs set up by Turnie, against her recommendations as well. Of those one hundred forty-four, forty-four were Very Large, ten were Grand, fifteen were Super, five were Mega, with the last eighty being Ultra, including one Ultra that Philosopher's Stone increased to give fifty-two points instead of the regular eleven. That gave her one thousand four hundred fifty-three stat points, not including what she had gained from leveling. Not one of them was a skill potion… she really needed everything in her stats, with skills being entirely for combat and frankly having plenty compared to the much-needed attributes. All total, she had two thousand thirteen Stat Points to spend, one thousand one hundred twenty Skill Points… and ninety-six perk points. She completely wiped her entire perk list out and started from scratch.

Of the Stat Points available, she started dumping one hundred into multiple different areas. Health, Mana, Stamina, Psionics, Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Perception, Carry Weight, Pain Tolerance, Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Damage, Magical Power, Health Regeneration, Mana Regeneration, Stamina Regeneration, Psionics Regeneration, Natural Armor and Attack Speed. Movement Speed and Accuracy were both boosted to one hundred percent. Rage was not increased to one hundred percent yet, as it would take a little more time to get another one hundred points, but it was planned before the next morning, also adding another fourteen levels and shooting her past level 100 if she could manage it. Rage was going to allow her to boost her stats while she fought for her life, given she was learning how to use it while fighting Ethan and Jorge the past three days. There were offensive and defensive effects, with no actual ability or action costs used like in the games that had the feature. She could increase her damage for strikes or protect against damage by boosting defensive stats temporarily. Each time it was used, the effects only lasted a few seconds, which put a crimp on it if the enemy feinted or backed off, wasting the rage power. Carry Weight had a secondary effect in combat despite its stat name, as it provided resistance to damage to her skeleton and muscles, stopping her from breaking bones or tearing a ligament or tendon from being hit or from striking so hard her arm gives out, though it wasn't a one hundred percent defense against very strong opponents, or against attacks meant to break bones or tear muscle.

The last twenty-one points she threw into Magic Cast Time, to speed up how fast she could get spells off. In her eyes, Rage Build would have been far more useful, but it wasn't shown anywhere, being able to keep the rage going to resist the damage she knew she was going to take. Health, Mana, Rage, Psionics and Stamina didn't work off a percentage it seemed, despite it showing as such. It basically added for each one percent a full extra bar worth of what she already had, which was one hundred. Her hp was now ten thousand along with the other bars, excluding food and water. She hoped combined with all the defenses she was going to be wearing, her Natural Armor and Resistances, it wouldn't go down quickly; her stat boosts from equipment also increased that number greatly, close to five hundred thousand, halfway to a million which might be where Hrist was. With the final point placed long ago, she had swapped to Skill Points.

She increased Ranged Weapons, Melee Weapons and Heavy Armor to one hundred percent, but she wasn't going to stop at that for those skills, she just needed to make sure she boosted others as well that she hoped to use. Wizardry was increased to one hundred percent, dropping the cast time equal to half of the skill, with the other half being governed by Magic Cast Time. This would drop the cast in total by seventy-one percent right now, making things that would normally take a few seconds fire off in half a second or almost instantly. It also allowed her key special abilities she was going to need, the five being "Double Cast," "Triple Cast," "Quadruple Cast," "Spell Slinger" and "Universal Magic." Double, Triple and Quadruple seemed self-explanatory, with allowing her to cast multiple spells in a row at the same time. It could also be used to amplify each other if she worked it out quick enough, using Double on Triple that would work on Quadruple to get twenty-four spells off at the same time, with a cooldown for each of about ten minutes. The fight might last half that, but she couldn't be certain.

Spell Slinger allowed no cooldown for ten seconds, allowing rapid casts that of a frightening number of spells, with a similar cooldown of ten minutes. Universal Magic allowed her to combine different offensive or defensive magic together into a cluster of sorts, allowing ice bolt to be fired but also doing fire, electrical, death, nature, pretty much as many types of damage as she could shove into it. The problem was it only worked on one spell, with a reconfiguration needed each time to swap the ability to work with another cast.

The dev added one hundred percent into Explosives in the event she needed to drop a grenade or three. She was hoping Hrist wouldn't have much blast resistance, but that was doubtful. Blast resistance didn't actually exist as a real resistance stat, but padding and other defenses could help. Football helmets were being designed to protect against concussive damage, which she really needed to make use of in this fight, but there wasn't a large amount of concussive force attacks out there, spell or not, excluding large munitions. Even then, there was no guarantee it would work the way she needed it to against a Valkyrja.

Melee Weapons provided "Lightning Strikes," "Chink in the Armor" and "Parry Parry Thrust Thrust." Lightning Strikes increased the amount of attacks that were brought down each time she would strike with her sword or spear, turning one hit into several. It lasted thirty seconds, with a cooldown of three minutes, which wasn't bad really, maybe getting two or three of them in the fight if possible and turning her attacks into ten. Chink in the Armor would highlight vulnerable points in Hrist's armor, allowing her to strike if left undefended and cause double the damage. It only worked within a one-meter radius though, not giving her enough time to respond to new glowing spots while she's fending off her enemy's attacks. Parry Parry Thrust Thrust would instinctively make her block, parry, or dodge patterned strikes automatically for one minute, without use of stamina no less! Her body would just go on auto pilot while she focuses on getting herself out of a bad situation. If Hrist used a tried and true combo, she'd be able to hold her own until she mixes up her actions.

Beyond one hundred percent for those skills, she still had eight hundred seventy points available. She dumped another hundred in each combat skill, making most spells instant cast, her melee attacks effortless, ranged was firing like a machine gun with a semi auto bolt action rifle and reloading in the blink of an eye, her armor would provide double the protection values and actually increase her movement speed and explosives would just do a whole lot of damage. An extra one hundred was added to Steampunk Mechanical Engineering and Steampunk Electrical Engineering, as she had incorporated a lot of it into her equipment, hoping it would increase the damage as much as she could and allow her to hold her own. Bronze Team's levels increased due to that, with Jorge increasing to level 156, the remainder of the team shooting up to level 117. She didn't even bother checking her Heavies or vehicles, it didn't matter right now.

Ranged Weapons provided new abilities, but the remainder that was improved did not. "Multi Shot," "Unload" and "Make it Count." Multi Shot turned anything fired into a scatter round, multiplying the projectiles in the air by up to ten for each round. If this was used on a shotgun, she could only imagine the buckshot wall flying, or a machinegun even. Unload fired every shot in a quiver, magazine or drum almost instantly, allowing her to put as much fire downwind as possible before she'd have to move to melee. Make it Count automatically caused a ranged shot to cause critical damage, either severely wounding the target or killing it outright. The problem was… this was a Valkyrja, she might get hurt by it, but it wouldn't end her.

She threw her last remaining one hundred seventy skill points into boosting Heavy armor to three hundred percent and Explosives to two hundred seventy percent, wanting to increase damage and protection as much as possible. Potions, elixirs, flasks and kegs were all prepared for tomorrow, with buff spells learned to further improve her defenses and speed. She was especially glad she had one special cast, Amplify Damage, similar to Amplify Magic for Yggdrasil spells. It would increase the damage of one weapon or attack for a certain amount of time. This could come into play if she had to use her emergency plan once she could ascertain just how powerful Hrist was. For her though, she was afraid her emergency plan was going to be the only way she would survive this.

Her brand-new perks, rebuilt from the ground up, pumping huge amounts into the same categories in multiples of five, making it two hundred fifty percent for each perk group. She had Targeting Reticle by itself, bonus to damage when using swords spears and explosives, critical strike damage for the same, armor rating while using magic tier steampunk armor, stat boosts while wearing the same, potion time, magic power and psionic power, movement speed, attack speed, dodge, parry, block and finally durability for all of her equipment. While wearing her items, she fought well beyond any human should ever be able to fight.

Ethan blocked her attacks as fast as she could bring them down on him with the long sword, doing her best to break his defenses, but she couldn't do it. It was partially due to not wanting to hurt him, but also because he was just that much stronger now and stopping her attacks from connecting. Selene had told him to put all of his defenses on while sparring, Jorge as well. As she struck, he tried to sweep her legs, but she jumped. He immediately shield struck, knocking her back but allowing her to regain her balance instantly, creating a small divot in the ground from the move as she slid back.

"Ma'am, you've been practicing nonstop for the past six hours, casting Rejuvenate spells the entire time. Maybe you should really take a rest?" Jorge asked as Selene kept pushing herself forward, ignoring him. Ethan was slowly backing up at her strikes, but they never made it past his shield or his sword. She finally stopped and just looked at his optics. He stood still and looked up at Jorge. "I have to keep going. I have to make sure that I can get through her defenses or I'm fucked." Regardless of saying that, she hadn't really used any of her special abilities to cause damage to Ethan, only to training dummies and targets. She had been working on launching psionic attacks at bullseyes when she wasn't sparring, increasing the strength of each one. The empress was still firing firebolts and lightning bolts, but at least they were bigger now, almost capable of being called fireballs. The thing she learned was that psionics wasn't like magic, it didn't have a specific rule to each spell, having each ability encompass multiple facets. Pyrokinesis involved all fire based psionics for example, not just launching a ball of fire somewhere. Practicing with each one was building up her control, also allowing her Biomimetic Barrier to start adding her mana bar as more protection. That meant she had a personal bio shield of a million points.

She stood there panting as she cast another rejuvenate, then finally got a notice from a station that a new spell "Unending Stamina" was ready to be learned. She popped the scroll out, already maximized to X Greater, and disintegrated it, committing it to memory in the process. Her movement was a blur most of the time, assuming she could keep her stamina up and spells in full effect. Between consumables, spells, armor, stats and skills, she could very well be the most powerful being on the planet, excluding the Valkyrja. She just needed to keep her energy going, which would be possible with this new spell and combined with Stamina Regeneration stats.

"Ma'am… you need to rest." Jorge stood next to her and put his giant hand on her shoulder gently, despite the fact she could now carry him if need be. She brushed it off. "I can't. One more round, come on." Ethan looked up at his team leader, then back at his empress. "Ma'am, part of being able to fight well is to make sure your mind is clear and fresh. You need to sleep. You're due for the fight tomorrow, you don't want to go in without-" Selene interrupted him. "AGAIN." Jorge made a sighing sound and stepped away as they got prepared on opposite sides of the small arena she built.

Her legs bent and propelled, she just launched herself across the arena, easily breaking Mach three and approaching Mach four, launching a few stones upwards from her feet while leaving that position, the air creating a funnel behind her and throwing dirt into the sky behind. Ethan, however, was ready for it, as he had been the whole day. He blocked and struck out, with her dodging and rolling, coming in for an attack against his side. He jumped back and rolled backwards, using his feet to kick at her in the process and making her back off a little. As he came back on his feet, he launched at her legs with a wide sweep of the sword, Selene jumping into the air and flipping in a roll just above him. The whole fight looked like it was choreographed to the very millisecond as they battled, with one final strike from Ethan… and it connected to the back of her left knee. Her knee dropped to the ground as he held the sword up to her neck as a final action, telling her the fight was over with the armor not damaged, but her knee hurt from the strike. "Damn it… damn it!" she yelled as she stood up and threw her sword on the ground, walking with a limp over to Jeeves and Turnie to sit down in a chair and drink some water.

"Ma'am, you need to-" Turnie started to say. "A little break, some healing and I'll be back on my feet. I need to do this." Turnie looked up at Jeeves, then at Jorge. "No ma'am, you're not." Selene looked at her in confusion, with just enough time to feel Turnie grab her wrist gently and inject her with a sleeping agent. "What the hell are you…" she couldn't even finish the sentence before she was out and slumped in the chair. "Taking care of you ma'am, as we've always done."

 _ **24th, October, 9 am**_

Nevil slipped his daggers into his scabbard along with his sword, preparing for the engagement. "Does everyone remember what this mission is about?" he yelled as others from his division prepared as well. Small glowing objects were put on the belts of two men, while ten others had blue glowing daggers, the last of their kind ever made. "Do not lose those! They can only be used once! We cannot replace them! Do not damage the daggers!" he snapped as others got ready for their deployment. "Are we sure they're there?" Rogas asked. "Of course they're there you imbecile! They never leave." One of the men knocked over the box of daggers on the ground, scrambling to pick it up. One of the daggers was chipped. The others backed away from him as Nevil walked up and slammed a sword right up into his chest, killing him. "I say again, be careful with those. When I say to do something, I mean it!" He pulled the sword from the subordinate's chest and let the body fall to the ground, blood pooling. "We will head to the mountain range; there, we will find the group that has been costing us so much these past few months, and we will end their pathetic existence. Remember to take the bodies, we need them for the next phase."

His men stepped outside into the sun and put on their cloaks and mounted. They turned their horses from headquarters and rode as fast as they could until they reached a resupply point with fresh horses awaiting them. They then continued on, traveling west.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Selene woke up a little groggy in her bed, in her pajamas. She looked around confused then remembered what had happened. "TURNIE!" She roared over coms. "I'm waiting outside." The empress got out of her four-post bed with drapes, pulled the catheter from her arm with the potions drained and stormed outside to the member of Bronze Team. Turnie just sat there looking at her. "You tranq'd me! You fucking tranq'd me!" she screamed at the automaton. "You have gone a total of three days with only eight hours of sleep between all of them ma'am. You made a mistake with Ethan. You were getting sloppy, which decreases your chances of survival against the Valkyrja by-" the empress was pissed. "I'm not some little child that needs to be told when to go to bed! Don't you understand my life is on the line here?!" she interrupted. "Which is precisely why I did it! No sleep, more mistakes. More mistakes, you die! We don't want to see you die!" Selene screwed up her face in anger, then kneeled in front of the healer. As she stared at her, the dev's face slowly loosened and calmed down as she realized Turnie did it because she cared. "We need you as much as you need us. Getting rest makes sure you can be as strong as possible and come back alive."

Selene just looked at her and breathed, then finally nodded. "I… fine… thanks…" was all she could muster. "It's 9 am, three hours before we have to be there. You have time to take a bath, eat, prepare your armor." The dev's breathing trembled at that sobering report and nodded in agreement. Turnie turned around and headed back downstairs in an elevator as the scared empress stood there for a moment, mentally preparing herself. Her legs carried her down to the vault and to the orb but stopped. If she gained fourteen more levels, she would be stronger, but fatigued for the fight that was just around the corner, probably making mistakes that Turnie didn't want her to. If she didn't, she was going to be facing a raid boss at only level 96, granted with a lot of Stat Potions consumed. Her stomach wasn't too happy right now, as throughout the night they had continued injecting her with more, totaling sixteen potions in all. That was another one hundred seventy-six points available.

She made her decision. The orb wasn't used, with her leaving the vault and heading back upstairs to eat and clean up. She didn't want to feel the shame of any potential last moments of failure due to messing up from fatigue in front of Bronze Team's healer. After a quiet breakfast, she downed another Stat Potion, her final one she felt for the day. While she could technically drink another five more, if she fought with her stomach ready to throw everything up, it was game over. It at least gave another eleven, bringing her up to one hundred eighty-seven points.

One hundred of those went into Rage to make sure she could constantly keep defense buffed, with the final eighty-seven going into Magic Cast Time. Now her spells would be instant, which she sorely needed. It was possible Hrist had magic resistance well beyond what she could penetrate, so it might be relegated to defensive buffs and healing, which considering Greater Healing took so damn long, was a godsend. As she took a bath and scrubbed herself down, her mind kept going to the plan she had created in the event she was going to taste defeat. It had to work, it was her last option. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but if it did, she had prepared for the outcome.

As she fitted her clothing and armor onto her body, Orlo came in. "Ma'am, I'm not one for pep talks, I try to learn about the mental state, but… victory is usually already determined from the beginning. With the amount of hard work you've put into this, I think we both know who is going to come out of this alive. It will most assuredly be you." Selene looked into the mirror at him. "Thanks, I guess." A small dip from his saucer and he slowly floated out of the room. Once equipped, she looked at herself in the mirror. It was do or die now. Two hours left.

She didn't know if they would allow her to drink any buff consumables before the fight, so she secretly took every elixir, flask and keg she had and drank them all, excluding healing potions, mana potions and stamina potions, with buff potions used as they would land. "Ok… time to head there." The empress looked at her bed room, as if she wasn't going to see it again. The dev hadn't even talked to anyone in Gold Pine for the past ten days; if she died, they'd never know about it unless her autos explained the situation. Selene snapped out of it and slapped her cheeks some to get herself out of that thought process. She was going to win.

The helibot was prepped with Bronze Team coming with her as support. As they lifted into the sky, she double checked everything she'd need, including the extra pieces of equipment she now had added to her armor. Five black pods that looked like an X with a red dot in the middle were attached across her armor, looking similar in design to reactive armor blocks. Hopefully, the Valkyrja would think they were extra pieces of armor that reinforce key areas. The helibot flew over Gold Pine, with Giles looking up at it and waving, seeing Selene sitting there looking out the side. What could she say to them? That she was going to fight a Valkyrie? A Battle maiden? There was nothing she could do to explain the situation to them. They'd fear for her life, just as she does for herself. People would start praying and lose hope for their new empire, worried that the Artinian kingdom would really come and end their lives once and for all. It was best for them to remain oblivious to what was happening.

As they landed outside the temple with the grass being pushed down by the rotors spinning on the helibot, Jorge leapt out with a vibration felt throughout the area, his shield still up despite he wasn't going to be fighting. None of Bronze Team was going to be allowed to fight, only watch as Selene had to defend against a raid boss by herself. If the Valkyrja didn't know they were there before Jorge landing, they do now. The group entered down through the square entrance below and noticed the torches light up again, with the dev downing her buff potions as fast as she could. "So, you aren't a coward. Commendable, even if you come for your death." Sigrun spoke as the others looked at the steampunk team. "That hasn't been determined yet. I'd like to hold off resigning to my fate if it's all the same to you."

Sigrun smiled. "Acceptable. I can already tell your will is strong, if not your strength and ability. You have… improved since days past. I somehow wonder… maybe you do have a chance, if not a slim one, against Hrist."

 _Bitch, I'm going to fight my hardest against your sister. I'm not a normal mortal. I'm a fucking clockwork empress._

The Valkyrja motioned for them to enter through a dropping wall into another room with waiting benches and torches, a small fountain and a bonfire in the middle. "You may wait here until Hrist is ready in her preparation room. Do you have any questions?" Sigrun asked. "Are there any rules besides no companions helping me?" Selene asked. "None. Fight to the best of your ability, though I don't know if that will mean much against my sister. She has never been defeated. Anything else?" The dev looked between her team, wondering if they had any questions. None spoke up. "Very well, wait for the door to enter the arena to open." The leader left, with the wall closing back up. This was it, there was no going back or running.

"How are you feeling?" Jorge asked. "Well, I slept." She looked at Turnie. "Beyond that, I… I dunno. I'm hoping I don't have to bring that emergency plan to fruition. I don't even know if it will work" "It will work. It has to work because they've never fought someone like you, with your capabilities ma'am." Orlo floated near the wall. "Detect anything bud?" Ethan asked. "Nothing yet. My pulse only goes out to fifty meters, but I can tell from vibration tracking the design of the arena. There is plenty of room to maneuver, allowing a wide freedom of movement."

Orlo produced a holographic map on the ground with 3D imaging. It looked like the inside of a ziggurat, with a smaller ziggurat in the middle, probably for the other Valkyrja to observe the battle. An opening far above allowed light in, along with multiple pillars going up around five meters each, all equipped with torch sconces, so probably torch lit as well. "Small defensive points, places to flank, no real walls to hide behind for ambushes though. They plan for the fight to be straight and to the point."

"Except our empress can make walls of her own on the fly" Deacon chimed in. "Yes, that could be an advantage, but not enough to stop Hrist. At best it could allow her majesty to get away, potentially break LOS and attempt a counter" Turnie responded. "Which means her highness needs to go three dimensional" Ethan told them. Selene had practiced fighting not just on a level battleground but also moving around inside a room. There were magnetic and latch rappelling cords installed into her suit at multiple points, allowing her to move around like Spiderman in a lot of cases, but not even just with her hands shooting the lines. Her armor could launch a cord out and pull her away from an attempted strike, all she had to do was signal the armor to perform in that regard with her coms "talking" to it at the speed of thought. To top it off, she had anti-gravity fields installed into her boots to help not lose her balance when that happened, or to help if Hrist tried to open some sort of fissure in the ground to swallow her up in one instant kill.

"The door." Jorge pointed as the wall opened on a different facing. "It's time." Selene's heart was jumping into her throat as she tried to make sure she was breathing properly. "Good Luck, but I don't think you'll need it. You've got skill" Jorge told her quietly. "Knock her dead ma'am" Deacon told her. "You'll make it through this ma'am, we all know it." Ethan saluted her. "Chances of survival are low, for a human. Thankfully, you've been far beyond a human in capability for some time" Orlo quipped. "You can do this" Turnie softly said. She stepped outside the room and headed for the small ziggurat in the middle, with bars raising to block Bronze Team from her. The dev saw Hrist coming in from another room, with no bars raising, just another wall. As they both came to stand in front of the other Valkyrja, Sigrun put her hand up for them to stop.

"This rite has been around since time immemorable. Many Einherjar have met their end to it, with many more attaining glory and strength that rivaled all. Though you do not have another mortal to fight, my sister, Hrist, will be your adversary today. Do you have any last words before you start?" Sigrun asked. She activated every defense in her armor, rapidly cast off all her defensive spells and made sure her pistols and machineguns were ready to empty their magazines and drums as soon as the bell was rung, with throwing knives to knock her off balance and shotguns on her shoulders just like Jorge. "I don't."

"Hrist, my sister, do you have anything to say in this regard?" Hrist stood there and looked at Selene, barely coming up to her neck in height, but definitely looking a far cry stronger than the last time. "Such a small thing that wants to protect those dirt diggers down below. You show more courage than they did, if not the soundest choice to make. At least you're a warrior."

 _I'll show you whose small. I'm gonna knock you down a whole bunch of pegs._

 _ **(Recommended Song: Nick Phoenix – Future Guardian)**_

"Very well. Move to fifty paces, turn, wait for our signal." They both moved back to back, with Hrist heard chuckling a little. Selene took a deep breath as they walked away to fifty paces, then turned. Her armor's face plate dropped down and latched into place. It looked like a heavily reinforced goalie mask. She didn't need aesthetics; she needed raw power, speed and defense.

"Fight."

The Valkyrja threw her spear immediately, launching a very powerful projectile that might be able to pierce her defenses. She didn't want to test that theory as she dodged with the speed of a bullet, firing her machineguns installed into the forearm paneling to produce a hail of return fire; it met Hrist's shield, but it was creating ever so small dents with the high-end ammunition.

Hrist bolted for her, easily hitting the same speed Selene could. There was enough time to empty her pistols along with machineguns with Unload ability topped with Multi Shot before she reached her, a cord engaging and launching her away from the attack, the sword barely missing her as Hrist brought up her own shield to block the wall of bullets. Selene threw the guns away and cycled the reload of the drums in her forearm paneling, maybe using them in close combat while swinging her sword. The Valkyrja charged back after her as they went from fighting on the ground to in the air, leaping around like grasshoppers as she swapped to her sword and shield, activating Lightning Strike, Chink in the Armor, Parry Parry Thrust Thrust immediately. Hrist was attacking with everything she had, the force of her blows was bruising her forearm when her sword struck down on her shield, even with help from the exo frame installed into the suit. If she hadn't improved Carry Weight, her arm would have easily been broken. Her Biomimetic Barrier was taking hits and lowering even from blocks and parries, though it was confusing Hrist as to just how resilient the empress really was. Most mortals would have crumpled by now.

 _Holy shit! She hits like a Mack truck inside a Mack truck on top of a Mack truck! I can't even imagine fighting her without steampunk technology!_

The empress dodged, getting in a strike of her own as Hrist was thrown on the defensive. She wasn't expecting the mortal to fight at her speed or see how fast she could move, let alone go on the offensive. The exo frame whined as it tried to help her drop as much Tonnage per Square Inch onto Hrist's shield, firing rounds from the machineguns where she could. Her strikes were actually carving into it, damaging the material, whatever it was. It was definitely not Tungsten Steel, she knew that much, probably fabled Adamantite or even stronger for a warrior such as herself. The fact she was doing any damage made Hrist back off ever so slightly and attempt flanking maneuvers, catching Selene barely off guard with a cord launching to get her away from the assault, leaving a grenade in her absence. One of the black armor pieces fell away as Hrist barely touched it with her sword. "Shit." The Valkyrja smirked as she put more damage into the dev's armor than she did to her. The black armor panel was absorbed into the ground.

They bounced around the room dodging and striking at each other, with pillars being wiped out with missed attacks and kicks launched into abdomens, though the dev was finding it a miracle her armor was hanging in there despite the beating it was taking. Selene was launched across the room by one strike, recovered enough with a roll and landed on her feet for the bringer of the slain to attack again, and deflected with a shield bash while dodging, sending Hrist up without control of where she could land. That gave the empress a chance to launch herself up and strike back, activating Blitzkrieg for even faster movement of herself and got ready for something special. Her sword engaged its electrical capability, with Hrist trying to strike back but getting tazed a little by each stab or swing. The lightning was passing through her armor, hitting her body and making her realize this little mortal had more punch than she expected.

The battle maiden tried to make a full sword swing to slash the area followed by her own shield bash, but Selene had other plans, dodging left with the jump jets on the backpack and coming up from her side, grabbing her and throwing her with her special ability Throw Your Weight Around. She slammed her into the ground, creating a small crater from the impact. As she used her jump jets to launch herself down for another attack, Hrist rolled and lunged, knocking off another black armor panel and slicing at her left forearm. "Damn it!" she backed off firing mounted shotguns on her shoulders as the Valkyrja grunted in acceptance for the trade in blood, with a small amount of it dripping from the right side of her lip and her left thigh. Concussive damage did work if there was enough force in it, as well as armor piercing rifled slugs, pretty much short-range anti-material rounds. That gave her hope.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Thomas Bergersen – Pegasus)**_

"Time to stop playing around" Hrist grumbled as the black armor panel was again pulled into the ground by Selene, trying to reclaim them. The battle maiden pulled her spear from its nearby landing spot and threw it at her, having the dev dodge and use a cord to launch herself around a pillar, but Hrist was running nearby. She fired her machineguns to keep her at bay, with the bringer of the slain blocking with her shield, finally receiving cracks in the armor paneling the small wall provided. She was wearing the warrior's defenses down, slowly but surely. Unfortunately for her, the battle maiden used a burst of speed to get ahead of her and grabbed the cord she was using to zip around the arena.

Hrist grabbed the cord and pulled, launching Selene straight at her and punched as hard as she could, with the empress immediately activating Time for Heroes to help with defense, her abdomen armor cracking with her entire Biomimetic Barrier failing. Her fist slammed into her stomach, instantly breaking a rib and launching her into the air a good twenty feet. The dev's mouth was agape in her face mask as blood came out, her eyes wide. Her armor had taken an enormous amount of the force that she had just focused into the mortal's stomach, otherwise her hand would have probably come out her back. Another black armor panel popped off from the impact. "Seems your losing your armor. That's really terrible." Hrist pulled on the cord again, but Selene had already disconnected it and fired off her jump jets to get a little distance with some of her last few grenades dropped, if only for a moment. The battle maiden was pushed back by the blast waves as the empress pulled a handheld elephant shotgun and fired both barrels, launching buckshot in the maiden's direction, and having two little pellets actually connect, hitting her in the right shoulder. Blood could be seen escaping.

 _I've got to heal! I've got to heal!_

She tried to cast off a Greater Heal… but it didn't work. "What the fuck?" she whispered to herself in shock. The Valkyrja was almost on top of her. "What, did you think this room wouldn't be enchanted against healing magic? This is a battle to the death, poor little stupid thing."

 _Healing magic doesn't work?! Then… healing potions don't work either! Shit! Not good!_

She fast swapped to her spear to keep a little range and used her magic to distract with ranged offensive spells, rapidly striking as Hrist dodged each attack before barely being nicked in the leg, grunting, then backing off a little; Molecular Reformation was used to change the terrain, trying to throw the battle maiden off, with little effect. That hit should have caused an impressive amount of damage, but all it did was cut at her knee. The battle maiden rolled away and charged again, going for a leg sweep with Selene jumping into the air… and having the maiden stop the sweep to grapple her. As she flipped and twisted to get momentum, they landed with Selene's left arm held behind her head, a crunch and the sound of metal cracking was heard as her arm was broken, the exo frame whirring as it tried to regain control of the movement. A pained scream erupted from her mouth as she could see stars for a few seconds as Pain Tolerance kept her awake. She threw a throwing knife at Hrist's foot and hit it with her boot pierced, causing her to let go of her hand as she rolled, feeling even more pain from getting away. Hrist pulled the knife from her foot and continued.

Jorge took a step forward towards the bars out of programmed instinct to protect her, but Turnie stopped him. The bars weren't a barricade against any of their strength, but if they entered, the entire group of Valkyrja would engage them. Another black armor panel popped off, totaling four missing, eaten by the floor and disappearing from view. Selene threw her last grenades into the area, including an incendiary to block movement, but Hrist saw them easily and got away, although there were some fragments that clipped her armor, not doing very much damage. It did tell her that explosives and higher end projectiles were dangerous to her, however she couldn't tell if it was because she was wearing down her defenses or because the weapons actually did damage due to the speed of the fragments and rounds. Hrist had used her shield to protect against the pistols and machineguns, which might have meant they were a threat.

As Hrist continued her onslaught, a few attacks did directly connect to Selene's chest armor, but with so many improvements, they were working overtime. Her sword had carved a small divot into the metal as Selene tried to pull away, showing just how strong the defenses really were against a Valkyrja. Though it was probably lower quality tier metal, the tungsten steel was holding up very well considering the blows it was receiving along with all the features she shoved into helping it harden even further. The empress blocked one more strike, feeling her arm turning to jelly from the impact force, before losing her right shoulder pauldron, the straps being cut instead of the armor. She retaliated to get herself off the defensive, with Lightning Strike and the rest of the Melee Weapons special abilities now off cooldown, pushing Hrist back like a wounded animal fighting for an escape route. A few of the attacks hit, breaking off the maiden's left thigh armor surprisingly, along with an abdomen panel and cutting her small cloak off. Though the Valkyrja was wounded, the dev was the one looking worse for wear. Even her Health Regeneration stat wasn't in effect right now, which was scaring her.

The whole fight was now beyond ten minutes and special abilities had been used twice for the lower cooldowns, with Hrist seeming to be slowly winning now. The Valkyrja leapt into the air to come down at the empress, who parried the attack with her sword and did her best to back off, trying to damage her armor with her psionics using telekinesis and knocked her back with a psychic scream, dazing her ever so slightly as the bringer of the slain tried to figure out what the hell just hit her. Hrist looked down at her armor in confusion as she couldn't see how Selene was pulling at straps or trying to harm her from beyond arm's reach, attempting to rip her armor from her body. She zipped forward and kicked at the dev and sent her flying, smashing into a wall and creating cracks. Two more cracked ribs, light concussion, one of her shoulder blades was fractured. However, she finally undid Hrist's armor. "Is she trying to undress me? No one here is embarrassed little thing, I sure am not." Her under armor was still there, as the main armor was thrown across the room and absorbed by the ground, her impressive form and figure showing just under the clothing now. Selene grabbed at her last black armor piece and took it off intentionally, the pain kept away by her stats. She was lying on the ground, badly beaten, bleeding and finding it difficult to breathe. Blood was drooling from the side of her mouth with her mask half broken off, with her nose bleeding and a large cut on her forehead, probably from her mask breaking more than anything else.

Hrist walked up to her as she tried to drag herself backwards, nursing her left arm. She fired multiple fireballs at her, but they didn't do much, as she feared due to resistances. She then used Cryokinesis on the floor to make her slip, which seemed to work, allowing her to get up and try and escape to a better position. Unfortunately, Hrist grabbed at her cloak bolted to her backpack and threw her across the room, landing with a thump and roll, making her see stars everywhere, but some return machinegun fire as she flew caught her off guard and finally broke her shield, with the fragments cutting into the Valkyrie's armored gauntlet and damaging her fingers on her left hand. The wounded empress couldn't get herself up, even though her stamina hadn't worn out, her body was just having difficulty responding. The Valkyrja walked towards her and smiled at her genuinely for a moment, not doing much beyond that for that small amount of time. Selene threw one last knife at her, which she caught, and threw right back at her, piercing her right side, slamming through and hitting a kidney. She screamed as Hrist brought her sword up to her neck and lifted her chin.

"You fought well for someone who is mortal. To this day no one has ever drawn my blood, but you… are the first. I am… impressed. You have done what most have never been able to do, as well as fought with great courage and to the best of your ability. You withstood my attacks almost as well as any Valkyrja; I am… amazed. Perhaps the mortals of this world aren't as frail as we thought. You have opened my eyes involving that at least, though you will not live to see the future legends arise. Do you have any last words? Make your peace, empress. I would hope you would use them to request to become an Einherjar, I would be most happy with that indeed." The fact that Hrist was showing respect after everything that had happened might have meant Selene had done what almost no mortal has ever been able to do, maybe even Einherjar. She fought a Valkyrja and did her best to hold her own. The entire fight had lasted fifteen minutes, almost near the end of her potion limits. If the fight had continued any longer, her abilities would have only decreased.

The empress used Molecular Reformation on the ground, creating an odd pod that grew out of the ground in front of the maiden, looking like a sprouting plant curving in front of her. "One last line of defense? I am surprised you can even focus. You are very resilient indeed. A stone plant isn't going to save you though. I am the victor, no matter what you do." Hrist said as she stared down at Selene past the pod, her mask unlatching and dropping to the ground. Her face was bruised and cut at a few places. "Accept your fate, I'll make it clean if you do. I swear it on my honor, you will not feel pain empress." Selene looked up at her and smiled a crooked smile, her mouth slightly coated in blood.

"Go to hell." The pod slowly opened as Hrist brought her sword arm up to strike, revealing the five black armor pieces, all beeping with the red dots in the middle lighting up. The Valkyrja had a split second to wonder what those were before the dev activated Peace Through Superior Firepower, used all casting abilities and amplified the damage of the now known to be shaped charge explosives, focused the last bit of her Rage into those now known to be bombs. Universal Magic was used to add multiple elemental effects to the blast for maximum effectiveness. She had just enough time to build a crude dome around herself as they went off, half collapsing the barrier due to her rapidly casting repair spells on it and shredding her armor she had. No one could see through the smoke that they had caused until finally, both the group of Valkyrja and Bronze Team could see Selene lying on the ground, not moving, her armor in shambles and wiring sparking. "Come on ma'am, get up! Get up!" Ethan started saying as Turnie was fighting herself to rush out there and heal her. Jorge feared the worse.

Several seconds went by, then a minute, with no movement, just silence. Finally, Selene slowly moved her arm, her ears still ringing from blowing those things up so close. Her vision was blurry as she looked around, her sense of balance way off and dust making her cough… or something worse. She rolled to her side slowly and looked around. Hrist was blown backwards a good one hundred feet, she wasn't moving either, with what looked like fragments embedded all along her left arm and into part of her left side as she was lying on her right, limp. The dev got up and stumbled, nearly collapsing a second time as she tried to walk her way over to the maiden, picking up a sword carefully and wincing. As she reached Hrist and looked down at her, she slowly woke up and blinked, looking up at Selene standing there, fighting to stay alive. Both of their hp was draining from internal bleeding, but the dev was still standing, barely. This was a guarantee, The Valkyrja was defeated.

"Yield" Selene barely managed to say, her breathing raspy and difficult to draw in breath. She was getting light headed. "I'll… never… yield…" Hrist rasped back as she looked towards her sister. "You're a… fucking fool then… You all are."

Two Valkyrja took steps forward and down the ziggurat towards them. "Don't. Though she insults us, she has yet to make the killing blow." "Why… why do I have to kill her… Fucking yield… you stupid… idiot!" The dev coughed out as she fought for breath. "I die in… honor… of the rite… for… the gods…" "You die to leave your sisters… to… to live on… without you… hasn't there been… hasn't there been enough loss… for all of you? Your gods… they're never coming back… you're all that's left… don't make their efforts… to send you… here… be for nothing…" The empress stumbled a little, nearly falling. One of her lungs was probably punctured or collapsed. Hrist looked at Sigrun, who simply looked down at the ground, then nodded. Selene was almost gasping for breath.

"I… will…" she started to say. The empress was having real problems now, as she slowly wobbled. "…Yield." That did it with Hrist submitting; the empress toppled to the ground, landing on her side with the sword dropping from her grasp, as Bronze Team blasted through the bars and ran towards her. Things were getting a little blurry for her vision as she blinked, with noticing some rappelling lines appearing from the opening above the arena but couldn't tell if those were just vines. Something dropped behind the Valkyrja and started to glow, with each Valkyrja's eyes glowing as well. They all looked up as they started to slowly turn around, heading towards the objects in a shambling gait. Multiple men in black leather armor rappelled down and dropped in quickly with daggers unsheathed.

One of them walked up to Sigrun and stabbed forward with the blue dagger, piercing the armor straight to the heart in one strike as if the plating was nothing to the blade. Sigrun died almost instantly, the dagger disintegrating in the process. "No… no!" Hrist tried to yell as one by one, the others were slowly felled as they walked towards their impending death, completely unimpeded due to whatever those objects on the ground were. "Say… Save… save them…" Selene tried to mumble out as her speech slurred. Deacon rapid fired off multiple rounds, popping heads as Ethan leapt in and blocked one dagger from the nearest Valkyrja and pulling her away, bisecting the man from groin to head. Once she was dragged away to a certain range, she just collapsed unconscious in his arms, with another saved by Orlo shooting a tow cord around her and hauling her back. Deacon fired at the dagger from another man who had a split second to look in his direction before a bullet flew right into his forehead and blew it apart, but a second came up behind and stabbed at one of the last Valkyrja, killing her.

Jorge came up to another man trying to backstab the second Valkyrja that was still alive and launched him to the moon with a backhanded shield, his body exiting through the opening he had just come from. One of the men tried to jump on Jorge's back, but Orlo fired off a concussive blast launching a lot of them around, some crashing into the walls and crushing their chests. In total there were around two hundred of these attackers, but it soon turned into maybe fifteen frighteningly quickly as Bronze Team lit the place up. The bodies were being teleported out of the room with small odd crystals the remainder of men had, with one having a goatee with a white line down the middle, staring right at him in shock. They disappeared from view, with no other hostiles detected once the others followed suit.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Kerry Muzzey – Metastasis, Cure (With Choir))**_

The arena was almost empty, save Bronze Team, three Valkyrja now unconscious including Hrist, and their empress near death.

Turnie was heard trying to heal her, shoving poultices into cuts and spraying at her wounds, with no effect. "I can't stop the bleeding! It's not working! We've got to get her out of here before I can provide medical aide! This room is impeding it!" Selene was starting to lose hearing as Turnie seemed to be fading in and out. "Ma'am! Ma'am! Selene! Don't you die on us! Selene! Stay with us. We're going to get you out of here. Evac! Evac now everyone!" She tried to listen to them, but their voices were tuning out. "Jorge… your voice isn't so tough now… what's going on…" Her fingers were tingling, then her arms and legs, losing feeling in her extremities. Turnie wrapped a bandage around her waist as Jorge carefully picked her up, Deacon throwing both unconscious Valkyrja over his shoulders while Ethan grabbed Hrist.

Her eyes slowly closed halfway with a small grin on her face. It was ok. It was fine, everything was going to be fine. There wasn't much pain anymore. Death didn't feel so bad. Bronze Team would be ok without her. They'd protect the valley and keep the Artinian kingdom at bay, there wasn't any need to worry. She had done her part.

"Selene! Selene! Ma'am! Wake up! Wake up! She's not breathing! I need a medical helibot ready now! Get crash cart ready!" Her view slowly faded away from Turnie and Ethan looking down at her as if she was sinking in a pool. It was so calming, with nothing seeming to mean much. She barely saw the movement of the helibot dropping through the opening in the arena in the far distance.

"EMPRESS!" Blackness.


	17. Ch 16 Search and Recovery

_**1st, November**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: LiquidCinema – Embrace)**_

There was a sound of breathing. It was slow, once every ten seconds, with a heartbeat in the background. The breathing slowly sped up a little as feeling came back to the arms, the legs, finally to her face and being able to hear. Selene's eyes slowly opened her eyes and closed them again, her vision being half blinded by the open drapes in the bedroom, her bedroom. Her head slowly rolled to the side as she tried to survey the room, finding Jeeves preparing some fresh flowers in a vase. "Je…" she tried to say his name, but her throat was like paper. "Jeeves…" her voice came out as a rasp of dust, just enough for him to hear her. Her mind wasn't really working quite just yet, so coms weren't in use.

Jeeves stopped and snapped his head quick as lightning in her direction, noticing she was awake. To others it might have been a little disturbing, but she knew how fast automatons could react. "By all that is holy… you're awake… finally…" he said as he jogged over to her bed and checked on her. "Where…" she tried to ask. "You're back home, safe and sound your majesty. Bronze Team brought you here, along with three guests." She looked at her arm and noticed the catheter, along with a few other tubes connected just under the sheets. She had another catheter down below, and what felt like a bed pan. She had made a slew of medical equipment in the past to help in the event there were refugees that were older and couldn't get out of bed or were in dire straits who couldn't be gotten to by an auto doc or magic to keep them alive, but she never expected she'd need to use any of it. "Water…" Jeeves poured her a small glass and helped tip it for her to drink, with maids coming in immediately as he summoned them. "Better your majesty?" he asked. She nodded and sat up with help from the maids, adding new pillows to support her back.

"You've been out for some time. One week to be exact." She looked up at him weakly. "I have? I don't remember much beyond… the fight…" she replied as she brought her hand up to her eyes and covered them. "Yes, once you were out of the temple, they were able to heal you… but…" Jeeves trailed off. "But?" she asked. "It was touch and go for a little bit, they had to resuscitate you… twice… it very nearly didn't work from what I was told."

 _So, I was clinically dead… I wonder for how long. Brain damage? I can remember everything, nothing feels out of place._

"I should have left the Lazarus System here" she said, looking into his optics as she realized it was still in her inventory. "You somehow pulled through with the healing provided by Turnie, but you entered a coma. It's a miracle it was so short though." So, there was no brain damage, she wasn't dead long enough; it wasn't as if the healing wouldn't fix the brain as well though. Her body felt a little weak, even though the battle was a week long gone, she had been lying in bed this entire time unconscious. "Jorge are you there?" she asked as she activated Communication is Key. "By all the gears and cogs, you fucking live your majesty!" Deacon chimed in. The others spoke up as well, thankful she was awake. "I'm here ma'am. We're very glad your back amongst the living." The dev breathed in deep and couldn't feel any phantom pain from any of the wounds she received. Turnie must have done good work, along with time teaching her nerves there was nothing there.

She opened her character sheet to use the "avatar" picture to see her face. It wasn't beat up anymore, with no scars or cuts. Aside from the coma, she was fine. She sighed in relief. The empress wouldn't be stuck in some wheelchair waiting to recuperate now that she was alive and well. Bronze Team opened the doors to her bedroom and walked in. She slowly moved her legs out from under the sheets and dropped them to the ground but didn't stand up. Turnie rolled over to her to check her pulse and temperature, before being given a hug by the woman. She returned it with all six arms. "We're glad you're ok ma'am, I did my best." Selene just kept hugging. "Your best is the best Turnie, no one else is as good as you." As they pulled apart and she locked eyes to optics with Jorge, he came forward. "Ma'am how are you feeling?" he asked. "I'm alive. That's usually a good sign." The group chuckled. "Can you fill me in on what happened after… well… I don't remember much…" she trailed off.

"Yes ma'am. Unknown forces dropped from above and proceeded to kill seven of the ten Valkyrja in the arena. We managed to save three of them, including Hrist, however the enemy force got away with the corpses with unknown teleportation capability. Our primary concern at the time was to-" Jorge was interrupted. "I'm not asking for an official report Jorge, I just want to know what happened. I really don't remember." A sigh sound came out as he kneeled. "We air lifted you out of the temple. As soon as we got out, your health regeneration kicked in along with assistance from Turnie, but it was close. We nearly lost you, twice. Turnie had to resuscitate you with a crash cart. Once we healed your body, we couldn't get you out of the coma you entered. Hrist we provided medical aide to as well, but she healed without having any further issues."

Silence enveloped the room for about twenty seconds as she thought. "I'm guessing those were Artinian forces. They killed seven Valkyries? By themselves? How?" Ethan stepped up. "Ma'am, they were using some sort of unidentified glowing daggers, but the real issue was two as yet unknown charges dropped behind them that caused them to drop their defenses and walk towards it, almost like a Siren's Call. The daggers penetrated their armor like it was nothing, but each dagger disintegrated after use. We recovered a few of the bodies as well, hoping to get some information as to who they were from their equipment." Selene looked at her hand as it trembled ever so slightly, then stopped. She had won. She had battled a Valkyrie and won. "So, the Valkyrja… the three that are here…"

"Hrist, Skuld and Brynhildr, also apparently known as Bryn or Bry" Orlo told her. That at least gave names to some of the others in that arena. "And they're alive?" she asked. "Yes ma'am, they're downstairs. The… "Siren's Call" effects were neutralized once we pulled them a certain distance away, but as a countermeasure it knocked them unconscious, probably to allow follow up attacks if any friendlies were in the area to assist them. I'm sorry ma'am, we… weren't able to stop what was happening until it was too late. They seemed to be on suicide runs just to take down the Valkyrja." The dev took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Orlo, can't you detect hostiles nearby?" she asked. Her spell Detect Hostiles would have told her she was surrounded given the Valkyrja were right next to her or behind. "The pulse only goes to fifty meters ma'am, they dropped in from above, beyond my range with no listening posts nearby. We had enough time to figure out what was happening when the two bombs dropped, but by that time they were down and stabbing the battle maidens. There were two hundred of them, it was a little difficult to protect the Valkyrja as they walked to their deaths. A travesty it was."

"I see. I'm not blaming any of you, I'm alive and I appreciate everything you've all done. I'd like to ask you to not tell the three still here that I'm awake yet, hopefully I can get some peace and quiet for a little while." Turnie looked between everyone. "Why do you say that ma'am?" The empress let out a half chuckle. "Because if I'm considered mortal, they might think I can do something about all of that, thinking I'm connected to those people, and I'd rather not-" the doors opened with Hrist, Skuld and Brynhildr walking in. "Ok, never mind…" Hrist walked up to her bed. "Mortal, your people attacked my sisters, murdered them in cold blood. How could you go against the rite?!" she asked, angry. Selene glanced at Turnie in a "see?" motion. "First of all, those weren't my people. Didn't you notice Bronze Team was fighting them?" she asked. Hrist looked at the metal men and women surrounding her.

"If they were not yours, who were they?" "I haven't the foggiest, and right now I just don't care right now. Orlo, did you get some of the fragments from the bombs and daggers?" Orlo floated near the foot of the bed. "Yes ma'am, at least of the bombs. The daggers… they were powder. You may be able to run some research projects to-" he was cut off. "We must go after them to gain justice for my sisters!" Hrist snapped at her. "No, you want to go traipsing off to go find them, with no knowledge of what the hell happened. Good luck." The black-haired Valkyrie glared at her. "You aren't willing to help?" she asked shocked. "I won. I'm done. You need to leave my people alone. End of discussion." Hrist loomed over her, but Bronze Team got ready for a fight. Ten Valkyrja was hard to take on, but three versus five was going to be unbalanced in the opposite direction, especially since her Steampunk Mechanical Engineering had increased their levels quite a bit. "Help us now." Selene sighed. "I don't have to do shit to help you last time I checked. I got what I needed, I survived, you need to honor the deal, or is your honor also stolen as well?" she asked.

The Valkyrie was pissed at that, raising her fist in the air, ready to strike her. The attack would snap her neck easily or launch her head from her shoulders, but Selene just looked at her in a nonchalant manner. "Go on, do it. You still won't get any help. The only thing you'll do is take out the one person who doesn't want to kill you it seems." Hrist clenched her fist, mulling the thought over in her head, then dropped her arm to her side. She stormed off out of the room with the other two in tow. "They're going to leave" Jeeves stated. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Good riddance, they've been high and mighty the entire time they were here. Only reason we let them stay was our majesty might want to have a few words with them. Now she has" Deacon replied.

The empress slowly stood up as the maids brought their hands near her in the event she fell. "Somehow I get the feeling this won't be the last time we see of them. They're going off to do something stupid, I don't want to really be a part of it. Gold Pine is safe, the mining can continue. I guess… I should probably show up at some point, shouldn't I?" she chuckled halfheartedly. "The security has been asked if you were alright, we reported you're safe and sound, just busy" Orlo explained. "Good to know, but I should at least let the miners know they won't be attacked again." Jeeves and the maids made some food as fast as they could, bringing her lunch it seemed given the time. She ate carefully in her bedroom, with Turnie near her at all times to make sure there were no complications. "I'm fine Turnie, or at least I am now. Can't you give me a clean bill of health?" The healer rolled up and touched her forehead.

"You don't have any brain damage, no temperature, pulse is fine, no wounds noted. Physically, you're healthy. Do you have issues mentally though?" Selene closed her eyes. "I thought no brain damage meant I was mentally fine too." Turnie shook her head. "I meant PTSD. You just went through a harrowing experience, you should talk about it to clear your head." The dev sighed and held out her hand, with it being steady. "See? Not trembling, not like before. I was afraid, as I should have been, but now, I'm not ever going to walk into something so stupid again unless I can get a second opinion or get far more information. That was just dumb of me on all fronts. I'm fine. If I'm not, I'll let you and Orlo know, I promise."

The healer nodded. "Alright, let me know if you need anything ok, Selene?" she asked. She had called her by her name. Not ma'am, not empress, not majesty, her first name. She was worried about her. "I will, I swear. Right now, I'd like to get some research done on those fragments Orlo found. I'm worried those could have worked on me. Maybe I can figure out a defense against both. If those daggers can penetrate Valkyrja armor in one strike, that's very overpowered, and dangerous. I can't have that used on you guys. We're going to play the defensive for a little until I can get some upgrades made to counter that, ok?" Turnie nodded in agreement.

 _ **3rd, November**_

Hrist stormed through the gates back into the palace, pushing open multiple doors to search for Selene and bypassing the security who while fast and strong, she wasn't trying to fight them, simply avoid them. The dev was sitting reading a book she was able to procure in Gold Pine. It seems if she shoved the thing in her inventory then pulled it out, it translated to English. It also seemed to work the opposite way if she was handing something written to anyone she met. She was sitting in her library which finally had some nice chairs and a fireplace to sit near, with the wolves surrounding her. Luna had gotten quite a bit bigger in the past week since she had woken up from her coma, being almost the size of Blue now and still growing. The dev hadn't used any potions or the orb the past two days to make sure she had fully recovered from the coma, with Jeeves and the maids feeding her and looking after her the entire time. While she hadn't lost much weight given the catheter and magic, she did need to exercise to work out the kinks and stiff muscles from lying in bed for a week. Turnie had turned her every few hours to keep bed sores from happening.

"I have information that states you do not need to perform your studies into those weapons." Selene just looked up from her book and glanced around the room, with the wolves looking at the Valkyrie. "Ok, that's great, but I'm still researching it. Already got a defense against the daggers so no one hit kills for anything, just working on refining the process for the orbs of mind control shit they were flinging." Hrist sighed in annoyance. "I'm telling you, they don't have anymore of them. It seems they were special artifacts no one knows how to make now." The dev put a bookmark in the book and closed it, then stood up. "Again, I'm playing it defensively right now, plus, I don't see how this has any effect on me beyond they don't know how to make things. Where did you find this out anyways?" she asked.

"We asked questions, from many sources, some of them from your… town, Gold Pine. There were a few cases where we had to be forceful in gaining the information." Selene stared at her. "Do not tell me you just roughed up some of my citizens for your information." Hrist stood there and rolled her eyes. "No, we did not harm anyone from that… place. We left to other locations. Now, if can you send out your metal men to find these people, we can go in and-" The empress groaned loudly. "I am not your servant! I am not an Einherjar! I'm not your lackey, I'm not your bitch, I'm not your friend right now! I fought you and won! I seriously don't understand how you think we are buddy buddy right now. I have an empire to run, a town to rebuild for Glass Dale, I'm in a war with the Artinian kingdom, and you want me to find your seven dead sisters, which could be fucking anywhere, after making me fight to the death?! Fuck. That. Noise."

The empress got up and started walking out of the room, with the wolves staying behind because of the warm fire. As she walked down the hallway, Hrist ran up and put her hand against the wall, blocking her movement. She started to walk around the Valkyrie, but she moved in front of her. "Seriously? In my own palace? You're really going to be that childish?" she asked. The battle maiden looked down at her as Selene scoffed. Hrist dropped her arms as the dev walked around her. "Please." The mortal woman stopped halfway down the hallway and looked over her shoulder. "Please help us. You said it yourself, they're my sisters, I need to find them… we would be indebted to you." The Valkyrja turned around and looked at the ground, blinking. "Hrist, it's finding a needle in a very large hay stack" The dev whined out as she turned around gesturing in the air, trying to help her see reason. The maiden looked up at her, her eyes soft. "I have to at least try. I would hope they would have done the same if it was me."

"They're dead though Hrist." She could see that stung the woman. There was silence for a minute. "Am I not allowed to at least lay their bodies to rest? Pay my last respects?" she asked. She didn't know if a Valkyrie could cry, but Hrist looked like she was fighting tears back. Even they knew of loss, probably every other emotion; they weren't hardened to life. A few moments past before Selene broke. "Jorge are you nearby" she asked out loud instead of using her coms, her eyes rolling once as she put her hands on her hips. "Downstairs ma'am, do you need help?" he yelled up. "Get some SF ornithopters out and about past the Azaltos Mountains, maybe we can pick up something… I dunno, a path or whatever as to where those assholes went with the bodies." Orlo connected through coms. "Ma'am, I believe I know where they teleported to. Miriam Valley, right in the middle of it. Those crystals I've been doing some of my own research on, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, thanks for giving me a second opinion on those. What do you have? Miriam Valley? You have a name for it already?" she asked. "I believe they would only have a few locations they can head to that would allow secrecy and containment of those bodies. It's not every day that someone brings seven Valkyrie bodies through city gates. Also, we've had a few ornithopters fly near the edge of the mountains before, hence the name." Hrist looked at Selene being very quiet as she seemed to be having a discussion in her head. "Thank you for helping us. We Valkyrja never break our word, we will be indebted to you." Jorge came up the stairs behind her. "She's talking to us in private, you just can't hear us." The dev walked down the hallway with both the Valkyrie and Medium following her. "Heading to the war room." As they entered, Hrist noted the room was fairly sparse, with an unfinished map table in the middle, multiple chairs along the walls and some other tables with some crystal decanters of liquor, a fireplace in the middle of the south wall and the start of a globe gyroscope with nothing in the middle. There were some bookshelves with nothing on them. Four chandeliers hung from the ceiling with electric lamps on the walls. Orlo was inside, waiting.

"Show me what you found." The SF Light Helibot beamed a holographic image onto the map table. "There's Silvinholm right there, along with the remains of Glass Dale. Miriam Valley is to the North with Eld Horn Town and Eld Horn Lake. Now, we've already gained limited intelligence before that there is a harbor city to the north near the ridge of Azaltos Mountains." Hrist pointed to that spot. "Some of those pirates told us of those artifacts used were bought from there. No more were created. The place was called Sweet Water Harbor." Selene looked up at her. "You've said that already. I'm looking for hints as to where they might have taken the bodies. You don't just walk into any city with corpses, even the guards won't let that happen due to potential disease, unless getting paid well. The only way they'd be allowed is… is…" Jorge looked up at her. "They're Artinian Special Forces. How many places have garrisons? That's what we need to look for. Do we have an image of anything they were wearing? Symbols, pommels, something?" she asked.

"Does this count?" Orlo replied as he produced a holographic image of the soldiers who attacked the Valkyries, as they still had bodies and clothing they were wearing, their weapons especially. There were sigils on their chests, along with what looked like an emblem on their upper shoulder patch, looked like a pile of dust. "We look for those, we follow their direction, we've got them." Jorge nodded. "Ornithopters already out and performing reconnaissance ma'am. Shouldn't be long." Hrist just looked at each of them, surprised at how quickly she got everything working to find her sisters. "Ok, while this happens, I'm going to finish my book and… do other stuff." Hrist let out a false laugh and looked at her oddly. "That's… it?" she asked. "Yes, that's it until I have more information. The book is good, it's a history book telling me about what was happening on this planet the past few… hundred years or so. Trying to catch up. Jeeves, can you get three rooms for the Valkyrja please." Hrist watched as she walked out. "You're not going to investigate yourself? Maybe you… you are an empress; your people might know something I couldn't gain from them." Selene laughed. "Hrist, my armor was destroyed in the battle, useless now. I need to make another one, I need to figure out what I've missed for the past, oh I dunno, ten fucking days I've had to prepare to fight you and been out like a light. Intel takes time. Sit around, try different foods, practice outside, whatever." The dev was a little grouchy, but also had some self-confidence, a large amount of it now that she had survived.

Jeeves acknowledged as she walked out of the war room and headed downstairs quickly, out of sight from Hrist. She headed to the royal vault. She had missed a week's worth of doing anything, although it could have been much worse, as well as couldn't use any consumables during the small time she was recovering. She checked the orb and noticed it was quite a bit higher in storage of experience and actions. "Ok… time to use a bit of you for now." She checked her level right now, which had gone up since her fight with Hrist to level 110. Fourteen levels, but it was one hell of a fight. The inside of that arena was wasted from what she noticed, but then she couldn't enjoy the design much due to being attacked by a blood thirsty Valkyrie. The dev held off on using the points temporarily, if only until she could make use of the orb.

She took out enough for another tech up, getting Atomic Era. She now had access to nuclear bombs, jet fighters as standard… microwaves in the kitchen. She already had access to microwave emitters as weapons and as defensive systems, just didn't really have the standard technology beyond steampunk to cook a frozen tv dinner, it would just explode due to the power; this was only a fraction of what she had gained though. Then she decided to take a chance to get another tech up for Super Steampunk. She felt dizzy but was able to fight through it without much issue now with all of her stats boosted very high. The schematics she received from the newest Steampunk Era was… very interesting. She was giggling to herself as she saw one particular design she could put some resources into.

 _Oh, I wonder if I should craft one of you… just to scare the crap out of everything within visual range of it… I wonder if it can cause earthquakes while moving… probably should keep it stored away from the castle and Gold Pine though…_

While she had felt a little dazed, it cleared up over the next hour as she left the vault without taking anymore levels. Tomorrow she was going to try and move up to what was called "Space Age" which was basically the creation of NASA and the trips to the moon, along with the Cold War. She knew she couldn't show any of the new-found tech to her people for a while, but slowly building them up over time could work, merging science and technology with magic and alchemy. Until then, she was now the de facto super power now. She'd need to use some of that new technology to add in extra features and boost the materials of her automatons. While the tungsten steel alloy held up against a real Valkyrie, albeit with a metric ton of upgrades and defensive systems attached to it, she needed to build on that, get something new into the mix. While technically by itself, it was weaker than Mithril, the fantasy material didn't have the same capability to allow Foucault currents to be pushed through the metal, making Mithril actually worse in strength, though lighter.

Given the exo frame, the weight hardly mattered. Adamantite was incredibly strong, but prone to heat, which the tungsten tended to not care about. All in all, it was still a great alloy she was using, but until she could get graphene made, it was the best she had. The dev remembered prismatic ore was added to Yggdrasil that was stronger than those fantasy materials, but frankly she hated the thought she needed to go mining for those and not use science now, despite removing required materials from schematics with Crafting Cost. She didn't even know if those materials existed in this world beyond what Giles had told her. Her scientific armor material had held up against a fucking _Valkyrie_ after all, the real thing, not some level 100 Yggdrasil cosplayer with the job class. If it was a full raid of level 100 players, Hrist might have still wiped them out as a very strong raid boss. Her movement speed was just insane, she hit like an oil tanker, her resistances made her immune to just about every offensive spell, her armor took shotgun shells and machinegun fire almost point blank sometimes, with specialty ammunition used, until she could wear it down; Hrist was also amazing in melee combat, blocking and weaving to throw her off guard. That battle maiden was something else… and she was asking for her help.

Since she hadn't taken any new levels just today, she threw another one hundred Attribute Points into Intelligence… then stopped dead in her tracks as she walked towards her library. New ideas on how to use schematics and miniaturize technology started to spring to mind, almost as if her actual intelligence increased. She was doing the calculations in her head for so many different things, coming up with new plans on what to do and where. The empress couldn't believe it had such an effect, but the cost in stats was still pricey, making her understand why it might not have been a good idea to shove those points in beforehand. Her sense of magic use went up as well, not as a power increase in what each spell could damage with, but in how to use it. She was already getting ideas of mixing magic with psionics to throw a spell in one direction and turn it with telekinesis or any of the other kinesis abilities, effectively controlling whatever was launched as soon as it left the chamber. Fireballs would turn into guided missiles or detonated over cover like a fragmentation grenade, probably even act like cluster munitions. There was also the possibility of having a spell burrow inside something then detonate as she released control over it, or even casting the spell _inside_ of something. She could launch ferromagnetic darts like a railgun if she needed to, provided she could get the material changed with Molecular Reformation.

She focused back on divvying the remainder and put forty points into Molecular Reformation Power, not really for building, but to be able to use it for heavier hitting stalagmite strikes, better materials used in the stalagmite and not use stone, also to make it so it could lift a building with one hit. Given her control now, she could also disintegrate a target by pulling away basic materials from armor, leaving anything completely undefended inside; if she fought anyone, they'd be completely naked, or have walls just disappear they were hiding behind. While it didn't really work on a living creature, she wondered if it would work on something undead, potentially collecting the calcium from the bones into a block she could use later, cleansing the resource just in case. The stalagmites would probably be like a giant iron spike or maybe even titanium blasting from the ground, or rapid fire railgun like she hoped to shoot.

With her two hundred eighty Skill Points, she held off again temporarily until she knew what her next action was going to be in the investigation for Hrist's sisters. If it involved her staying here to organize, then pumping points into Steampunk Mechanical Engineering would boost up her automatons even more. If it required her to be nearby, throwing it into her own personal skills would work even better to stay alive, albeit with Bronze Team being overly protective of her. Granted, this time she wasn't going to be restricted to fighting alone. If they did find the Valkyrie corpses, she'd most likely be having the other three living Valkyrja with her, along with Bronze Team and more than likely the other special forces teams she still had. That was an immense amount of firepower. That wasn't including the Honor Guard which would be coming.

"Your highness, would you like a bath started for you?" Jeeves asked over coms. "Yes please, thank you." As she headed up an elevator to her bathroom, the scent of lavender filling the air, she got a minor report from the security listening posts that unknown aerials, potentially hostiles, were heading over the Azaltos Mountains. She got an aerial view from an SF ornithopter to see what was coming near her empire. There were ten gryphons with what looked like human riders on them. She recognized the emblem of the Artinian kingdom army. "Target and engage with SAM systems."

Twin SAM sites near the listening post were camouflaged in nets and shrubbery and locked on, firing up a salvo of bumblebee missiles straight at them. The gryphons had enough time to barely look in the general direction of the missiles before they connected, wiping out the entire wing and cooking both rider and gryphon at the same time. They weren't getting any intel on what was living in this valley. "Ma'am, I think I've found a way to track teleportation coordinates whenever someone uses it" Orlo spoke over the coms as she soaked. "That's fantastic. Send me the details." He placed a report in her inventory, which she started to read while she sat in the tub. "So, we can track where people go or if someone "dials in" on this continent?" she asked. "We can certainly detect anyone attempting to do so inside the valley, more listening posts will be needed to extend the range. It could be possible to even block it, only allowing authorized access within our borders."

"I'll see about getting the research done on updating the listening posts, maybe we can get a coordinate scrambler built afterwards, or a teleporter block. This is really helpful, I should get you your own lab." Orlo chuckled over the coms. "I'm proud to serve ma'am, happy to help. I figured with us waiting around, we could at least do something. Turnie is working on some way to bypass that enchanting field in the temple, but she doesn't have any samples, at least none that are… not buried…" Selene cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean buried? What happened to the temple?" Orlo whistled for a second. "You happened, and Hrist as well. Your fight made the whole place structurally unsound. We compounded it with the fight against those men."

 _Ooh, Hrist is not going to like that. Then of course, she helped in its destruction._

"We really did that much damage to the walls and supports? Seriously?" she asked shocked. "It was meant for two mortals fighting, not a Valkyrja and a… Clockwork Empress battling each other. The walls were only made of stone." Selene bit her lip. Hopefully Hrist wouldn't find out about that. "Can she get outside samples and just wing it?" Orlo thought for a moment. "It is possible, but it will take her some time before there are any fruits born from her labor. I'll see if I can be of some assistance." The dev acknowledged as the coms chat ended.

Once her bath was finished and she felt clean, she walked out towards the front only to feel what was only thought to be an earthquake followed by a wind blast from the side of the palace. "The fuck…" she muttered out as she went around the side, taking a little bit of time, before finding Hrist and Skuld sparring. "Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! Not near the palace! I don't want any windows broken!" They both stopped and looked at her. "There's an arena on the other side, go use that playground, it's there for a reason. Get." She pointed in that direction like a mother scolding children. Both Valkyrja walked by her, with Skuld actually muttering sorry to her. Hrist might have been too proud to say it.

While Skuld still had her armor, Hrist did not, as most of it was destroyed or pulled away by Selene. Both of them were fighting in their under armor, with Hrist the larger of the two. Brynhildr watched as they went at it, creating a whirlwind of dust around themselves. "Was that the way we were fighting?" she asked Brynhildr. "You couldn't see your movements obviously. Yes, you were. The only reason you nearly lost was because you made mistakes in your defense. Had you changed direction once Hrist had grabbed that… thing, the cord, you may have come out on top without any issue. Of course, it was amusing seeing you attempt to heal yourself. What were you thinking? That you could just turn back time from everything that Hrist had done to you?" Bryn explained with laughter. Her long blonde hair was twisted in large braids in many places, with three scars on the left side of her chin. As all the Valkyrja were beautiful, Brynhildr was no exception to the rule.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Fountain of Life)**_

"Bry, would you care to swap?" Hrist asked as the blonde warrior nodded and hefted her huge shield and sword. As she stepped in to fight Skuld, the raven-haired woman walked over and sat down, drinking from a waterskin. "I require new armor. You destroyed mine." Selene cocked her head back a little in surprise. "And you destroyed mine. We're even." Hrist drooped her head in annoyance. "I cannot go back to our temple because it is destroyed! I cannot even tell where our armory used to be mortal. I need equipment if I am to be of any use in helping find my sisters." The dev got annoyed as well, but at least she now knew that the Valkyrja found their temple turned into rubble without her having to explain it. "The name is Selene, Hrist, I'm not called mortal. You want help with equipment, change your attitude. You stay in my home, eat my food, practice in my arena, having me find your sisters, request armor from me; the least you could do is show respect." Hrist sighed and looked at the ground. "I thought I already did. The fact I asked you for assistance should be telling. I believe you have the strength to get us to our sisters."

"Your attitude isn't something the rest of us would deem showing respect. You sound as if you're demanding assistance. You aren't really used to being around us, are you?" The Valkyrja half chuckled. "While my sisters would sometimes steal away into the night to have a few romps with heroes of both genders in some hay bale, I tended to continue practicing. It's the reason I had never been defeated, until you came along. I am unsure how I am supposed to act near you and your people, your kind."

 _Huh, so Valkyrja are bisexual. Honestly, that doesn't surprise me. Does this mean Hrist is a virgin? Ha. It kind of shows._

"Well for one, ask. There is no harm in questioning… unless it's someone that is hostile towards you, then… be careful with what you say, it may turn violent." The maiden laughed. "Do I look like a woman that would shy away from a fight?" she asked. "Except you wouldn't get the answers you're looking for if you kill them. Sometimes words are worth far more than a sword or spear." Hrist raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Your words carry wisdom. I will… endeavor to do better. You have my thanks." Selene nodded as she watched Skuld sweep with her spear in less than a second and creating a circular divot in front of her, knocking Brynhildr back a foot even with her shield up. "I'll see about getting some armor made for you, but I don't have access to the materials you probably are used to. I hope tungsten steel alloy is alright." The raven-haired woman looked up at her in shock. "You expect me to wear such low quality?... wait, was that what you were wearing when we battled?" she laughed at that. "That low quality kept me on par with you last time I checked, thank you very much" Selene crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She hadn't learned yet to control her words. "My apologies, it was not a slight against you. I'm even more impressed you did what you did with those resources. You are a unique being. What was it that you used to tear off my armor? I have never seen anything like it. I saw no mana used, no cast of power. It was almost as if you were a goddess."

"You can see mana being used?" the dev asked. "We Valkyrja can see many things that a human cannot, one of which being when you use your magic, to see the improvements you make to your defenses with it. There is also a slight glow in the eyes that isn't normally visible to one such as yourself, but _we_ notice it. That didn't occur when you tore my armor away." Brynhildr launched Skuld into the sky with a shield bash, which only made her laugh from being able to temporarily fly, like a child tossed into the air by a parent. Her brown hair flailed behind her in a fan shape as she twirled and came down with a sword ready to strike back. If it was any human their chest would have collapsed from the strike, but to them, they were playing, sparring for the enjoyment. It didn't surprise Selene anymore now that she had done some of those maneuvers with Hrist. "That was… um… that was psionics…" the empress scratched her nose and looked away. "What is this… "psionics?"" Hrist asked in confusion. "Powers of the mind." The maiden's eyes widened. She stood up, towering over Selene as she came closer and put her hands out towards her head. Selene worried she was going to do something, but her hands just touched her forehead gently as if touching a fragile flower, turning her head carefully both directions as if expecting to see something attached to her skull. "How? Is it possible?" Hrist seemed to be whispering to herself. Her hands dropped as she backed up a foot.

"My apologies, I… tell me this… do your people see you in a divine position? Beyond ruling." The dev looked up at the sky. "Uh, sort of? They wanted to start a religion around me because I rebuilt Gold Pine after it was burnt down, but I snuffed that idea out. I'd rather not have some temple devoted to praying to me, I in no way am saying I'm a goddess, so I don't want others to get their hopes up or expect me to hear their prayers. I'm right here, not some celestial being." Skuld and Brynhildr stopped sparring and looked at the two women. "How did you manage that by yourself? Building an entire town, with just your two hands?" Hrist questioned. Selene debated showing them, but considering they were Valkyrja it wasn't as if they hadn't seen things she could only dream of… or have nightmares of. She sighed and focused on the ground, moving a stone slab from below the dirt up that was hidden. It was a piece of the foundation she hadn't gotten rid of for her arena. "She couldn't be… that… that's almost like…" Skuld mumbled out to Brynhildr. "That is a divine power… no magic involved…"

 _I'm a developer, we kind of are looked at as divine beings for the players sometimes, unless we fuck up something, then we're looked upon as the devil himself. That isn't a bug guys, it's a feature to stop you from defeating bosses with glitches and terrain due to pathing issues._

"I'm not divine, I… I don't think I should be having this discussion anymore. Excuse me." It felt the same way as the citizens of Gold Pine looking at her, which bothered her given these were Valkyries; it made her feel uncomfortable and put on the spot. Molecular Reformation wasn't some divine power, it felt more like a tool that came along for the ride that she could use. The dev walked away from them and back into the palace, with Hrist watching her leave. "I wonder if she could craft the stars themselves" she said quietly.

Selene went back into her library and picked up her history book to continue reading, then opened up her character sheet as she had completely forgotten about every ten levels gaining something. Level sixty seemed to have given her some sort of gift in her inventory, level 70 gave her an ability just like Night Vision Thermal goggles for her Hud just called "Night Vision" which made goggles useless now for her, level 80 seemed to provide one free tech up that came in the form of a golden enchanting gem in her inventory, with level 90… it provided a new ability. Material Redesign, shown the same as Molecular Reformation and Magical Revision. It even provided her a free tooltip without using it yet.

Material Redesign allowed her to take apart the atomic structure of each resource and put it back together in a different way, effectively capable of producing a completely new resource with extra electrons or protons added in like making a cake. While her converters allowed that changing materials from one form to another, those only allowed her to change them into elements that already existed. This could allow her to just make up brand new elements with new properties, then just research them to create wholly new schematics or improvements. She didn't need to use fantasy metals if she decided to create brand new scientific elements as good if not better than them.

 _Unobtainium will be a thing now! I'll have to work on the marketing name though…_

At level 100, she received a second gift in her inventory. She decided to pull the two gifts and golden enchanting gem at the same time and dropped them in her lap, then swallowed the gem and opened the boxes. Inside the first was some sort of amulet, while in the second she received… a medal. Confetti popped out the sides from small little holes as two small flags popped up from the back. "Are you kidding me?" she laughed as she looked at it. There was even what sounded like a "you win" sound playing from an old version of windows solitaire.

 _While this thing looks useless, it is amusing. Guess it's another way of congratulating me for not dying. At least whatever sent me here has a sense of humor, which I'll admit is funny. Regardless, this now has sentimental value._

Since she now had a free tech up, which seemed a little redundant given the orb, and the dizziness had long since past, her first thought was to complete the whole side tree of Steampunk. As she took Space Steampunk Era, she received everything that it had to offer, how to get into space with old fashioned sci fi rockets, starting off world colonies, mining operations, old space ships, space stations, even steampunk satellites. Despite the aesthetic designs, all of it was awesome; the looks of the different equipment she was really getting used to now. Very little of it used glass paneling compared to real space tech though, with the entire rocket using sensors to see outside. She could get to another planet, but there would be no view while getting there or after landing, being a fairly boring ride. This could be changed easily once she got Space Age from the regular timeline to launch Saturn V rockets, or space shuttles.

 _Houston, we will_ not _be having any problems today._

She checked the amulet and noticed it had a capability to level with her in her Hud, along with a feature of "cannot be impeded. Warning." Given she had opened the box well past when she should have, it stood to reason it might have looked far more different before, probably not as powerful either. The design seemed like it was made of gold with different colored gems along the outside, a pearl and an opal as well; there were fringes on the sides that looked like wings curving up and touching the tips together. She put it on and didn't notice anything. As she took it off and looked at it again, she noticed there was what looked like a spherical object in the middle that seemed almost like a white porcelain Jupiter with swirling lines and clouds that were moving. As she peered at it, the clouds slowly dissipated and opened up to a world, slowly zooming in. Her eyes, despite not having a mirror to see herself or looking at her avatar in her character sheet, were slightly glowing. The world zoomed into her continent and showed the palace, then put a comical arrow pointing at it, like a "you are here" dot. Her eyes slightly moved to the right, with the zoom in following the movement, well past the Azaltos mountains. A second arrow popped up at where she motioned towards, with a red and green dot just barely out of view. Red was below, green was above her vision.

Her eyes looked up just for a second, but that was all it took for the green dot to light up… teleporting her out of the palace. She appeared in the middle of Miriam Valley in a field, with nothing around her. "Fuck, fuck fuck!" she looked around in worry. No one was around her, which gave her some relief. "How do I go back?!" she looked at the amulet again and focused on getting it to zoom in, looked at the palace, looked at the green dot and teleported a second time, into the dining room on the first floor. Her coordinates were a little off due to not looking directly at the library.

 _I have full capability to teleport at will?! Anywhere?! Well, as long as I use the amulet and stare at the thing for like a minute. Doesn't seem useful for a fight, but to get around when I don't need to fly, ride Aster and drive around, this thing is awesome! I wonder if it can go off world too. It says cannot be impeded, I wonder if it means it can't be blocked by tech or magic that's supposed to inhibit that, but it also gives a warning… that could mean it won't stop if I try to teleport inside a mountain or something, or to a place that doesn't have oxygen so no safety features. Gotta watch out for that. Oh right… Aster._

As she walked out of the room, Jeeves came by and looked at her. "Ah, your majesty, I thought you were in the library." She glanced left and right. "Uh, yeah… I… I was… just… um…" Jeeves was holding a tray with a tea pot. "Would you like some tea your majesty? The maids have made some scones for you as well." Selene giggled a little. "Sure, why not, that would be lovely. Has anyone been feeding Aster while I was… you know…" The empress felt like she dodged a bullet. "All of your pets have been well taken care of, I assure you your majesty." She shoved the amulet in her inventory quickly as she followed Jeeves into a smaller tea room. Juliet had informed her she needed multiple rooms for different needs, not always using the dining room to eat. As she had her tea poured and put the lumps of sugar and cream, Hrist and the other Valkyrja walked by the open door and saw her sitting with the scones on the table. Selene's eyes glanced at the scones, then at her. "Do you want one?" she asked.

Hrist walked into the room and picked up a glazed scone with icing on the top, bit into it and enjoyed the flavor. Crumbs were dropping from the scone onto the floor, with the dev looking down at it and back up at her. She noticed the empress doing that and finally put her hand under the scone to stop more from dropping. "This treat, you eat them often?" The dev exhaled in amusement. "It's tea time, that's a scone. There are far more sugary creations than that to be considered treats. I take it you haven't had much like this?" Hrist sat down. "I've been used to sweet breads, fruits, sugared mead, but these… I haven't partaken in many… pastries?" she ended with a question on the word used. "I believe that's closer to a biscuit, but yes, pastry." Jeeves poured another cup of tea for the battle maiden, who then proceeded to look at the cream and sugar. She dumped half of each container inside, then proceeded to drink the entire cup, with Selene blinking at her in amusement. "So, I've seen enough movies to worry about this in your culture. Do not slam the cup into the ground to ask for another. Just have more tea poured. I'd rather not cast repair on my china."

Hrist looked at her and blinked, with her hand outstretched from the table, the cup in her hand. "I see." She put the cup down as Jeeves poured more tea for her. "It was a bit too sweet." "Of course it was, you dumped half the container of sugar into it. While I don't have a problem with you doing that, it's probably a good idea to use the spoon." The maiden scoffed, then picked up the spoon and proceeded to pour three lumps in and stirred. Once she got a taste, it was far more to her liking. "Quality for an empress it seems." Selene looked up from her own tea. "I don't know about the quality, it's great and all, but I wouldn't know compared to anyone else. Just my personal tastes." The dev sipped her tea and took a small bite from her scone. "I am surprised your… empire… is not larger with what you have here. You only rule over Gold Pine, and yet you have this… fortress." Selene chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I've only been an empress for two weeks. Give me a break. I have to rebuild Glass Dale, fight a war with the Artinian kingdom, defend against incursions or what my security are apparently calling target practice. The place will grow." With that said, she sent a request for Romeo and Juliet to get a construction crew ready for Glass Dale and sent a military combat battalion and engineering battalion to escort them. The people were going to be amazed at seeing their homes rebuilt, with a new defensive wall… and security that won't abandon them.

"Do you build each to the same… er… specifications, as you do this place?" Hrist asked. "Oh this? Hrist, this used to be a cave in the side of a mountain. It's only built out since then." The maiden was surprised to hear that. "You lived in a cave?" Selene drank from her cup and nodded. It wasn't like telling them her story wouldn't be so weird, at least part of it. "Lived in a cave, survived my first month and built up a small fort. Found the wolf pack that Luna, Ash and Blue belonged to and killed their parents due to some sort of smoke in their den making them crazy, took care of the pups after, they've been with me ever since. Met people in Gold Pine, built up the fort some more, got into a bandit war, won. Went on an adventure, got treasure, blew up a goblin nest. Now I'm in another war with something far bigger, but I now have help. That's the cliff notes." The Valkyrja stared at her. She hadn't been an empress for very long, no wonder she knew how to fight and survive. "How many brigands? How many of your forces?"

"About twenty-seven hundred bandits in total between two fights, I think I had… one hundred automatons for the second one? Some auto mortars and cannons? Traps on the walls and some actual trap walls to block them from escaping. Also, lots of spider mines. That's about it. I got shot by a crossbow bolt the first fight though, so… I was being a little stupid." Hrist stared at her. "That's an epic to be sung about. You were outnumbered… almost thirty to one. It must have been a glorious battle."

 _And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air…_

"We showed them they couldn't run rampant, that someone would stand up to them. Boy, were they not ready for what we had prepared." To Selene, it wasn't very amazing anymore, long since past despite being shot by a primitive projectile, but to Hrist hearing about it… there was respect in her eyes, far more than ever before. Unfortunately, the battle maiden didn't exactly understand, the dev wasn't out in the field with a sword and shield in hand, but behind fortifications dropping explosive death everywhere. It might not have been honorable close combat, but she was alive while the bandits were ground up dust. The history books are always written by the victor after all.

The empress finished her tea and broke off a piece of the scone to carry, then walked out of the tea room with Hrist following confused. She headed back outside to the stables and checked on Aster, who hadn't been ridden for well over a week. "Hey there, sorry buddy, I didn't mean to forget you. Here, I got a present." She fed him the scone and pulled a carrot from her inventory, which he was happy with. He gave her a nuzzle as she patted him. "So, this is your… Pegasus?" Hrist asked. Selene looked up at her. "What? No, he's a horse, a big one, but just a horse. He doesn't have wings." She moved the blanket from his back to show her. "A shame. I could make him one. He looks to be a fine steed, built for battle." Selene was brushing his chest and the fur on his hooves, but immediately stopped and looked at Hrist. "Wait, WHAT?!" she asked in surprise. "All Valkyrja have lost steeds, even me. It is inevitable. It would be difficult to breed more Pegasus quickly, so the All Father blessed us with the capability to change any horse into one."

The dev looked between Aster and Hrist, back and forth replaying what she just said in her head. "I… that doesn't hurt the horse does it? I don't want to do something weird to Asterion, I made a promise to someone to take care him and I aim to keep it." The Valkyrja just laughed. "It won't cause any harm, I assure you." Selene just looked at Aster who pulled her handkerchief from her pocket with his teeth playfully and waved it around. "If you did that, I'd need a much bigger stall to make sure his wings didn't cramp right? How would he learn to fly? He's never had them before." The maiden looked around. The stables were quite big, with Asterion the only horse in any of the stalls. "They learn through practice, just like anyone else, provided they have a good trainer. You could remove one of these stalls to provide ample space."

Selene just blinked as she tried to continue brushing him. "I don't know…" Hrist sighed and put her hand on hers to make her stop brushing. "I swear on my oath; no harm can come to him." The empress looked into Aster's eyes. "Hey buddy, I wanna ask you something. You ever wanted to fly? Like with your own power? It's being offered to you." Aster looked at her calmly for a few moments before nodding his muzzle up and down. "Ok, fine… just… fine…" she accepted his choice as she helped lead him outside of the stables. Hrist put her hand on his chest and seemed to be focusing, the sound of her voice barely audible as her mouth recited runic language quickly. As she spoke, runes started to etch throughout his body from her hand, causing Selene to worry, but then saw the runes move to his back and expand… creating huge wings to support his weight. "Whoa." As Hrist backed up, Aster reared up and spread his wings as far as they would go. The dev was more than impressed.

"He's going to need some training to use those beyond just for looks." The auburn-haired woman looked at Hrist then back at the spectacle that Aster had become. "You want to ride him? At least for the time you're here." The maiden looked at her in a little shock. "A Valkyrja does not take from another rider, whether it be borrow or steal. He is yours after all." She sighed. "Ok, how do I train him then?" she asked a little frustrated with that answer. "You don't. You do not have the capabilities to stop him from falling from the sky." Selene threw her hands into the air in annoyance. "Great, fine, so Aster has wings he can't use because he's my horse… Pegasus now. Wonderful." She groaned in annoyance as she got him ready with a saddle to ride around for some exercise. "Hey Aster, please don't try to fly with me on your back yet ok? I'll figure something out… maybe add a jetpack or something to help you learn…"

The empress trotted Aster out of the gates and headed off through the hills while Hrist stood there, looking around as if she had made a mistake. It was supposed to be a small gift, but it might have been construed as the wrong thing to do, backfiring in her face. Despite Selene having Riding Skill at fifty percent, she doubted it did anything involving flying even if it was increased to one hundred. That was probably a separate skill, as well as needing a brand-new saddle to keep her attached. As she traveled around in the hills, she could see some of her military forces in the distance rolling around, a few tanks and some LAVs traveling to another point in their patrol route with an anti-air group following. Even if they weren't around, and even without armor, she was pretty sure she could take anything that would fight her in the valley now, probably throughout the continent.

After an hour of helping him exercise and canter around, enjoying some much-needed running and jumping, she brought him back to the gates to find Hrist standing near them with her hand up. "I have spoken with my sisters, and… they have agreed with me that… I… could make an exception in training him." While she was doing her best to not show it, the maiden did look a little embarrassed. "Ok, fine. Take care of him." The empress hopped off and handed her the reins. "It will take some time though, it is not an easy process" the Valkyrja told her. "I understand. Just be good to him, he's been my travel buddy for the past month, carried his fair share. He deserves a chance to use the wings you gave him." Hrist rubbed Aster's muzzle and let him smell her. "I will do my best for him then."

 _ **4th, November**_

Selene ate breakfast while checking through some new research available, already using the orb to gain another five levels and hit the Space Age for the regular timeline to balance between steampunk and NASA designs. She could slow down finally now that the Valkyrie battle was behind her, getting to level 115. Even then, that was a massive boost from what she had been not too long ago. In armor, she was capable of going toe to toe with Hrist; now, it was entirely possible for her to be even more powerful than her. She had been researching the grass quite a few times, not because it was interesting, but because it had first produced the enzyme that dropped lubrication maintenance on automatons. It had changed the need to lubricate the autos from every day to every week back then, but now it was refined multiple times to create a chemical reaction if ever touched by air, oxidization allowing the automatons to self-lubricate without any extra assistance. They could keep going provided there were spare gears and cogs available, which didn't break much if at all with the newer stronger materials and design features. A newer creation of steampunk Kevlar was developed that was almost as strong as graphene, but not quite there. If she could get graphene as a standard armor and frame structure, then it would be a massive improvement over what she had.

Her research finally bore fruit with a new anti-magic film to make all armor immune to tier 2 Yggdrasil magic and below, with tier 3 shortly on the way, probably by the end of the day. She took the fifty Attribute Points and shoved them into Molecular Reformation AOE stat, bumping it up to sixty percent. She could either launch a spiked hill into a building or fill it with hundreds of stalagmites all impaling something or another. Her reasoning right now for upgrading it was because it was one of the abilities that completely ignored all magic when fired, no one expected, and bypassed time dilation effects. If she could get her armies to be immune to what she thought was Slow mixed with Widen Magic, then it wouldn't be much issue; however, she wanted to be prepared to take out multiple casters at the same time. Oddly enough, she had tried it once on Hrist in the battle and missed. She was just too fast. Now that her Power for the ability was much higher, along with AOE, it wouldn't matter with a floor turning into a giant spike pit, or the walls, or ceiling, etc... Combined with Telekinesis and she had giant spears to sling around for days.

Her armor was rebuilt again from the template she had remembered to create, adding a similar design for Hrist. It looked just like the Valkyrja's old armor, just with not the same material. However, with Material Redesign, it was possible for her to learn from the Valkyries, potentially creating celestial ores not normally seen on this world.

Involving her Skill Points, there was still no update from the ornithopters searching. While she now had three hundred eighty points to use, she wanted to add to the skills that would help in the coming engagement.

 _Fine, maybe add a few right now._

Fifty points were added to Gathering, as it hadn't seen any upgrades since automatons started gaining resources. However, with the orb connecting them, it was possible her skills and abilities functioned on the surroundings as extensions of her. If that was the case, the ability Renewable Resources could constantly be overshot every day, with it being utterly useless. If she got it up to a high percentage, then not one of the mines would ever run out of resources, the farms would never fail to produce or regrow on their own. She could only imagine the effect it would have if she ever got space born and got her hands on an asteroid field. At least with one hundred now it was easing off, with statistics reports being provided by Juliet on the amount of materials coming in. From the looks of it, she'd have to get the skill up to around five hundred percent, maybe one thousand for constant renewables. It was almost like resource nodes in MMOs, except she had to make the feature work with the skill, it didn't just happen on its own.

Thirty points were added to Logistics to speed up production in inventory and for the construction crews. While in the past Molecular Reformation was her go to for building the house and the fort, it was now mainly a weapon or a personal tool when no constructors were around. Juliet was building up support walls all along the Boramar Mountains near the mines and inside them, as well as accepting requests from Selene to build certain buildings for Gold Pine that Security would hear about from the citizens; her new task was now rebuilding Glass Dale, with a company of about one thousand constructors all prepared. "Ok, that leaves three hundred…" she muttered to herself as she sipped her tea.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Breathe)**_

Just then, Aster's head slowly rose outside the window with his wings flapping. The dev spit out the tea and ran to the window as he hovered there and whinnied. "Aster?!" she said in shock as her feet carried her out of the dining room and headed down to the first floor. She was eating on the twenty-fifth floor at the time, using the elevator that seemed to take forever despite it being less than a minute.

As she shot outside and around the corner, she could see Hrist standing there watching him as he slowly descended. "You got him to fly!" she laughed out as she looked up and saw him come down on his hooves without issue. "I got him to ascend in one place, not to fly. He still needs more training, as I said." The empress looked at the Valkyrja as she seemed to be smiling. "You aren't riding him up though." Hrist looked at her. "He needs time to feel what it's like to rise without weight on his back. To suddenly make him carry something would stress his wings, potentially harming him and throw off his angle. Once he gets used to it, I'll lead him around the castle grounds while in the air. Then, and only then, will he be ready to fly beyond the bounds of these walls, though it will be slow. Eventually, he'll be able to move as fast as any other Pegasus."

"I… wanted to ask, but… I didn't see any Pegasus at the temple." Hrist's face slowly softened. "They did not come with us. They were left behind as we were frozen in crystals and sent away by Odin. I doubt they are alive." Selene felt like she had just opened an old wound for her. "Sorry, that must have felt like you lost a friend." The Valkyrja looked at the ground. "The connection between a Valkyrja and her mount is unparalleled. We are more than friends, Selene. It is… difficult to explain." The maiden looked at Aster walking up to her and nuzzled her chest. She fed him a carrot she was hiding on her belt, but there was a sadness on her face the dev couldn't quite describe. While it proved to her there was a softer side to Hrist, it also let her know where she needed to throw some points into for skills. If Hrist was going to be training Aster in the sky, she remembered she really wanted to make a P-51D Mustang, even if it was obsolete compared to jets she could make. It was just an amazing plane.

"Ma'am, do you copy?" she heard Orlo over coms. "Go ahead, I'm here."

"We have visual on the assailants from the temple." Selene's eyes widened for a second before calming down. "Hrist. I just got new information. We need to get ready." The battle maiden nodded, her face turning to steel. "Time for some justice, for my sisters." She called in Bronze Team to get prepared, to finally have the shoulder mounts installed for secondary armaments, and to gear up. The Artinian kingdom had no idea what was coming for their special forces.


	18. Ch 17 Uncontrollable Evil

_**4th, November**_

Hrist was surprised at the information. "We have to go. Tell me where and we will bring down the sky on those men." Selene sighed as she walked back into the palace, with the Valkyrja confused as to why she was walking away from her.

"Orlo, can you meet me in the war room again?" she asked via coms. The member of Bronze Team acknowledged as the dev headed to the fourth floor, with Hrist forgetting about bringing Aster back to the stables. "I thought you were going to take care of Aster, letting him wander the palace grounds isn't taking care of him."

"He knows where the stables are, he isn't stupid. You don't give him enough credit for a war mount." The empress just shook her head slowly and requested a Civilian model to bring him back. Once both of the women were inside, Orlo began to explain the situation.

"I've been compiling the information we have while watching for any signs that these Artinian special forces were anywhere nearby or if they might have returned to the capital. It seems they didn't head to any one city or town, instead moving to a location simply situated near a town for resupply. Eld Horn Town is near Eld Horn Lake, which is known for its hunters providing hides and-"

"Sorry Orlo, but could you skip to the part where we know where these men took the bodies?" Selene glanced at Hrist who seemed to be impatient.

"I apologize. They have traveled here, in what appears to be called Morelar Woods to the North East of the lake. The teleportation crystals they had have a limited range and were based on fifth tier magic Teleportation with a limited AOE due to the strength of the enchanter, but there must have been other transportation waiting for them, probably via cart due to wheel tracks found. They then brought the bodies to a garrison here in that forest." He had an animated map beamed onto the table in the middle of the room. The town would provide food and fresh horses, but the real fort was hidden away from prying eyes… unless those eyes were airborne.

"Then we must move quickly to slay them and bring back my sisters" Hrist said as she slammed her fist against the side of the map table, making a resounding thump. A chunk of the wood came off, which annoyed Selene. She cast **[Lesser Repair]** on the table to fix the damage.

"Whoa whoa whoa, ease up. You don't have your armor yet, no weapons and no plan. Calm down." Hrist looked at Selene with shock. This empress was trying to slow her down from getting some just revenger.

"Then where is the armor you said you would make?! I need it now!" she snapped out. There was silence in the room.

"If you go and run off it's a surefire way of getting yourself killed. They'll have traps set up just for you and your last two sisters. You don't want-"

"They do not have any more of those daggers or bombs! I have already explained this to you!"

"That's not what I'm saying! So, what if they don't have them?! You think they wouldn't have a plan B ready if you three showed up?! They didn't get all of you, which makes it very likely they'll try again, and just running into the battle will give them more bodies to work with!"

"Then what would you have in mind?! Sneaking in like a thief in the night, scurrying off with the bodies of the fallen? That is not the way of a warrior!"

"You are so stuck in the past that you forget that history is told by the victor! Who gives a shit if we sneak in instead of fighting our way through? It means you survive instead of the Artinian kingdom having ten Valkyrie corpses to play with!"

"We are Valkyrja human! Do not get that name wrong again!... and what do you mean by 'we'?" Hrist slowly calmed down as she seemed confused by what Selene was saying.

"Yeah, we, because someone has to wrangle you in, otherwise they're going to just end you! I'd rather not have to worry evil plans and experiments done by supervillains, but if you add in another three to the pile, that makes my life even worse with furthering their goal! I'm trying to save your life damn it!" Hrist had been glaring at Selene but softened as she realized the empress was worrying about their fate. While she was willing to admit she was difficult to be around due to noninteraction with humans much, the fact that the dev was trying to look out for them even after the battle… was a little heartwarming. It made her feel like maybe there was someone that had her best interest in mind.

"Sneaking in feels shameful though…"

"As I said, history is written by the victor. Where I come from, asymmetrical warfare is standard now. You don't need to go charging at each other with big armies all the time, you disable their supply lines and communication, hit them from all angles without losing any men and make them waste everything to fight back. You don't die for your kingdom, country or nation. You make the enemy die for his. Honor is only remembered if you survive; if you die, everyone will just say you were weak. Can you adapt to a new world, one where you are going to need to fight in a different way?" Selene asked as she tried to explain.

Hrist had seen first hand what her adaptability turned into, being capable of taking her on with impressive equipment made by a mortal, having metal men walking about, knowledge of advanced technology and readily available resources to mass produce large amounts of items or food. If there was one thing she knew, Selene had been willing to share her wisdom to help her, when she didn't need to. Now she was even planning the attack, as well as offering to come with them.

"I… how quickly can we be ready? I… we… should not take too long. Please… tell me you have a plan that does not involve sitting around and letting them come to us…"

"I do, but it does involve some patience… at least until tonight. I finished your armor and my own already. Do you really want to get your sister's bodies back?" Selene asked.

"More than you know, Selene."

"Then trust me." The Valkyrja sighed and nodded. The empress had no reason to backstab her in any way.

 _ **5th, November, Midnight**_

The empress was quick to building a plan around getting into the hidden garrison they found. It turns out, the ornithopters had found openings to enter from three locations. There were hills in most directions, but a hefty amount of them were covered in heavy foliage, making it difficult for anyone to get visual on a spec ops company going in. It gave Selene enough time to get the operation going, have the helibots prepped for the stealth ride, get newer weapons installed for the four shoulder mounts that each special forces auto was going to be carrying, and make sure Hrist understood the new improvements to her armor. Although it didn't have the material composition of her old armor, the battle maiden was getting used to the new advantages she had, enjoying it a lot with the new comfortable padding and being very grateful to Selene for the suit. Her sisters were so impressed with her new technology that they even wanted their armor to be improved as well. Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to add anything in, so her sisters would have to wait until after this coming assault. She was going to have plenty of time to work on the new Rare quality tier, finally getting set bonuses created.

The dev had the Valkyries sleep or perform light practice until nightfall to make sure they were not fatigued, with Hrist hating the fact they were waiting; she also wondered why Selene even thought they'd need to rest after practice, as the Valkyrja had infinite stamina. There was no guarantee the Artinian kingdom weren't ready for the last three sisters to go in wild to find the corpses, despite not having anymore Siren's Call bombs or special crystal daggers. It gave Selene a chance to add in the new modules for her autos from the fabrication units, giving them complete immunity to tier 3 magic and below, along with heavy resistance to one hit kill attacks. While spells that could do that were rare and far above tier seven or eight, as well as mostly only working on living targets as a death spell, she didn't want to take chances until she could get some intel on the wizard's academy in Aureos. The teleportation scrambler had been crafted with some help from Orlo, then refined by the end of the night to block anyone from "beaming in or out."

 _Not even Scotty could figure out how to bypass this thing._

As Selene had taken a small nap and got ready in her armor, she checked on the Valkyrja, with Hrist barely sleeping or relaxing. "Hey, you alright? This will work, I promise." The raven-haired woman looked up at her as she cinched her belt and nodded.

"I trust you. That is very hard for me to say to anyone other than my sisters." The dev was impressed by the vote of confidence. As they finished getting their armor on, all four of the women headed downstairs to the first floor, to an armory. Inside, all four special forces teams, including Bronze Team, were preparing. Shoulder mounts were tested with different weapons carried, including Turnie who now had four separate weapons on her back. She never took the Hippocratic oath and the empress wasn't about to make her. The healer bot needed to protect herself now.

 _Holy shit… I swear, I've seen memes before on this, but they don't do what I'm seeing justice. So, this is what the inside of a can of whoop ass really looks like…_

Each special forces team had a similar make up to Bronze Team, without the super systems that they had. Regardless of that, they were essentially identical excluding the extra levels and quality care put into the personality cores and specialty designs. They didn't have special abilities like Jorge or Deacon, but they were already plenty deadly without them, as well as still having magic and a mana bar for secondary attacks.

She heard a few of them slapping drum magazines into steampunk versions of an M16 rifle with three extra barrels attached and an underslung grenade launcher, some having auto shotguns or even flamethrowers. A few had the weapons replaced with brand new chemical stream laser rifles, as she had finally finished the research on them, along with man portable railguns. Some of the back mount or shoulder mount weapons had rocket pods or missile launchers, with one even having anti-tank missiles ready. Her first thought was maybe that wasn't a good idea to have on, but they weren't dummies and definitely could use it on something large. The projectile weapons all had silencers or suppressors installed, with orders to refrain from using the railguns or explosives until an alarm went off.

The empress had remembered to place her three hundred Skill Points, giving another one hundred to Steampunk Mechanical Engineering, one hundred to Piloting skill and the final one hundred to Melee Ranged Weapons.

Hrist felt better having her with them, showing that they respected her fighting prowess now. She had come a long way from hiding in a cave, foraging through bushes for berries and fishing with a spear. The dev could hold her own against a Valkyrja, which might be needed with the operation. The auburn-haired woman had guessed what they had planned with the bodies.

"Alright, so everyone understands the plan?" she asked as she looked around the room.

"We're going to get our sister's back, even if they're not amongst the living" Skuld stated for everyone.

"That's the end result, not the plan Miss" one of the SF Lights from team 2 said. The dev figured she'd need to name the other teams eventually, even if they weren't Supers. For the time being they were just called Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.

"They have a standard fort, nothing impressive, but our eyes in the sky have told us there is an extensive… lab… of some sort down below with a secondary exit hidden under a hill via tunnel, with two primary entrances from the top at the main building. I'm having a military team waiting at the exit tunnel under camo netting waiting for anyone to escape, but during that time… we're going to breach and clear as fast as we can but do it quietly, we can check rooms for anything of interest after we clean house. Understood?" Everyone nodded.

As they did one last weapons check, Selene noticed Hrist fidgeting. "Hey, final preparations, makes sure we go in without a hitch. Check your weapons." The Valkyrja warriors all pulled out their swords and shields, then slid them back into scabbards and on their backs. They weren't used to advanced weapons, so giving them a rifle wasn't the best choice.

 _Like giving a kid a gun and expecting them to not aim it at themselves…_

As they exited the armory and headed outside, the helibots ready to lift off, Hrist stopped and looked at the palace. "We're coming back, don't worry" the empress told her. The Valkyrie turned around and looked back at her, nodding. All three continued to board the helibot as it lifted off. Bronze Team was with the three Valkyrja and herself, while the other teams took a different helibot each to enter from different locations. The stone walls weren't going to do much to the special forces units about to drop down on them from the sky, they could easily leap over the defenses, with also being able to ram through the flagstone or use breach charges to make new entrances. That was if and only if they weren't being quiet and stealthy to sneak in, but once the bell was rung, they would be moving much faster through rooms.

They had a full hour and a half to fly to their destination, with the transports moving at a decent speed past Gold Pine and up over the Azaltos Mountains. Selene had checked her map before and realized the continent was actually quite big, plenty of room for a large number of cities and twice as many towns. The fact it was only going to take a short time to reach this hidden garrison told her they had built close by. That was going to be a grave mistake on their part. During the trip there, Bronze Team looked almost as if they were sleeping in their seats, with ample space to stretch out; however, what they were actually doing was playing a multiplayer game that Orlo had just finished crafting, with the dev interested in playing it with them after the operation was complete, if she wasn't too tired.

The dev looked into her inventory and checked on the Lazarus System, already complete, but she was attempting to craft a few more. It would take a week before they were ready, making them useless now, but the reason behind making them wasn't so much to resurrect, but as an emergency precaution that kept nagging her in the back of her head. Its secondary pulse could wipe out undead in a one-kilometer radius, regardless of their strength. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. If they did come across a reanimated corpse of one of the Valkyrja, there was a chance she could bring them back to the land of the living, but no guarantee. She had no idea if resurrection worked on an undead, but she was going to try.

"You're used to this?" Hrist asked her as she continued checking her inventory for all consumables.

"This? Yeah, at least the flying bit; this would be my first real assault against a human fortification." The Valkyrja got up from her seat and moved next to the empress. It looked like Selene was having a seizure with her eyes moving around to look at everything, but she was perfectly calm with no heavy breathing or look of pain.

"Are you afraid to attack them?" The dev looked up at her.

"What? No. They're lower than bandits to me, at least the ones we're about to fight. The whole government is corrupt and evil. They've gotta be stopped." she finished adding in a few fast swap bubbles to her Spider Radial.

"This doesn't… worry you… does it?" The empress looked up at her again.

"It doesn't, but I can already tell it worries you. You're afraid of what you're going to find there."

Hrist sighed and looked away. "I have fought humans, animals and mythical beasts, demi humans, monsters, even a few dragons, one of which nearly destroyed Yggdrasil… I am worried they have done something to the bodies… something monstrous… wrong…" Selene grabbed her chin to turn it towards her.

"Hey, listen to me. If they've done anything to your sister's bodies, through some magic or whatever, you need to understand something. They died back in the temple. If you see one of them up and about or some horrific magic used to transfer their power to someone else or whatever, you need to kill and ask questions later, understood? Whoever it is, it isn't them anymore, got it?" The maiden looked down into her eyes.

"I understand, I just… will not enjoy it. Is there some way we can… you can… bring them back?" The dev let go of her chin and chuckled.

"You think I want to fight your sisters? The easiest way would be to drop some bunker busters on the place and call it a night. If possible… I'm going to try and resurrect them. For the record, I have no idea if it will work." Hrist was shocked at hearing that. "I have never seen anyone resurrect an undead and return it to life, ever. But… if they haven't found a way to perform necromancy on the bodies… maybe you might be able to find a way." Selene just shrugged.

"As much as I want to say it couldn't hurt, the time used to attempt it could cost us, either wounds or time." The Valkyrja looked at her, hope rekindling that this mortal might be able to pull off the impossible, at least from what she knew.

"Probably shouldn't tell her we have a bomber prepared just above us, should we?" Jorge asked over coms.

"Oh, hell no, she'd jump out of the helibot and go in alone, there's no telling what she'd do." She got a report on their ETA, two minutes to land. The doors opened to the wind blowing by, the lights going red as they looked outside. As the green light turned on, Jorge got up and walked to the back and turned to them. "Time to go." He jumped out the back onto the ground and hauled towards a corner of the fort, with the rest of Bronze Team following suit. Selene walked up and got ready as well.

"We're already here?" Skuld asked.

"Surprised?" the empress asked with a smirk.

"Me? This is much faster than a Pegasus." She happily leapt out the back with Bryne coming up behind. Jorge proceeded to charge toward two soldiers, sweeping out one of their feet while the other got a right uppercut, launching him off the ground and snapping his neck at the same time. He brought his shield down on the second soldier, cutting his head off with the tip. The other teams slipped into position, taking out all the guards on the walls quickly and efficiently with silenced weapons.

The front doors were opened along with the side entrance as teams poured in quietly, picking off soldiers inside as they turned to see who was there. They moved from cover to cover to make sure no one knew what was happening. Each room was systematically cleared as Alpha and Charlie team came up from one side while Bravo stayed with Bronze Team as they filtered through the first floor and moved to the second one. When guards came out of rooms, they were double tapped then had the doors slowly opened to eliminate any other hostiles inside. The soldiers never got a chance to do anything, even if they were sleeping. The Valkyrja were a little depressed at that, with no true battles coming into play.

"Crude elevator on the third floor, leads to lab" Orlo told Selene via coms as he fired subsonic ammunition into an assassin coming out of one room. The entire time, the Valkyrja were just following them around, not really getting a chance to use their weapons as the special forces teams were highly efficient at cleaning house. As they made their way down to the second floor and through, they found two large rooms with notes on a desk.

"Commander's room probably" Jorge stated as he saw the bed in the corner 'He's got a large pile of research and occult items on the desk." Selene walked up to the desk and picked through some of the sheets. There were some trinkets, a few bones with runic etching into them, what looked like a few primitive healing potions and some small pouches of unknown ingredients. There was a pet hunting falcon in a cage in the far corner, its eyes covered by a mask.

"These are necromantic designs… plans to create some sort of portal…" Hrist muttered as she read the sheets in front of the dev.

"You can read these?" Selene asked as her eyebrow raised for a second.

"Some sort of summoning ritual… information from someone named… Fluder… wait… I recognize this… this portal… it's for bringing spirits into our realm… but this is for… no, no no no…" Hrist's eyes widened.

"What's wrong? What are they doing?" The maiden looked away in worry.

"Flesh Shapers. That portal only opens to that spirit realm, I recognize the inscriptions. They merge bodies together to create flesh golems to fight with." The dev was as surprised as Hrist now.

 _Then there is no way in hell I can resurrect. If they do what I think they're going to do… that's seven bodies of Valkyrja all merged together… I can only imagine what the level of that abomination would be… we might have to back off if they've already completed the ritual, turn the place into a crater…_

"We need to get moving, I'm having a recovery team come in and pick this all up behind us."

Bronze Team led the charge as they continued down the hallways towards the third floor, towards the elevator. Alpha and Charlie team would clear the third floor while they continued downwards. As they reached the bottom, they started to noticed bodies of mutilated guards, with some cadavers on tables… some moving while tied down.

"Put a round in each head" Jorge ordered as Ethan and Deacon fired off their pistols point blank. The bodies didn't go limp until multiple rounds were fired, eventually stopping the bodies from moving. As they continued to move forward down the hallway and towards a much larger area that expanded to what looked like a very disgusting circular infirmary, they noticed seven tables, all with blood, all empty. A portal, or what remained of a portal, stood in the middle and was slowly closing, with lightning arcing from the bottom to multiple runic circles surrounding it. There were multiple dead bodies of assassins strewn across the ground and hanging from different parts of the room, some not even whole, with a small side room that looked blocked off.

"They couldn't keep control over whatever it was they made… fuck… I was hoping this wouldn't happen…" Selene grumbled out as she checked in with the military team up top to make sure they held back if they saw anything head up the escape tunnel. Jorge walked up to the side room and pushed on the door. Locked.

"Open Sesame" Jorge muttered to everyone as he grabbed the handle and just pushed, hard, as the door broke under his strength. He ducked under the doorframe and came in, not seeing much aside from one man hiding behind two barrels that came out and tried to attack him while screaming wildly.

"The guardians can't be here! The guardians can't be here!" he yelled as he tried to fight back. He must have thought that Bronze Team were the protectors of the temple showing up to retrieve the Valkyrja.

His sword slammed into Jorge's side and shattered. He flung the man back against the wall and was immediately in front of him, picking the assassin up by his neck.

"Hang on, we can get some information from him." Selene slipped by everyone and stood there as he was slowly being choked. She cast a spell **[Truth from Lies]** which made any person have to tell the truth when asked a question. It was mainly a joke spell for Arcanic's Wizardry due to no one having to actually say anything once asked a question, as their avatar would just say some random bit of info, like cheating on their wizard exams or using X-ray vision to see through a witch's robes. However, given this was real life, it was possible for this spell to have more use than she thought. "Who are you? Who do you work for?" she asked.

"My… name… is… Rogas…" he started, with Jorge loosening his grip to let him breathe 'I work… for… Ghost's Ashes… Division…" he seemed to be fighting against the spell, but it was useless.

"Are you part of the Artinian kingdom?"

"Yes…"

"Are you in charge of all of this?"

"No…"

"Who is? Who caused all of this?"

"Nevil… Commander… Nevil… he… abandoned me… once… the ritual… was complete. It… didn't go as planned…" Jorge dropped him on the ground.

"Where the hell did you get this knowledge? This research?" she snapped at him as he held his neck and coughed. He growled and continued to try and fight against the spell, which was pissing her off. He had a part in all of this.

"I… don't know… someone named… Fluder… from across… the ocean… another… continent…" he gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his mouth shut.

"Where is Nevil then?"

"He… ran… when… he couldn't… control… it…"

"Stupid son of a bitch played with fire and got burned! It?! He combined the bodies?!"

"Yes… no one… can stop it… now…" Rogas started laughing. He had pulled out a small packet from his necklace and began sucking on it.

"Ma'am, he's trying to commit suicide" Jorge told her. Jorge could easily stop him with Turnie neutralizing the poison.

"I don't care. We have all that we need and can resurrect him if we require further information." Rogas's eyes widened, either from the poison or from hearing he could be brought back as a prisoner. "There are worse things than death little man." Rogas slowly faded as his mouth bubbled and his body twitched.

"May all the gods damn them… I can scarcely believe it…" Hrist was fuming, ready to dash up the tunnel to the top.

"Easy, we need to find this abomination first, then figure out how to drop it. I think I know a way." Selene put her hand on Hrist's shoulder and shook her a little.

"We strike from all sides, cut it down" she replied. Selene shook her head slightly.

"That thing is going to be too strong, that will only distract it. Think about it, it's all of your sister's bodies merged into one. It probably has a thousand… er… uh… it's stronger than all of us right now. We can hold it and keep it pinned down with suppression fire up top, but I need you three to keep it occupied with Bronze Team, once we find it." She nearly let slip that it might be level 1000+ given the strength of the Valkyries. There wasn't really a way to explain to Hrist just how powerful it was.

"We need to go after this commander!" Hrist snapped.

"Which we will do after we stop this thing your sisters just became from going on a rampage! Think about it, where are there people right now nearby that don't have a thing to do with this? Eld Horn Town." Orlo floated behind.

"Ma'am, there are reports from the military convoy at the end of the tunnel. It has exited and heading towards Eld Horn." She called up the convoy and told it to back off. While the tank shells would be strong, she needed to make sure it was completely destroyed. Some undead in stories could regenerate or shrug off attacks, so combining all firepower together would be the best thing for them to do. The empress also called in more reinforcements to be air dropped in. Her fabrication units were still in her inventory, she had the capability to craft some more backup right now while support came over Azaltos Mountains.

"Orlo, keep an eye out for any teleportation that's recently happened nearby, keep track of it while we go up." Alpha and Charlie team left the third floor and pulled back from the fort to help reinforce the military convoy while Bronze Team and company charged up the tunnel as fast as they could. Just as they left it, they could see the abomination in the distance, the combination of all of the Valkyries into one disgusting mess.

A pair of eyeballs on the shoulder, a spine attached to the left arm, Sigrun's head merged into the right fist and distorted, it looked like it was from a horror movie, a top quality one too. The creature shambled forward, not looking to have the grace or speed of the smaller forms that made up the limbs and torso.

 _ **Recommended Song: Epic Score – Attack on All Fronts)**_

"We need to surround it before it can get any further out, keep it occupied" The dev ordered as they headed towards the mass of muscle and guts, hearing it roaring and groaning as it headed towards the town in the far distance. "Go loud!" Bronze Team engaged their back-mount weapons with the military convoy rolling up on the side, firing tank rounds at it and blowing chunks from the body, knocking it off kilter as it tried to stay standing.

Railgun fire came from behind as Alpha and Charlie caught up to provide more fire support, creating a half moon arc to the side, trying to close it off. It swung its arms around as it did its best to protect against the onslaught, charging towards the Light tank and attempting to hit it. Unfortunately for it, while it was incredibly strong, it wasn't very fast like the Valkyrja it was made from were, with the tank flipping its treads into reverse and backing away.

The strike at where the tank used to be created a crater in the ground, showing just how powerful it was. The edge of the crater even continued under the still moving tank, with the treads rocketing the vehicle up and out of the area to a better defensive position. The thing seemed to attack like a gorilla, coming as fast as it could on two arms and swinging at anything to destroy it, but wasn't very adept at tactics. There was no knowledge in it, no training or experience from the women that now made up the form of the creature. There were no memories, just the instinct to kill, with no control from anyone.

 _It figures the son of a bitch couldn't keep it under control. If I had to hazard a guess, you have to be a well-trained wizard to have a battle of willpower with it, and even then, you might not bend it to your will due to the insane high level. Stupid idiot just unleashed a walking world ending event if this thing isn't stopped._

Hrist struck at the legs trying to cripple it as Brynhildr and Skuld went for the shoulders. Their speed was incredible as they dashed around the creature in attempts to keep it busy. "Be careful! If that thing hits you, it's a guaranteed kill!" Selene yelled as she pulled the Lazarus System from her inventory and got it set up. Hrist was kicked back by a stray hit and was launched through multiple trees behind her. She rolled to a stop and slowly got up, wincing from the hit. It was far more powerful than she could have imagined. Brynhildr dodged a hit, but the force of the strike damn near imploded her shield with the concussive force surrounding the arm, breaking her left femur and causing Turnie to grapple her and pull the Valkyrja back to heal the bone.

"Keep your distance! Drop everything you have on it!" Every time they blew off a chunk of the body, it quickly regrew, effectively only slowing it down enough for the task force to keep it from going near that town. She got finished making two military Heavies and put them out on the field to provide assistance, which they were more than willing to unleash hell on the creature. Vulcan cannon fire, rocket pods and plasma rounds erupted on the body, ripping into the arms just as it grabbed Skuld and was about to squash her in its paw, her armor cracking as she screamed in pain. The arm blew off as Skuld rolled to the ground, but the abomination started to change. The Lazarus System charged up and tried to pick a target, with Selene moving through bodies from below, the range being anywhere within one kilometer. "Come on, come on! I don't want any of those idiots! Target this thing!"

Jorge dodged a strike against him with his jump jets, came up behind and slammed his mace into the head as he latched his feet to the back for a second via ice climbing gear installed, temporarily blinding it with the impact he brought down, smashing the head to pieces… but it started to regrow, this time with more bone, hardening as an eye rolled and looked at him. He unlatched and boosted off with his pack, firing his cannon as it tried to reach for him. All four of his shoulder mounts engaged and fired down as it recoiled and let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed for miles, with the mouths of the few remaining heads mimicking the sound emanating. Hrist and her sisters were shaken by seeing Sigrun's mouth screaming on the right arm. Selene finally got a target lock on the thing… but the action was denied. There was nothing to resurrect.

"I figured it was worth a shot…" she muttered to herself as she tried to get it to swap to the anti-necrotic pulse it could produce. As it started to charge, the creature noticed her kneeling near the object and started to bear down on her. It was getting bigger as the body was gaining more mass each time a piece of the extremities was damaged, somehow gaining unholy materials to grow.

"Selene!" Hrist yelled as she ran towards her at her burst sprint speed, three conical air bursts erupting from behind her as she dove and slammed into the woman, toppling her and the system as well as rolling away from the abomination. It hurt, a lot, as the system rolled on top of both of them as they tumbled, but they were both alive. The Lazarus System's capacitors were glitching from the impact though, with the improved structural frame surviving the impact.

"Keep up the pressure!" Jorge yelled as they unloaded a bullet wall against it, slicing off chunks of the body with laser fire and blasting huge holes in the arms and legs with railguns. They had been fighting for well over ten minutes as the dev struggled to get the system standing again. The capacitors were rebooted and recharged a second time, feeding into the emitter as the thing looked in her direction again. She used **[Blitzkrieg]** , **[Time for Heroes]** , **[Divide and Conquer]** , **[Peace Through Superior Firepower]** and **[Golden Army]** , worried that the thing might actually destroy one of the automatons. She had yet to lose any of the newer versions beyond the box heads, she wasn't about to start doing so now.

"It's detecting the emissions of it each time! Keep it off me until this thing charges up to maximum!"

Hrist nodded as the three Valkyries, and Jorge, charged and kept it occupied, dashing under its legs and trying to knock it to the ground, inhibiting the movement as much as possible. Deacon rapid fired at any eyes to keep the thing blind, the light tank and Heavies firing at its back to deflect some aggro to them when Jorge or the others needed to back off. Ethan was firing everything he had, with the SF helibots above trying to vaporize the arms with their chin mounted guns and door cannons. It was getting harder and harder to work through the bone as it reinforced itself, making it more and more difficult to do any damage to it.

"Things aren't looking very good! It's coming for another pass at her!" Ethan yelped out as it charged right at Selene and the Lazarus System. It was at ninety percent, not enough for the full emission to engage and just casting off lightning at the top. Time seemed to slow a little as she watched it head towards her… before Jorge slammed into the legs and sent it off track. It tried to get up and grabbed Jorge, slinging him around like a kid's toy as it tried to break him. He had engaged every defensive ability he had, which was helping keep his body together, but a few armor panels were bent or breaking. The two heavies rushed in and knocked it back, with Jorge dropped on the ground with a large thud, a small crater appearing under him. Turnie rushed in to repair his body, with only some medium damage to the armor. He was a tough nut to crack with all of his abilities up and in use, but it showed just how much strength the thing had that it could put some hurt on him.

Selene watched as the heavies threw the thing around like linebackers, doing their best to keep it pinned. One of the heavies was knocked back, but quickly regained balance and kicked it back to the first one, attempting to act bullies to keep the thing occupied. As it reached the first heavy, it grabbed the leg and tried to bend it, with four anti-tank missiles over the shoulder received for the attempted dislocation of the extremity. The heavy backed off as it fired suppression fire, with three flash bangs dropped to cover its retreat. The ankle armor for its right leg was damaged, proving that nothing was safe from its new claws.

"Ninety-five… ninety-six… come on come on…" the empress whispered to herself as she tried to keep as much aggro from herself as possible with **[Divide and Conquer]**. The place was lit up like the fourth of July as just an awe-inspiring amount of firepower was being dropped on it. She was hearing com chatter from the military of FPF being dropped, Final Protective Fire which was predetermined at a certain range of allied forces to impede movement in a certain direction to keep them from being overrun.

 _It's still not dying, conventional weapons won't work on it… hell, if this doesn't work… a nuke might be my only option…_

It looked in her direction for a second, making her worry she needed to bring up some walls from the ground and pin the thing with stalagmites.

"Machinegun fire combat ineffective! Laser rifles can't burn through the bone quick enough! We're fucking losing this!" Deacon yelled out as he couldn't see anymore eyes that weren't protected by a sheet of bone, so he fired off multiple shots at the legs just at the knee to keep it off balance. It was adapting to their weapons fire as it started to get closer to the vehicles that were trying to keep away from it. At one point it got its paws on the light tank, crushing the side armor as it tried to move in full reverse and sliding sideways from the impact, before Selene could launch a giant stalagmite up from the ground, not doing much to hurt it, but it knocked it back and off balance, allowing the tank to back off, the treads whining from the damage. Orlo fired off a concussive blast to keep it wobbling so it couldn't charge, with a salvo from his rocket pod firing off. It ripped up a piece of the ground and flung it at a helibot, which barely dodged the giant earthen projectile.

"Ninety-nine… one hundred!" It looked at her, detected the pulse and charged at her, aggro completely lost. One of the heavies tried to get in the way, but it was knocked back by the force, with the abomination not caring about the mech and went for the Lazarus System and her.

"No no no no!" Jorge ran at it a second time, with no abilities off cooldown just to buy her time. The pulse went off, blasting the thing… but it was still coming. As it charged, Jorge slammed into the torso, sending it collapsing in pieces onto the ground with the legs just flopping and rolling. Selene was sprayed by guts and blood, but she was unharmed. The bodies were lying there, slowly dissolving as Hrist limped up and stared at Sigrun's head.

"I will see you in a newly built Valhalla, sister, in this life or the next." The head slowly dissolved into sparkling dust as it faded away into the sky. Hrist took her helmet off and sat on her knees, just staring at the bodies as they disappeared.

"I am completely out of ammo. Has anyone else got that fucking problem right now? Anyone? This is the first time for me" Deacon yelled out as he checked through all of his weapons. He never had time to pull spare ammunition from Selene's inventory, constantly firing until one weapon was out then swapping to the next.

"Same Deac, same" Ethan replied. Jorge got up as the guts disappeared from his armor and Turnie finished up her repairs on his paneling, then moved to the Valkyrja. Selene got up and winced from phantom pain as she had healed the impact wounds that had come from the raven-haired woman to keep her alive. She made her way over to Hrist and sat down next to her as the blood evaporated as well from her skin. The dev didn't know what to do as she looked at the battle maiden.

"We are without a home, without sisters, and now an enemy has tried to use us against each other. We now number three, which was once ten. I am… unsure… what to do now…" Hrist said quietly as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What do you want to do? You're not bound by some… Asgardian law right now… do what you feel you should. Live. For them, Hrist. You could go on an adventure if you wanted, or… I don't know, settle down? Find a guy? Or girl, doesn't matter really. Open a training school, anything you want." Hrist looked at her and slowly nodded.

"Selene, you have helped us in our greatest time of need, after Ragnarök of course... May I ask for a little more help? It is alright if you decline" she asked her. The empress nodded.

"Sure, if you want a home, I can get you set up, or get you equipped or-"

"May we stay with you? There are things we don't really understand of this new world, with going off on some adventure seeming foolhardy just for honor and fame that might not even happen. It seems worthless if we cannot share it with the rest of our… sisters. This… Artinian kingdom… they are the reason why my sisters are dead, the very same which you are at war with. I ask… may we be a part of your… empire? To help bring them down?" The auburn-haired woman looked at her in shock.

"If you join my empire… it's… well, it would be stupid for you to just be some citizen. So… this might sound a little crazy, but I could understand you being like, I dunno, my Generals maybe? All three of you have plenty of experience, with more to learn with being with my military. I just think it would be-"

Hrist stood up from her sitting position and put her sword tip into the ground and kneeled. "I accept with great honor. I am sure my sisters will be honored as well." Skuld and Brynhildr walked up, with Turnie still healing Skuld. They saw Hrist kneeling in front of a sitting Selene and looked at each other. When Hrist explained the situation, they both agreed and in unison did the same without complaint.

"We, sisters of battle, Valkyrja of Valhalla, Asgard's protectors and bringers of the slain, hereby pledge our loyalty to you, Selene, Clockwork Empress of the Clockwork Empire. May we bring swift justice and protect those who live within its borders." Hrist looked up at her new empress.

"You are very similar to the All Father, wise and strong, but willing to speak when needed…" she told her quietly.

"I'm no Odin or Freyja… but… I appreciate the sentiment." The empress stood up from her spot and put her hand on Hrist's head, moving her hair a little as the maiden was impressed that she knew of Odin's wife. The Valkyrja slowly stood up as Selene's hand fell to her side, six foot four inches of warrior standing before her, a new general of her armies. "Now. I think we still have a loose end to clean up. Orlo, you know where this Nevil is?" The dev asked.

"I have his exact coordinates, given by ornithopters. He's on foot, running towards a large town called Garrington. Shall we intercept?" he asked. Selene looked at Hrist and grinned a mischievous grin.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Nevil ran as fast as his legs could carry him. What he saw in that ritual room was beyond horrifying. His first actions were to try and control it with the spell, but nothing worked. Before the other necromancers could attempt to contain the situation, the abomination had gone on a killing spree, with his stupid second in command barricading himself in the storage room connected. The fool might think he's safe in there until the thing breaks through the door and reaches in to grab the worm. He on the other hand, escaped via the tunnel and tried to get on his horse, but the thing chased after him, killed his steed and would have nearly ended his life had some stupid magician in the Ghost's Ashes Division come to his aide. The body exploded as he hid behind a tree, waiting for it to pass before using another teleportation crystal. It was the last of its kind that he had, given that the wizard who normally crafted them was in Aureos and wouldn't received another shipment for another three months.

He stopped for a few seconds as he heard explosions in the background, towards the Ashen Call's Fort that was the headquarters of The Ghost's Ash's division. Sounds that he had never heard except for in the Valkyrie temple erupted from that location, with bright lights appearing as where the abomination was thought to be received destruction unlike anything he could imagine. He then continued on, not wanting to be anywhere near what that thing could do.

As he came just over a hill and saw Garrington in the far distance while panting, something above him came down behind his back as the explosions stopped behind him. Before he could even figure out what it was, a powerful shock bolted through his body as he fell unconscious.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

Recommended Song: The Hit House – Hunt You Down (feat. Ruby Friedman)

The assassin commander slowly woke up with soreness throughout his body. As his eyes came open, his eyes moved around as he noticed he was entirely surrounded by metal soldiers with shields blocking him in, with three Valkyrja standing across from him.

"The guardians… they shouldn't be able to leave the temple…" he muttered to himself as he saw Jorge and the rest of Bronze Team a part of the circle. He stood up as Hrist took the lead, throwing a sword to him. He looked at his scabbard to find it empty, with no daggers or hidden weapons. They were very thorough, even pulling the dagger he had hidden at his ankle. He picked up the sword as Hrist took a few steps forward, ready to defend himself. That was all she needed. He tried to strike at her, but she moved like a blur to his side. He continued to attack as she just dodged effortlessly or deflected the sword swings, teasing him. She was going to get some joy out of this. Selene just sat on the top of the light tank, newly repaired, watching with her blessing as the Valkyrja played with her toy.

As if on cue, his fifth strike landed on her chest plate, with absolutely no damage done to it. The reinforced tungsten steel armor simply ignored the hit as she struck with the pommel, knocking him across the circle and cracking a rib. He slowly got up and winced as he brought the sword back up, but she was at his feet in an instant, cutting at his Achilles tendon, making him not able to walk well, the only thing he could do was stand and limp.

"You were the one who started all of this, you were the one who attacked my sisters." She kicked his legs out from under him as he struck again, before knocking him straight into the air with a kick, launching him twenty feet up and jumping to meet him in the air. "You pathetic little creature, playing with that which you do not understand, now it is time to pay the price." She knocked him lightly into the ground, with his left shoulder breaking. He screamed as he rolled over and tried to get up again.

"Please! I can give you whatever you want! The king will provide it to you! I have power! Just stop this!" he screamed out as he tried to protect himself with his hands. She landed and walked up to him, grabbed one of his wrists, and twisted, hearing a snap.

"Give me back my sisters, mortal." He gawked at her, more in pain that in fear, his eyes widening as she looked to be enjoying this. She popped a knee into his chin to bring him to standing upright, temporarily knocking him out as he wobbled on his feet, before he woke up and stared in shock as she slammed her sword right through his chest, lifting him off his feet and just dangling there. He tried to pull himself off her blade screaming, before she kicked him off herself, launching him across the circle again, rolling to a stop. He was dead by that point, but she wanted one last blow to land on his pathetic body. Hrist walked over to his corpse, flipped him over, and sliced his head off with a flick of her wrist. The maiden picked it up by the hair and just held it up in front of Skuld and Brynhildr. They gained an immense satisfaction with their sister bringing justice for the loved ones they lost.

With that, the raven-haired woman threw the head as far as she could, which, with all her strength, launched it clear to Garrington. She roared as she threw the head, the feeling of ending his life bringing some closure, before the circle started to collapse and filter back into the helibots to leave. Three helibots picked up the military force as the special forces got inside an SF helibot and headed back to the castle. The recovery team finished emptying everything of value into a cargo helibot before leaving the Ghost's Ash's fort. In total, close to five thousand men were slaughtered tonight, with no loss of automatons or Valkyries, as well as no empress deaths. The bomber flying above dropped its payload, wiping out the fort completely and sending a message. Something was stronger than the Artinian kingdom, it had destroyed their assassin's branch of their military.

"Ma'am, that man called us guardians from the temple. They must have believed we were protecting it, not part of an opposing force or empire. They still don't know who we are. They're completely in the dark about us still" Orlo reported to Selene via coms.

"I heard that. They still have no idea what they are dealing with, but we just wiped out their assassin's branch of their government it seems. There might be a few stragglers out there on missions, but it looks to be pretty easy to pick them out given they don't seem to understand, you don't fucking brand yourself with some tattoo if you want to hide." She had noticed that all the corpses of the guards along with Nevil had the same emblem tattooed on their wrists, the very same that was stenciled into their armor. "I'm a little worried about where he got these rituals and necromantic spells to make that thing. While it wouldn't be nearly as effective without using the Valkyrja bodies, something like that could be a threat to cities or towns if left uncontrolled. We can't have that. These assholes are crazy, a threat to everyone's life, and in general need to be taken out. Whoever this Fluder is, he's top priority in catching or neutralizing in the future."

"I believe we all concur on that" Jorge replied. Hrist looked at the floor as the helibot headed home, justice delivered. As they finally set down with everyone piling out, Selene had Jeeves get three permanent rooms set up for the three Valkyrja down the hall from her royal bed chambers. She explained that they were no longer guests, but residents in the palace now. This was their home as well as hers.

"I don't know what to say… I… I will do my utmost as your general to protect this empire, you have my word as one of the Valkyrja" Hrist told her as they headed upstairs.

"Hrist, I know. You said you trust me, so now I'm going to say I trust you. I know you'll do the right thing. One more thing though. You and your sisters are going to need mounts right?" Selene patted her on the shoulder and smiled at her.

"What are you suggesting?" The Valkyrja asked.

"I'm suggesting you ride Asterion from now on. Don't think of him as my Pegasus, think of him as the empire's mount that you, as my general, should rightfully be using to lead my armies. You've been training him, it stands to reason you would ride him. I have no idea how to get him in the air anyways." Hrist was dumbfounded, her mouth agape as she didn't know what else to say. "Say yes. That's all. I'll figure out how to get some more prized horses for your sisters, I just don't know of any breeders nearby. That might be the next town I liberate if we find one… _we_ liberate that is."

Hrist gave her a small smile back and nodded, as she looked like she was going to almost cry due to the gift she was being given. Asterion was, while not changing masters, going to be ridden by her instead of the empress, trusting the maiden with her royal steed. While she had lost one family, she had gained another. Now she was going to protect them to the best of her ability. The Artinian kingdom had no clue they were still alive, had no knowledge of what was building and expanding in this valley. They'd find out with an army of very powerful automatons, led by Valkyrja, steamrolling through the land, taking villages, towns and cities from their control.

As Selene walked away from her down the hallway towards her own lavish quarters, Hrist spoke again. "Pleasant dreams, your majesty." Selene stopped mid step and glanced over her shoulder.

"Hrist, about that. I have told Bronze Team to do this as well. When in public, it is fine to call me majesty or empress or highness, but never do it in private. You know my name, use it. I don't need that in my day to day unless I'm actually among the people of this empire. Throw the formalities away when you're home away from prying eyes." The maiden was surprised she could do that, looking around as if she had made a grave mistake.

"I believe highness refers to a princess, not an empress" Skuld stated as she came up the elevator and headed towards her own room. Selene mouthed an "ah" as she learned something today.

"I take it you learned that from one of your trysts with a hero, huh Skuld?" Bryn laughed out.

"I've learned a few things from pillow talk, yes. One of them called me that name, his highness." Skuld giggled out as she looked as if she was swooning. She must have liked that hero.

"Why did he call you that? Were you dressed as someone Skuld?" Bryn asked, curious.

"I won't tell any more than that. My lips are sealed." She disappeared through her door with a wink and closed it, with Brynhildr shaking her head with a smirk on her face as she entered her own room. Hrist was going to like being here, she could tell. She looked at Selene who was already walking away with a fading chuckle, heading towards her own royal chambers. Two Honor Guards stood watch at the sides of the door as she entered.

"Good night Hrist" she yelled down the hallway as she waved over her shoulder without looking back. Hrist was just beaming at her fading figure to her doors.

"It was a good night, wasn't it? Sleep well Selene." The door closed as the Valkyrja turned and entered her own room. The empress took off her armor and put on some pajamas, the time being close to 5 am, nearly time for dawn to rise. She didn't care, as she closed the drapes and had the room only lit by lamps and the chandelier. Sleeping in was going to be nice this time around. There was no real need for a bath yet, with the blood and guts turning to dust and removing itself from her body after she was splashed with it. This would be the first time she had gotten a chance to sleep in while living in the palace and she was going to get the most out of it with the four post bed. The wolves were already lying on top, waiting for her to jump in under the covers. While they wouldn't sleep with her the whole day, they wanted to hang around their Alpha.

"I'm back guys, long night, but it was worth it. Be nice to the new generals ok? Don't go biting them." Blue yawned a little as she gave him a pat, with Luna and Ash curling up again next to her. She flipped the switch and let the lamps turn off.

 _ **6**_ _ **th**_ _ **, November**_

Giles was hard at work bending a shovel back to what it was supposed to look like, not just some curled up piece of metal that seemed more similar to a bakery tool than something for digging dirt. A few of the refugees from Glass Dale were attempting to learn how to be a blacksmith from him, but they were horrible at it. They knew how to work the forge well enough, but shaping was just piss poor. The metals he had gained from Selene were starting to dwindle, as she hadn't shown up in a while, having to use the somewhat poorer ore from the mine and smelting it himself. It was tough work, but he had some help from the new apprentices. It wasn't the same quality of ingots that his friend always brought him, but it would do given the resources were coming from Gold Pine, not from a far off town or city.

"No no no, don't go hitting it that way, you'll break it off without reinforcing the side! Here, give me that! Like this!" he snapped as he took the hammer from one of the apprentices and lightly tapped at one spot, shoved it into the forge to heat the metal up and brought it back to the anvil. As he turned, his eyes glance at Selene for just a moment before doing a double take, standing there in front of his smithy watching him. He nearly dropped the hammer as he saw her there, dressed in gold polished bronze looking metal armor and a tiara, but he knew it was anything but that weak material for her. "Lass! Oh, I mean, your majesty! You're here!" he roared in laughter as he pushed the metal back into the forge and ran to her, stopping himself from giving her a hug. She was his ruler now, it would be improper to grab her in a bear hug.

"Hey there Giles, it's been a little while, sorry about that. Um, ahem…" she cleared her throat and continued to speak "I, as your empress, wholly allow you to give me a hug, your wife as well too once she comes outside." He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up as best he could, but she was a lot heavier now with the armor and some muscle, barely getting her an inch off the ground. What he didn't know was just how powerful she had become since the last time they had seen each other. The dev could easily pick him up with a finger, but she didn't want to let it be known that her strength was so high yet.

"How have you been doing? We were afraid you were so busy trying to run the empire, you didn't have time to see us. I understand I understand, you're our empress, I just… hoped it wasn't the last time I was going to have you visit, beyond parades and all." She chuckled at that.

"I've been really busy getting things fixed. Come on, go get Abby, I have a speech to make at the front entrance of the town. I'll make sure a resupply of ingots is brought to you by the end of the day." He nodded in confusion with a small smile on his face and his eyebrow cocked, then ran to the house to grab his wife. As he exited and headed towards the front of the town, now changing quite a bit with a bazaar now created and stores lining the front, there was what looked like one of those giant armored carriages the metal soldiers usually entered to head back to the Boramar Mountains inside. Selene stood on the top of it, waiting for everyone to gather. The amount of people now numbered five hundred, getting closer and closer to reaching a decent size town. Small wooden benches were brought out for the front of the audience, with Abby and Giles allowed to sit there next to Mayor Stafinson.

"Attention! To all my loyal subjects here in the beautiful town of Gold Pine. You have gone through rough times, with a chance for even me to see what you all had to go through, and… this sounds a little hashed together, so bear with me, things got better. I didn't plan this speech out well enough, sorry" she giggled out. The town laughed at her honesty.

 _I'm a developer, I was never very good at PR or Marketing. I hope I do this speech right._

"Those harsh days are behind you now, the mine is allowed to reopen, the threat has been neutralized, with three of the assailants realizing that they were in error, seeing the conviction of those who wished to survive and help build Gold Pine." Hrist came out from behind the APC, riding Aster as he slowly walked out with his wings on display. Skuld and Brynhildr walked out as well and stood in front of the APC for everyone to see. The people gasped as they stood there, with Aster standing regal and proud.

"They have joined our empire, wanting to protect it, wanting to protect their home. They want a good life, just as much as the rest of you, and they can see how the Artinian kingdom works first hand. They have lost family to them but gained justice in their names. Now, they are my generals, and you will treat them as such with those titles bestowed to them. They are noble, strong, honorable, powerful beyond belief, and know you to be people of this land, our land. We will fight against the Artinian kingdom, bring it to its knees, and show them just how strong we really are. The villages, towns and cities that were once under their control, their fear, will now see what we can do, to shine a light into that darkness, to show those people that we have come to save them from that despair, from being used and cast aside."

Selene's eyes roamed the people's faces as they all smiled at her. She looked radiant before their eyes, the sun gleaming from her impressive armor. She looked like what they needed her to look like, a divine goddess, an empress from the heavens come to protect them and usher in a new golden era that they were in desperate need of. She needed to act the part, even if she had butterflies in her stomach right now due to such a large crowd. It would only get bigger as more people started to live here, or other towns she would get under her control. Would people start living in the Clockwork Castle? Start Clockwork City next to it? The forest would be heavily cut back, potentially damaging the ecosystem. She might have to emplace laws to control that, maybe eventually have Gold Pine merge together with it. The thought of walking out onto a balcony to meet her subjects like she had seen on television on Earth made her feel uncomfortable, just as performing this speech did the same. The dev was going to need to fight through that, show she had the confidence in herself in front of everyone.

"Which is why I am happy to say, though it isn't quite yet finished… Glass Dale is under construction. I have been informed that a good quarter of it is now up and ready, some homes have been rebuilt, with new city planning being provided for better roads, shops, defenses and town administration. This is no real need to leave Gold Pine if you still enjoy living here, I'm simply making sure there is an alternative now. You will not need to walk the road or be riding a wagon, though, it is an option. I will be creating something new to quickly get from one town to another. It is called a railroad, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is a steam train." Selene jumped off the APC and walked to the road entrance, only to slowly pull out from an invisible portal a giant contraption with a wedge-shaped shovel attached to the front. The train was steam powered with long thin generators running along the sides, electric coils wrapping around metal bars and pulsating with energy, yet still had double exhaust stacks on top. In the townsfolk's eyes, it was beautiful, gleaming with golden bronze and black paint, with the number "02" stenciled in gold plating on the door to the engineer's booth. The first train, "01" was going to lead down the railroad to Clockwork Castle.

"This huge thing will pull giant carts that will be well maintained, allowing quick traversal of the land from now on. Gone are the days of staying in one town, never to see family or friends from another, never traveling or visiting others unless you need supplies. You can now do it simply to see if what that shop in Glass Dale is selling is worth your coin, if it has that dress you've always wanted, those toys for your children, or simply to enjoy the ride." The town cheered and clapped as the automaton in the engineer's booth pulled the line on top to work the whistle, making a loud choo choo sound. The townsfolk cowered for a second at the noise but started cheering again as they saw the power this provided them.

"This is only a taste of what is going to happen for the glorious Clockwork Empire. This is only a taste of what we can do. Are all of you ready to make history? We will show not just the Artinian kingdom, but everyone in this world how incredible your empire really is!" Arms were pumping into the air as a few hats were thrown into the sky, as a helibot flew in and held in a hover position just behind the audience, with the people worried it would drop something on them. It was lowering something large with winches, a statue made of moving gears and cogs, all rotating with a large clock connected to it. This was her flag, her symbol to the people that they belonged in her empire. "This is our symbol, this is what each of you are. You are all a gear, a cog in our great machine, keeping it moving, keeping it turning, keeping our time as a great people constantly ticking. Without you, it stops. Will you stop?" A resounding "NO!" was heard from everyone. "Will you stop?!" another "NO!" was heard.

"That's right! We will not stop! We will continue forward, no matter the problem, no matter what will try and block our path! Nothing can face us if we all work together! We will persevere!" Women were crying tears of joy as they watched their empress show them what she was doing for them, with some praying to her. The religion might have already started without her knowing about it. She had not just hidden away in her castle, to leave them to their fate. There was new currency, new buildings, better hygiene, better quality food, better transportation, Glass Dale was being rebuilt, protection from her military, nice homes with quality furniture and cheaper taxes that were used on their community, a hospital and school to keep them healthy and educated with a promise of a library on the way, and most importantly, respect from her. They were her people, just as she was their Clockwork Empress, their goddess. She did not disappoint, not one bit. Every promise she had made, was kept.

 _ **Recommended Song: RAIGN – Empire of Our Own)**_

Three drone fighter bombers flew over in formation, looking like a mixture between an X-wing and a P-51D Mustang in her eyes, with four inverted turbo prop engines on the rear for impressive thrust and capability to maneuver. She had the air, the ground, and soon to be the water, with plans to even gain control of space. Nothing was going to stop her from taking down the people who created that abomination she had to fight, not one single thing. To anyone out there who thought they had a chance, she was coming for them. Her automaton army was coming for them, her Valkyrja generals were coming for them. Whoever this Fluder was that had provided the necromantic power to the assassins, he had better not show up on her continent, ever.

As she finished her speech, the townsfolk were just in utter roar of applause, while in the distance, four armored brigades were rolling towards Glass Dale, not to protect it, but to continue past it. There were already security forces on station to keep it well defended while Juliet worked, along with Romeo getting a Forward Operations Base nearby, completely trouncing any forts in capability and even had an advanced sensor tower built to block unauthorized teleportation. They were going to take the next town, Eld Horn, and make it hers. They must have the same problems as Glass Dale and Gold Pine, but now they were going to see what an empire that actually cared about their lives felt like to be a part of.

They moved in formation with a purpose, LAVs rolling out at the forefront with heavy battle tanks locking their turrets, APCs behind loaded with Lights and Mediums, a few Heavies being carried by helibots guarded by drone fighters above. If there was any sort of Artinian army force there, it was going to be utterly annihilated, or hopefully, surrender without a shot being fired.

Back at the castle, unbeknownst to anyone, hidden near the airfield, were giant bays crafted in the ground with huge bulkhead doors closed. Hidden inside, under massive tarps and cabling, were some of her newest air defenses, still being prepared and provided crews to control them. They came in a few different sizes, but once they were ready, a power unlike anything anyone had seen would be in the skies.

This world, or whatever unseen force that brought her here, might have thought she was already a super power, or maybe it thought she was just meat for the meat grinder, wasting away in a cave to its amusement just to watch her squirm and suffer, but now she was going to make it official. She was going to make her presence known as leader of her new empire. Now was her time to make use of the new equipment she knew she needed to craft, to get satellites, airships, naval vessels built. Selene was going to have an unstoppable army, ready for anything.

This world would have her empire, her name, remembered for all eternity.


	19. Ch 18 Royal Air Fleet

_**7th, November**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Kerry Muzzey – Time to Go)**_

Hrist woke up very early to sneak down out of the palace and headed to the stables. There was nothing really stopping her from doing what she was doing, however she didn't want to wake anyone. The maiden had done what she could to train Asterion, now a Pegasus, how to fly. Today was his maiden flight through the skies. Asterion greeted her at his stall door, now much larger for his wings to stretch out every once in a while. The Valkyrja removed his blanket and checked his hooves, then equipped a small blanket under the new saddle her empress was instructed to craft for flight. His bridle was equipped after she had given him a chance to eat his grains and ate an apple.

"Are you ready to soar through the skies my friend?" she asked him as her hand rubbed his muzzle and gave him some scratches. He nickered as he nuzzled her chest. "Understood. Just do what I've taught you and everything will be fine. You are strong and powerful, more than capable of keeping up with the fastest flying creatures in this land. I know you will do well." She led him out of his stall and outside, with the quietness of the castle only ever so slightly altered with the movement of Security models patrolling the walls or Civilian models performing duties for when the empress would wake. Hrist mounted Aster and let him stretch his wings, preparing himself for the flight as he stretched and trotted around a little.

Once he was ready, she let him flap his wings slowly, watching for any feathers damaged or strain on his part. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary as he slowly rose into the air, eventually leaving the safety of the walls. Dawn broke as the sun could be spotted over the mountain tops, with her enjoying the slight cool breeze. It was warmer today than normal, allowing her to stay calm and not worry as much about the steed's health. There was no way she was going to ride him on his first time if it was too cold, as he might cramp up. Over time, he'd be much more accustomed to moving in most weather, excluding freezing cold or pouring rain. Even Selene had warned her that fighting in bad weather wasn't the best choice, with most armies tending to keep their distance until it cleared up. A spell could fix the weather, but sometimes that would cause irreparable harm to the land without rain or snow.

Asterion was feeling proud to be in the sky, pushing faster and higher as she let him feel the wind under his wings, got used to moving quickly or slowly, enjoyed his first time with the land no longer touching his hooves. As he reached closer to the clouds, she could see Gold Pine in the distance, but she wasn't heading in its direction. She wanted to give him time to move through the valley and see just how high the mountains could go, teaching him the size of the world wasn't just a trail or road he needed to cross.

"You're a fantastic steed Aster, Empress Selene should be proud to have you, and I am grateful for the honor to ride you." He whinnied as he agreed, moving much faster now. The transformation from horse to Pegasus increased his speed dramatically, easily able to keep up with one of the "turboprops" that her empress had told her about. While not capable of moving beyond the sound barrier unless in a full dive, he was fast.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Christopher Tan – Sogno di Valore)**_

As if mentioning her name would cause her to show up, there was a sound of a propeller nearby that got closer. Like a divine being, a P-51D Mustang came out of the clouds, with Selene flying in a traditional World War II cap and goggles, the cockpit closed. She didn't realize that Hrist was in the skies, also sneaking out to test her brand-new toy. It wasn't a jet, but she loved it all the same. The engine pistons pumped strong and proud, the heart of the flying machine carrying her forward. Hrist's mouth was agape with a small grin erupting on her face. She laughed as the Mustang flew near her, doing a barrel roll.

She could see Selene smile and give her a thumbs up, before she pointed behind her. Hrist looked behind the fighter… and through the clouds came the largest thing she'd ever seen. Descending from the clouds came a massive armored Zeppelin, emblazoned on the side the name _Majesty's Grace_. It had gold polished rivets with a massive lower gondola with multiple floor tiers and four engines attached to the rear near the rudders, with two more on the sides of the ballonets and a curved deck on the top for launching fighters. It was an aircraft carrier that flew by itself, uninhibited by the ground. Four anti-gravity boosters were hidden underslung from the main body near the front and back ballonet. While there didn't seem to be many weapons installed that could be seen, that didn't matter as much. It was guarded.

Following the movement of the flagship was its escort fleet, two battleship dirigibles covered by eight cruisers, twelve destroyers and twenty frigates for faster movement. There were also what looked like hidden airships, the aerial equivalent of submarines in the sky that Selene had once mentioned were "Prowlers" for sneak attacks with camouflage and invisibility fields. There was also one spare aircraft carrier next to the _Majesty's Grace_ , albeit smaller. It looked to be able to carry helibots and armored troop transport. Flying as escort nearby were multiple wings of drone fighters with what looked like painted red fins and tails, completely different design from the Mustang with four engines and turboprops, four wings and twelve guns. One of them flew near Selene with an emblazoned call sign "Red Tail 1-1." While this world had no idea who the Tuskegee Airmen were, she was paying homage to some of the best pilots out there. Each one was a Super automaton with a personality core.

They flew in formation as Hrist cheered, before doing loops and aerial acrobatics. "Come on Aster, let's show them what we can do." Asterion dived and rolled, with Selene heading after them. He was every bit as nimble as the P-51D Mustang, with his wings flapping to gain his top speed. They flew over the valley, eventually coming up to Gold Pine and zooming past, waking the people up with the odd sound that the engine of the flying machine caused. Surprisingly, Aster on a few occasions moved faster than the fighter, with Selene's max speed being somewhere shy of 500 mph with some small modifications to the engine with steampunk technology. They were dancing in the sky, with Aster loving the movement, the freedom he had and the partner following them.

"You ready to land? I understand if you don't want to. Hey, where is her majesty going?" she said to Asterion as she watched the Mustang pull back and head for the _Majesty's Grace_. As she flew nearby, a door opened vertically with a boom arm rotating out and latched to the sides of the wings, holding her in place as the engine slowly died, the propeller stopping as the arm pulled it in on the gondola's first floor. There was a landing platform that extended outwards below her that the fighter was placed on, with enough room for her to get Aster there as well. "Come on, let's go see what this thing looks like up close, maybe rest your wings." They flew up to the aircraft carrier dirigible and softly landed, no need for the mechanical arm to come out and pick them from the sky. Selene hopped from the open cockpit and looked at her with a smile. Hrist and Aster were finding it a little difficult to breathe. Automatons rushed out and placed a mask over Aster's nose and handed her one for her face as well.

"I guess I wasn't the only one who woke up early to play!" she laughed out as the empress looked at Asterion and Hrist, an air mask over her nose and mouth that was clear. The battle maiden dismounted and ran her fingers along the wing of the fighter. "She's a beauty, isn't she? The fighters stationed above are far faster than her, but I like it. It felt… right." Selene pulled off her cap and pulled up her goggles. Her hair was in a top hanging ponytail and flailing from the wind as she smiled at her under the mask.

"You didn't improve her much it seems. I would think you had added some modifications" Hrist stated. Automatons came out to help take off the flight jacket and give her a warmer coat. They offered another to the Valkyrja, who despite wanting to show she was strong without feeling the cold, they were at a high altitude, roughly around 8,000 feet, the start of altitude sickness. The platform pulled back inside as the door closed and sealed, the area pressurizing. Selene took her mask off as Hrist followed her actions.

"No, not many, just a few improvements to the engine for oil and fuel efficiency, a little more horsepower, that's about it. It's no Pegasus or the fighters above, but it's great to fly." The empress beamed as she patted the nose cone of her fighter plane. The callsign on the side read "Clockwork 1." She kissed two fingers and placed them on the nose cone.

"You're going to make Aster jealous." Selene looked over at the Pegasus and felt a little guilty.

"Oh, I'm sorry Aster! You're still the best Pegasus out there, bar none." She walked over and gave him some attention, with him enjoying the affection he received. On a normal day, he was taken care of by automatons with at the very least twice getting attention from Selene or the Valkyrja. They couldn't wait to have their own Pegasus, so the dev was gathering intel in the background for new towns that bred horses. Giles had informed her that there were certain places that excelled at specific things, with Eld Horn Town being the best hunters, at least _human_ hunters. There was always the dark elves and wood elves that were better with a bow and arrow. The empress rubbed her nose against his muzzle and gave him a kiss. "You are very special, you are. So are you for teaching him to fly. I owe you one, fantastic job" she said to both the Pegasus and Hrist.

The Valkyrja blushed a little with the compliment. "I am honored you feel that way." Selene smirked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Drop the formal speech, we're on my flagship… airship… I still don't know how to say that right if I get a naval or space fleet up and running. Are you hungry or did you eat breakfast already? I'm going to try out the dining hall on this thing if you want to accompany me." Hrist was surprised there was such a thing on a warship in the sky but agreed. They headed over to the room and sat down, being the only ones on board beyond the automatons.

"You built this craft?" Hrist asked as she looked around. The mantling on the walls was gold polished with silver inlay, four crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling with a large dining table made of Gold Pine wood. The carpet was luxurious red, with what looked like a gold fiber emblem of gears and cogs flowing with other unknown symbols. Despite needing certain things to be smaller due to size constraints, there was ample space to move through the hallways and rooms inside. The entire ship was close to 500 meters in length, massive for what it was for. Selene sat down and checked the menu of what was available right now.

"I did I did, hmmm… they're well stocked obviously…" she picked a smaller breakfast sampler plate and some orange juice as Hrist chose a much more substantial plate. "This wasn't exactly one plan but multiple. This is a home away from home for me, an emergency escape from the castle, a command center for large scale battles as well as an ambassador's station for when I have to head to different towns or cities to talk to them. Gone are the days of having to fly around in helibots all the time, this shortens flight considerably. It even has long range teleportation systems to allow jumping from one continent to the other, or even further." Hrist was surprised it was so capable, blinking at her detail.

"It looks almost as if it was made for a goddess. This place, this… 'airship,' can it defend itself?" the battle maiden asked.

"It has limited defenses, but it isn't meant to fight on its own. There's a contingent of fighters above us ready to launch, a full brigade of automatons inside, point defense weapons and a few missile silos. Most of the power comes from the fleet guarding it, with a hefty chunk of the inside of the ship used for communications, intelligence gathering and strategic force projection. It… I'm not losing you on this am I? Sorry if I'm not explaining it well, it's pretty complicated." Hrist seemed to understand what she was saying perfectly fine, despite the gap in technological know-how. Somehow, there was some sort of universal translation going on in this world, allowing all spoken language to be reworded into something anyone could understand, even if the mouth wasn't meeting the words. She had noticed it at the beginning with Gold Pine, but somehow just got used to it while talking to Giles. Her first hint things weren't how they were supposed to be was with the map. Some of the symbols looked like they shouldn't be making that sound the shop owner told her.

"I understand, thank you. It's quite sturdy to fly so high."

"Strong and light armor, lots of engines, a personal invisibility field and something we barely got working this morning. I have something installed called an energy shield. Some would call it a deflector shield. It's only class 1 apparently, which is mainly due to the design of the emitters and not any issues with the materials. The first one is always the test phase to see how well it holds up, the next few classes will be stronger." The empress didn't want to go over every single defensive system or offensive system with her, there were so many that were used in the airship it would blow her mind. The maiden was still getting used to gunpowder weapons and her automatons, teaching her about what she would be commanding over in her stead for battles in the war. The Valkyrjur were sponges for everything she could teach them, wanting to learn as much as she would explain. If they were to be her generals, they'd need to adapt to the new life she was giving them.

She didn't know how to explain that the main body of the dirigible was a honeycomb structure to keep it functioning, with intake systems hidden throughout the outside membrane to bring in air, some of it used in conversion to helium to keep the thing floating. It didn't need to get refueled much at all with the way it gathered from the sky while moving.

"Does that mean this, 'energy shield,' will only protect against small attacks?" Hrist asked. Selene sighed and nodded.

"It's mainly for protection against smaller threats right now, like… gryphon riders or some fort cannon firing up, wizards launching fireballs. I've seen at least two of those used so far, well, at least one of them given the first magic caster attempted to shoot a fireball at me. Those gryphon riders seemed to be slower than Aster though." Hrist grinned. Aster was as fast if not faster than her flying machine due to the small ritual she used, imbuing the horse with energy as a war mount to a Valkyrja. While she wasn't anticipating being his main rider, she knew he could carry her quickly into a fight due to those enhancements. He wasn't just a horse with wings.

"This, 'class 1,' it will be improved in the future?"

"Yes, we have a slew of research projects going right now, Orlo is helping me with that. I swear, I can't wait till that research lab is complete for him. I got Juliet to get me a construction team to get a research building made on the castle grounds along with a medical lab for Turnie. Having me do all the work for experiments might have had me miss some opportunities and having fresh eyes on different projects will help." While she was boasting about all of the research she was doing, it wasn't the empress performing most of the work, but her stations inside her inventory. There was almost no way to explain that to the battle maiden.

The food arrived and was placed in front of them, with a glass of milk provided for Hrist. "You have cows now? I did not see any at the farm." Selene sipped her orange juice.

"Oh, uh… yeah… we don't have cows…" she replied, trying to find the words to explain where that came from as she glanced between Hrist and the plate of food she had.

"Then… where does this come from?" the maiden asked as she sipped it a little and blinked. It tasted just like milk, no odd flavor or smell, white color.

"A tree actually. We worked a little on improving a group of seeds via alchemy, so instead of producing fruits, some of them now create these drooping bags that fill with milk. We're still working on getting one to grow meat, but that seems to be kind of difficult. Until then, trying to find soy bean seeds, we could maybe go vegetarian if that's the case." Hrist was surprised that it came from a tree. It wasn't almond milk or made from rice, it was just as if a cow had provided it. The mutation was revolutionary, creating new life… like a true goddess. She continued to be awed by the empress.

"You don't like eating meat?" the maiden asked her as she took a bite from her bacon.

"Oh no, I'm fine with it, but I've been kind of living off a high protein diet when I was huddled in a cave, I need a little more diversity right now, that's all. If I can get a tree that grows meat, that defeats ninety percent of the maintenance in raising livestock, methane pollution, the slaughtering of the animal, processing and packaging. With a tree or plant, water and fertilizer, good soil, let it grow, harvest the 'fruit' as it may be, profit. No real waste to worry about. We might keep some royal livestock around for the fertilizer or, I dunno, a petting zoo for any nice nobility we find along the way for their kids? There's many different options." Having the royal farms produce all forms of food had now made them entirely self-sufficient, with only new seeds wanted for newer crops to grow. Instead of trying out the food from a trader, she wanted to know where the food came from, so she could acquire the means of raising or growing it herself.

"It seems difficult to think of any 'nice' nobility being alive in that despicable kingdom" Hrist grumbled out as she ate some scrambled eggs. Selene looked up at her as she ate her own eggs over easy.

"Hey Hrist, do you believe everyone in that kingdom is evil?" The battle maiden stopped eating and used her napkin, something she normally didn't do. Eating almost like a pig was a normal thing to do in Asgard, as there were incantations to clean oneself afterwards. Now that she was a general, she felt she needed to hold herself to a higher standard in her empress's eyes.

"I do not believe all of them are evil, we are rescuing the people from their government, but the way I see it, the nobility is in… what is the word… 'cahoots?' with the king of Artinia. To me, they are damned. The only way I would change my mind would be to meet one face to face who has been trying to help rather than hinder." The dev looked at her food and thought for a moment before giving a haphazard nod with her eyebrows raised, understanding her reasoning. The problem might not be the nobility, just the company they have to keep so they can protect their families in her eyes. As she had seen, Gold Pine was full of many people who were good honest workers, with Mayor Stafinson doing his best to take care of his village at the time.

 _For all I know, they might have an inquisition that keeps going around to find anyone who defied the king. There very well could be nobility who are decent people. I'll still stick with Hrist's thought process on them though until we find one._

"Ma'am, it's Orlo" she heard via coms. There was no way to connect the Valkyrja to Communication is Key without a communication earpiece, which seemed to have some range issues without radio and communication systems installed into the listening and radar posts in the mountains. They were already being upgraded to make sure chatting was crystal clear with no capability for ECM to block conversations. Surprisingly, while not able to get the maidens to talk with their minds, they could still use the same encryption that her ability provided, even changing to new "frequencies" if they ever thought their communication was compromised, which seemed very doubtful.

"Go ahead Orlo, what's up?" she asked as she remembered Hrist wasn't given an earpiece just yet. She opened her inventory and pulled out one of them, which made the maiden's eyes go wide. Up until now she hadn't seen her open her inventory, ever, even when they fought the abomination her eyes were on the creature and not what Selene was doing. For all she knew, the Lazarus System was dropped down by one of the flying helibots. The dev pulled out the earpiece and handed it to her, motioning to her ear as a wearable item like an earring. The general nodded as she started to put the earpiece on, with a small dial on the side to change to different channels. This reminded Selene that having some communication soldiers on the field would help if she led a charge to a town or city.

"I believe I've been able to further expand our research into teleportation." Both Selene and Hrist looked at each other.

"Something better than blocking teleportation or scrambling the coordinates? Like what?"

"Like creating brand new ammunition for projectile weapons that can teleport to the target, there is no travel time." The empress was all ears now as her eyes widened with Hrist stopping eating to listen to this.

"Wait, so bullets can travel to the target without needing to fly through the air? They just appear at the enemy? That's incredible" Selene said as she picked at her small pile of home fries.

"The bullets will be able to use the electrical field of the enemy to home in on critical parts of their body, teleporting directly to that point and then… continuing on their way through an exit path. This makes them bypass armor without an energy shield or very strong protective magic to defend against it."

"Does it have restrictions? I mean like does it not work on certain enemy types, like undead or weird blob creatures or something?"

"From what I can see via short range scans while we were fighting the abomination, they still produce an electrical field to move the muscles; even magic produces an over field that may move skeletons, meaning the bullets might not normally hit critical areas like eye sockets or manipulation armor, they will be attracted to mass, which would be the forehead of a skull or sternum of a rib cage. For… blob creatures… explosive charges or acid rounds with a teleportation crystal should be viable as a tandem projectile. This however does not use the same magic that we encountered in the temple, that's the catch." Selene seemed a little confused, then understood.

"Wait, so this doesn't use tier magic, but my dimensional magic? You got that to work?" she asked as she glanced at Hrist, who seemed to be a little confused. Magic was magic, no matter how it was cast to her. The Valkyrja didn't yet understand there was a difference between Yggdrasil and Arcanic's Wizardry spells.

"Yes ma'am, I was able to incorporate your teleportation spell instead. I apologize if I wasn't clear on which spell was in use for the experiments. I had reached an impasse for the use of the tier magic system to further experimentation, instead switching gears to dimensional magic to further the design."

"Good work. Does it home in on the electrical field though?"

"While it will perform in those regards, a new modification would need to be installed in all gunpowder weapons. It 'locks' onto a target's energy signature until it dissipates, or the module is reset, to keep the projectiles from firing at closely packed targets. Testing was done on… um…" Orlo trailed off.

"Don't tell me you tested it on living creatures?"

"No ma'am, of course not. We had to use it on drone automatons due to regular training dummies not providing the electrical field. It felt… odd… attempting to destroy allies." Selene looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He was right, attacking other automatons was similar to her fighting humans, excluding the fact that the drone didn't have a personality core or some humans being evil. It was a slippery slope losing that sense of right and wrong when attacking a creature or object.

"I understand. Don't worry, they didn't feel anything obviously. They don't have real personalities like you do, just purely machines to work for us." Orlo acknowledged that. Hopefully it would set his mind at ease.

"Have you heard back involving the brigades sent to Eld Horn Township yet ma'am?" he asked. Her eyebrows raised as her mouth fell agape for a moment.

"Oh crap, nearly forgot, I thought they were going to engage without further orders, could have sworn I told them to take the town. Are they stationed outside?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, camouflaged right now. Do you want to set them to task?" he asked.

"Yeah, although there isn't exactly a general there to oversee. I'll make sure they give the town a chance to surrender. There aren't any forts nearby are there?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am, a small one for town defense, but it seems to be mostly for… transportation of illegal goods. Ornithopters detected wagons in transit from Sweet Water Harbor, might have been narcotics or specialized consumables by the chemical scan." The empress seemed confused.

 _Why wouldn't that be transported to the imperial city? Is it a layaway station? Storage Depot?... something doesn't feel right…_

"Orlo, we have ornithopters above the town, right?" she asked as she double checked the positions of her intelligence gatherers. There was camera feed from multiple positions as she watched the people. Some were healthy and out hunting, but there was a large amount that seemed to move around the streets slowly, almost like zombies. Zooming into the faces seemed to show they were drugged up, maybe not forcefully… probably willingly. They probably did it to forget their horrible life.

"Yes ma'am, there are more than a few people that seem to enter two key locations, what look to be 'hookah lounges' for the residents to forget." That annoyed the empress. While she wasn't against recreational drugs, it was a thing and would continue to be a thing everywhere, she didn't like that they were using it just to get away from real world problems. If they used it on free time, fine, but using it consistently unless hunting seemed like no life at all.

"I sent portable hospital tents and auto docs with the brigades for injured civilians… alright, I'll see if they can't attempt to take the town peacefully. First thing's first, getting that fort to stand down. If it doesn't, well… it's going to turn into rubble anyways, doesn't matter to me if there are any bodies hidden under it."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Guard Lieutenant Hyland was writing some letters explaining how well the drugs he was getting was working on the people of Eld Horn to his king to review. The silly peasants did only two things most days, be passive and hunt for the kingdom. They barely could remember their numbers when it came to payment for pelts and meat, allowing his men to easily swoop in and 'assist' with the sale, getting even more money from their pockets.

"Sir! You need to come outside immediately! There's… some sort of army lined up outside the walls! They're talking to us!" one of his guards said in a panic. He dropped his quill into the ink pot and sighed. No one was stupid enough to attack an Artinian fort, they must have been out of their minds.

"I'll be there in just a moment then." He got up from his desk and picked up his jacket, buttoned it up and prepared himself, slicking back what little hair he had on his head and waxing his mustache. A quick snort of snuff from a snuffbox and a look into a polished bronze mirror before he was ready. He stepped out of his room to see the entire fort running for the walls, preparing a few of the advanced ballistae as well as cannons that were fired by the few wizards stationed there. The cannonballs were propelled by using mana. As he walked up to the walls, he could hear a very loud voice speaking to them.

"THIS IS THE CLOCKWORK EMPIRE. YOU ARE CURRENTLY AT WAR WITH US. WE REQUIRE YOUR IMMEDIATE SURRENDER OR FACE DESTRUCTION. YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO COMPLY BEFORE WE ENGAGE. FAILURE TO RESPOND WITHIN THAT TIME PERIOD AUTHORIZES US TO ENGAGE. HOSTILE ACTION AGAINST OUR FORCES IS A RESPONSE." Hyland laughed. These metal men stood watching his walls with odd looking boxes with tubes on the top, large cannons. He didn't see any wizards, no shields on the soldiers or swords. They looked to be carrying some sort of stick. These were peasants wearing metal plates to scare them.

"Fire a ballista at one of those boxes. Pierce it and show we will not cower to such an idiotic display. Did they really think this was going to work? Pathetic." His sergeants acknowledged and loaded the ballista, firing one bolt outwards and hitting a Heavy Battle Tank… plinking off the front glacis. There were a few moments of silence as the tank raised its two cannons at the wall.

 ** _(Recommended Song: Epic Score - Fire At Will)_**

"WE WILL TAKE THAT AS HOSTILE ACTION." A loud thunderous roar was heard as all the tanks started to engage, firing shells that started to topple the walls in huge chunks. Hyland's eyes widened as he ducked and cowered, trying to get away from the hell that was just unleashed on his fort. It wasn't a joke army; these metal men were incredible with amazing firepower. He heard whistling sounds as mortars dropped in and detonated, flipping his men end over end into the air screaming. It was a massive slaughter as he tried to run for the stables, but saw it be obliterated by some sort of explosive dropped from the sky.

There were metal creatures flying above that dove on occasion, spitting red and yellow death from weird openings in the wings. One wall completely collapsed with the men falling to their deaths, the ballista team and wizards above quickly having their lives ended as the metal soldiers charged in and fought in perfect formation, the sticks they were carrying spitting more projectiles at amazing speeds, penetrating armor with extreme ease or blowing heads off.

At one point one of his soldiers managed to get near one, attempted to strike with his sword, was dodged with a quick sidestep and backhanded backwards, snapping his neck in the process. These weren't just soldiers, in his eyes they were demons from some unknown hell come to destroy them. One of his wizards attempted to teleport out, with him screaming for the wizard to not leave him. The magic caster looked at him and disappeared… for a few seconds. He reappeared after those seconds disoriented, looking around and wondering why he was still in the fort very confused by what had just transpired. The scrambler system was in use. There was no way to escape. A quick mortar round and the wizard wasn't there anymore.

A ten-foot-tall metal soldier with what looked like multicolored brown and green spots covering the body appeared in front of him and stared down at his prone body on the ground, covered in dirt and mud. He crawled backwards and evacuated his bowels and bladder while doing so, the behemoth continuing to stand there aiming some handheld cannon. That was all he would see as his vision went dark due to the cannon firing.

 _ **Half Hour Later**_

Liyana tried to get her brother up and awake for the next hunt out in the Morelar woods, they needed to make their quota before winter set in. Unfortunately for her, he was hyped up on Scooze, the drug constantly brought from Sweet Water. As she shook him, he rolled over with his eyes blood shot, unwilling to do much. Today was supposed to be a free day for him, but she had made him promise to help out in tracking a new herd seen of Eld Horns found along with some wild turkeys. The Eld Horn was a massive deer with horns that grew curved at first like goats then downwards, arcing towards each other and finally facing backwards like wings folded. It acted as armor for the beast when confronted by predators.

"Come on Davin! You promised me you'd help damn it! Don't be this way!" she shouted as he rolled and looked at her.

"I changed my mind. I need this after what happened yesterday. I just want to forget." He was referring to the confrontation between himself, her and a guard. He was attempting to molest her, but Davin came to her rescue… or so he thought. Apparently, the guard was a sergeant to Lieutenant Hyland at the fort and was willing to fake documents to get him arrested, never seeing his sister again. They were orphans, never really knowing their parents, however Liyana had shown some skill with a bow and crossbow, eventually becoming the head huntress for the town… due mostly because no one else wanted the position. It required a lot of paperwork to be sent with shipments of goods, some of that paperwork making her need to head to the Halivast fort, being leered at by the guards the entire way. She was pretty, with long brown hair weaved into a ponytail that she draped over her shoulder, with a small number of freckles on her face. Her brown eyes always were shifting around her, watching and hoping there weren't any guards nearby to cause trouble.

While the soldiers were supposed to be there to protect them, they mainly caused issues and attempted to fondle the more attractive women in the town, her included. While nothing got beyond some pawing due to her brother, it could quickly get worse. Davin was her main line of defense, but now it seemed it was either acquiesce to their perverted actions or never see his sister again. He couldn't take it, he had heard stories of how horrible the Artinian dungeons were.

"I need you. Please. I can't go out there alone. I might be in charge, but if those guards… if they…" she shook him one more time.

"Get one of the other hunters to help you. Maybe… maybe if we rotate… they might forget… like we do…" he drifted off. He was going to be this way for quite a few hours, useless in his bed. She kicked the side of one of the posts, not even making him jump as she was frustrated. Maybe he didn't want to think about what would happen if they got their grubby hands on her? Maybe he didn't want to watch her be touched by them, it would haunt him for the rest of his days or be the end of him.

She groaned out loud and picked up her bow and quiver, took one last look at her brother and left their small lodge. It was a gift provided to the head hunter, otherwise they did what they could to scrape together money to stay at the inn at town. As she closed the door and looked up at the sky, she prayed there would be no bad luck, that somehow, she could get through the day without one of the guards finding her. Her skin crawled each time they touched her face or her shoulders out of revulsion.

The huntress slowly made her way through the streets towards the market, checking on anything that they might be needing to buy. The meat looked fresh, as was normal, but the vegetables looked quite wilted with no fruits available. She saw two guards standing in an alcove and decided to pull up her hood to hide her face, hoping to get by them without any problems. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work.

"Hey there luv! It's you again! And without your brother stopping our little tryst this time! Guess he learned his lesson huh?" both guards ran up to her with one speaking. He grabbed her wrist as she pulled away, trying to keep her distance. They cat called and slowly pushed her into another door alcove as others looked at her, feeling sorry for what she was going through, but fearful of doing anything. They continued doing their own thing, somewhat happy it wasn't them. To be pretty in this town meant you were there to be ridden by the Artinian soldiers, used and abused as if you would enjoy it.

"Let me go, I have to leave now, or the game will get away!" she snapped as she kept her hands up to protect herself from their groping.

"Oh luv, we can help with that, ey Tavish?"

"Right right, be a right joy to go out there with you, no one watching out in the fields. Fun can happen out there, things we're sure you'll enjoy."

"Get away from me! I don't want any of that! Can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Can't do that for such a pretty face luv. You'll get used to it eventually. You see, we're the law around here and-" That was all he could say as gasps were heard from people nearby as they stared at the entrance.

 ** _(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell - Bastion)_**

Two loud noises were heard like spells being cast by wizards as the guards at the front gate toppled to the ground, with what looked like metal men with large… metal boxes rolled into the street. They seemed to be moving in formation, ignoring the civilians and targeting the guards. Tavish, and the guard groping her, turned and looked at them in awe. That gave Liyana a chance to get around them, with their hands reaching out to grab and pull her back as the metal soldiers moved by. That was the exact thing they shouldn't have done. One soldier looked at them, its weird eyes focusing before it aimed its metal stick and fired two times, killing both of them.

Liyana screamed and cowered with her hands on her head as the metal soldier didn't attack her, just continued forward looking for more guards to fight. "You are safe now Miss" was all she heard from it as it moved on.

"DO NOT BE ALARMED, WE ARE THE CLOCKWORK EMPIRE. WE COME TO END THE REIGN OF THE ARTINIAN KINGDOM. WE ARE ASSUMING CONTROL OVER ELD HORN TOWNSHIP. DO NOT TAKE UP ARMS AGAINST US, FAILURE TO PUT DOWN WEAPONS IS PROVACATION TO TREAT YOU AS HOSTILE. ARTINIAN GUARDS ARE CONSIDERED HOSTILE. REPEAT, DO NOT BE ALARMED, WE ARE THE CLOCKWORK EMPIRE. WE COME TO END THE REIGN OF THE ARTINIAN KINGDOM. WE ARE ASSUMING CONTROL OVER ELD HORN TOWNSHIP. DO-" The voice was blaring out from one of the box wagons rolling on its own, with no horses pulling it. Two large treads wrapped around the wheels as it moved forward, with the turret on top looking for larger foes to slay. She couldn't believe her eyes, these beings, whoever they were, did not attack the citizens, only the guards stationed here. There were a few that stopped at corners of each town block, taking station and guarding that location. People looked at them as they continued watching the area.

One man jumped in front of the armored wagon and started to pray, sitting on his knees as he shot his arms out into the air. Two metal soldiers came around and dragged him out of the way as the wagon continued moving forward. Two of the metal soldiers leapt at an Artinian guard and slammed him through the wall that protected the town, creating a hole in it.

As she slowly moved away from the awe inspiring army moving through her town and headed towards the front gate, with more of them pouring through, she heard noise above them as huge metal vehicles flew by, some even carrying what looked like crates held by winches. As she passed the one metal soldier at one corner, the design of the armor looked different, wearing black with blue stripes on it. The guard looked at her as she watched it.

"Do you require assistance Miss?" it asked in a soothing tone. It had its hands behind its back in a formal stance. It looked to be the same size as any other human, smaller than the larger military soldiers that kept pouring through the gate.

"Um… no, not at the moment. I… well, I need to get through the gate to go hunting." It looked towards the gate as she turned around. A neat space between one block of metal soldiers and the next was opened for her to pass by.

"The way is temporarily clear for you Miss, please be careful when outside the walls. If you have any issues or notice any crime, please do not hesitate to warn us. We are here to serve and protect." She looked back at the soldier in awe. It didn't touch her in any way, assisted her in getting out of the town somehow by silently telling the other metal soldiers to allow exit and even warned her it was willing to look out for her. Whatever this Clockwork Empire was, it already had made one hell of an impression with the people in the town.

As she left the gates and jogged away to the forest, she could see the number of soldiers still outside. Hundreds, thousands even were moving into the town, showing their power and force they had available. She could hear the same bang noises from those weapons they were carrying, probably ending the threat of any other Artinian guards stationed inside. That was when her eyes roamed and fell onto the destroyed burning rubble of the Halivast Fort. Two metal vehicles flew over her head, moving off in a new direction with one of them flying wingman. She had never seen such soldiers or vehicles before; this empire must have been incredibly powerful.

As she continued towards the forest, she could see some of the metal men standing watch. "Please be careful when entering the forest Miss, caution should be taken when hunting large game." She thanked one for the advice.

"Um, my name is Liyana, I'm the head huntress for Eld Horn Town… uh… has there been a sighting of Eld Horn nearby or further away?" she attempted to say. It was hope against hope that they might have known where the herd went, given the noise they made it might be they scared the deer further inwards.

"Checking… currently there is a herd heading due North within five miles of this location." She was surprised it knew that. They must have had some sort of way to detect the animals. The huntress looked at some of the others, with a few having camouflage coloring and not even willing to speak to her much. The guard force seemed friendly yet stern, but the military, or what she thought might be the military, didn't really speak excluding the warnings that Eld Horn was under their control.

As she stepped into the forest, the guard looked at her. "Please do not stay in the forest after dark, we cannot guarantee your safety. If you do not return by the end of the day, you may be considered a missing citizen, with a search party sent to rescue you." Liyana was pleasantly surprised to hear that, telling her that they wanted her to come back unharmed. Her life meant something to them. The people meant something to them. They didn't want to come in and pillage or rape, they seemed to move about and do their jobs professionally, with a show of respect to those who didn't want to fight.

"Things… might change for the better around here now… maybe… I hope…" she put her hood back on and disappeared into the forest.

 _ **Five Hours Later**_

Liyana came back with a makeshift travois she had brought bundled on her back, now carrying a small Eld Horn she had caught and killed. As she came back from the forest with the quick hunt due in no small part to the assistance of the metal soldiers, her eyes raised to the town and saw Davin running towards her.

"Liyana! Liyana! You have to come in right now! Someone wants to meet you! She wants to meet the head huntress!" he said as he stumbled across some rocks and kept his balance. His eyes were no longer bloodshot. Someone had cleansed his body of the drug. There were what seemed to be tents with red crosses on the sides set up near the main gate now.

"Then carry this in for me damn it. I was nearly taken by those guards you know! You did nothing! You laid back and tried to forget those horrible things were going to happen to me! It took these… people… to come to my aide! How dare you!" she snapped as she slapped at his arm.

"I know! I know! I'm sorry! I really am! I just… I couldn't… but… these things, these metal men, they've killed all the guards! Every single one of them! They already caught several thieves and two murderers! It's amazing! Please, she wants to speak with you, go, go now." He picked up the travois as she walked towards the gate, with more white colored metal men sitting at tables and looking at her. One stopped her and shined a light into her eyes.

"What the… what is this… stop that…" she said as it continued to go about its business touching her.

"Please hold still Miss, we are checking on your health. Do you have any coughing, sniffling, sneezing, itchy eyes?" it asked as it gently picked up her right arm and turned it over, touching at her wrist then slowly moving up her arm. She worried it was going to do what the guards tried to, but it then moved its fingers to the side of her neck and lifted her chin, rubbing under it then turning her head. She was about to complain again, but it looked at her hair and finally gave her a clean bill of health.

"Please stay hygienic, bathing once a day assists in combating disease and illness and is welcomed by other citizens. A clean body is a healthy body." She didn't know what to say about that, although there was a bathhouse in the town that she went to once a week. As she walked inside and headed down her street, there was a huge flying vehicle sitting at the end. A massive crowd was huddled around it, with a woman wearing gold polished armor sitting on a small platform. She seemed to be talking to some of the metal men.

Liyana sighed and walked towards the crowd, sifting through it and heading to the front. As she reached the frontline, she stopped and looked up at the woman sitting there, getting a better view of her armor. She looked majestic, her red auburn-hair pulled back in a ponytail with a tiara, as beautiful as she'd expect from a queen or leader. Her blue eyes stared down at her.

"Are you Liyana, the head huntress of Eld Horn?" she asked. The huntress looked around and gulped.

"Yes?" she said as she felt uncomfortable. The woman seemed to be eyeing her up and down.

"Aren't you a little young to be in charge?"

"Says you. I took the position because no one wanted to handle those crazed beasts we called our protectors." Whispers were heard nearby.

"She can't say that, can she?"

"Artinia will have her head for that!"

"No, she needs to stay silent or the inquisitors will show up!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Your town of Eld Horn belongs to me. The Artinian kingdom no longer controls this land here, you are now part of my Clockwork Empire. Furthermore, any speaking about how bad Artinia was to you, is allowed. Speak your minds about them, they hold no sway over this place any longer" Selene shouted to everyone gathered nearby. The people looked amongst themselves, now no longer drugged by Scooze, understanding what she was saying.

"Who are you?" Liyana asked.

"She is the Clockwork Empress Selene" a huge woman said as she dropped next to her from the odd metal turtle creature, clad in what she could only see as a true warrior's armor. She looked like a mythical being she had once heard of, a Valkyrie. This battle maiden was standing by the empress's side, meaning she followed her law. The Artinian kingdom had never even believed they existed, but this woman had her under her control.

"You are now my subjects. You might be thinking that this is just another kingdom taking over, that the same things are going to happen, but I can assure you, that is far from the truth." She looked at Liyana as she got up and stood there "You, if you are the 'mayor' of this town, I need to know the situation of the people here, how the town is running, and what is missing to improve it. For the record, to all standing here, your taxes are now being changed to that of Gold Pine and Glass Dale, both of which are under my banner. It is slightly less than what you were originally paying, with more control over what you need to pay compared to just taking your hard-earned coin."

Selene stood up and walked to a few feet in front of the young huntress, awed by how she looked. Here she was, in ranger clothes, standing before an empress in all her regalia. Her pauldrons seemed to have gears and cogs moving inside them, with a sword at her hip and a small weapon of some sort next to it. In her eyes, she could have said she was a goddess and the young woman would have believed her with the army she brought.

"Heaven comes to light our path, a divine goddess comes to lead the way!" one man said as he prayed in the open towards her, his hands held together palms upwards as he kneeled.

"Enough with that. Now, where is your home? We should speak in private." Liyana looked around at the people staring at her.

"Right, of course, um… this… way…" she backed up a few steps and motioned with her hand to head down two streets to an incline with a lodge on top, away from the rest of the town. The lodge was small, about the size of her first log cabin with a little extra room due to it being triangular with no walls, just roof. Honor Guards blocked anyone from getting near the empress as they walked down the streets, keeping any of the more religious townsfolk from getting near her. As they entered, Selene could see there were two beds with curtains to pull around them, a small kitchen to cook and one table with three log stump chairs. A hook from the ceiling descended to hold an oil lamp.

"Welcome to my… humble… lodge… sorry about the mess, I… wasn't expecting company…" the huntress told her as the empress smirked.

"Reminds me of my first cabin…" she muttered out as the young woman turned around, not hearing that clearly.

"What was that?" Liyana asked.

"Oh, nothing. So, I take it this is where you and your brother, Davin, have lived? With no improvements even though you do your best to run this town?" the auburn-haired woman asked. Liyana felt nervous talking to this woman, this royalty in her small house. It wasn't much, but it was a roof over their heads that was provided if she took the position. The head hunter was always given the lodge, which had enough utility to survive. If they lived in something larger, they instead had two homes. Unfortunately for Liyana and her brother, it was either take this or they were on the street, with the time they had originally gained the lodge to be around winter two years ago.

"It is. Look, I know it isn't much, but we do our best." The eighteen-year-old girl said a little in confrontation to the woman. Selene put her hands up in surrender.

"Easy, that wasn't a slight against you. I'm just surprised you weren't provided something larger. Mayor Stafinson of Gold Pine has a larger house, but he does everything he can to take care of the citizens. The place has grown since then and with my leadership it has flourished with his watchful eye. Now, I'm hoping to do the same to Eld Horn. I hope you'll work with me in this regard. You will, won't you? I'd hate to have to find someone else to take up the mantle." Liyana worried about that. If she did fight against this system, either due to the empress's reign not sitting well with her, both she and her brother would be out on the street again.

"It's not as if I have much choice, you own the town now after all; it's not as if I can refuse, and even if I did, I'd lose my lodge. This home is given to whoever is the head hunter."

"Wait, you lose your home if I decided to choose someone else?" Selene asked in a little confusion, her eyebrow raising with her mouth screwing up in annoyance. Liyana nodded solemnly. The empress looked at the ground as she sat down in one of the chairs and clasped her gauntleted hands together to bring them up to her mouth in thought. "How many homeless are there in this town?" she finally asked.

"Um… I think… thirty?"

"And population? How many live here in total?" Liyana was surprised at that, but she didn't really know the answer to that question.

"I dunno, erm… around two thousand, maybe? I never really-"

"You've never taken a census before?"

"I was a little busy keeping my brother and I alive and dealing with some abuse of power ok?"

"But a mayor-"

"Look no one stepped up to take the position when I signed up alright?! It was either than or my brother and I were on the street! I've done the best I can with what I have! And then there was the Artinian guards constantly… constantly…" she almost broke into tears as she turned away and stormed over to her bed and sat down. There was silence as Selene watched her staring at the ground before she slowly stood up and went to sit down next to the young huntress.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to hit that nerve. I'm just surprised you haven't done the things most mayors check. A census would have allowed you to earn more money from a head count if anyone new settled here. You don't have to worry about Artinia any longer, they can't hurt you. Look… I'll see about getting an administration team here to help get the town back on track alright? They can teach you how to be a proper mayor and help with the more complicated issues. They'll also be a link in the event something major happens." Liyana glanced up at her before looking back down at the ground. She couldn't seem to keep her eyes on the empress, for fear she might take offense. She had heard stories of King Teiyan gouging eyes for disobedience, with a peasant's stare being 'filthy.'

"A link? To this Clockwork Empire?" she asked as she glanced up at Selene again. She felt nervous as she rubbed her gloved hands together between her legs.

"A link to me. They can tell me in an instant if there are any problems you need help addressed. That's how this works, a ruler is supposed to oversee the bigger picture, while the mayors, kings and queens oversee the smaller things. They'll pass on statistics when required of taxes paid and what plans have born fruit in helping the people." The teen looked up at Selene finally, worried she'd do what Teiyan does. The empress smiled at her warmly.

"Really?... don't… aren't you forgetting about the nobility? Knights, Barons, that sort of thing?" she asked as she kept glancing away. Selene didn't reach up or attack her, just listened to her questions.

"That depends on if the nobility can act their age and help the people instead of themselves. Besides, while they are nobility of Artinia, they aren't _my_ nobility. I decide who is knighted in my empire, who rules small amounts of land, who controls what. My word is law. Right now, I'm fine with you continuing to lead this town. Are you up to the task?" Liyana looked right into her eyes. There was no aggression, no annoyance that she was looking right at her.

"I'll… I'll do my best, your majesty." Selene put her hand out and placed it on Liyana's shoulder, making her hold her breath as she feared the worst. The empress just squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. There will be a few things changing around here in the next few days, some alterations in the homes and buildings, adding some town plumbing and cleaning the place up. We've caught a few criminals in just our initial entrance, I wasn't expecting my military and security to work so fast. Most of them are full time robbers, with some human traffickers. Given I don't feel they are redeemable given their… colorful… language, I'm having them executed. I don't have a prison built and I don't intend on putting anyone inside that can't be rehabilitated. Sorry if that has an effect on the census I expect from you, but that's how it is going to be." So, it was true, she worked fast on fixing the town it seemed.

"I'll… uh… make do then, your majesty." Liyana was almost squeaking out the words. The empress smiled at her and nodded, then stood up.

"Alright. I have to get back to my castle and plan the next course of military action; I'll have the administration team brought over post haste to address any questions you might have or need assistance. I expect that census completed within one full month, that should be roughly seventy-five homes checked on per day. I know what you're thinking, you'll be doing it yourself, but that's not the case. The administration team will help, so that should ease the workload. Can you read and write? Basic mathematics?" she asked.

"Uh… yes, yes I can."

"Good. Don't worry, I won't throw you into the deep end so quickly, you've got to learn what's needed now with being a part of my empire. Now, I should be heading out. Do you have any questions, Liyana?" She remembered her name, didn't call her huntress or peasant or… other… words; the empress was trying to show respect.

"Um… about the coming winter… we… might not have as much food stocked away as we should have due to the Halivast Fort taking some of it each year…" the teen told her as she poked her fingers against each other and looked a little embarrassed.

"So, you have a food shortage? What are you missing? Do you know what is in abundance?" Davin was outside and being blocked by the Honor Guards at the door. He seemed to be arguing with them as Selene looked at the entrance.

"Um, dried or pickled vegetables, no real fruit. Getting anything transported from Puldoros Orchards is difficult enough with the fort-"

"The fort is wiped out, I have no need for it anyways. We'll see about getting a shipment of vegetables sent here. If we can't get a shipment transported from this orchard, then we'll bring one from the rest of the empire." Liyana was surprised she was so quick to share their produce to feed them.

"Th… thank you, your majesty."

"Don't worry, however, for the future, this is a one-time thing. I want the people to understand it happens this year without any need to buy the food, with the next requiring a payment of fifty percent of the cost. If it happens a third year in a row, full payment. The people need to not rely on hand outs, or they will never get anything done, just waiting for the government to take care of them. Understood?" Liyana nodded. That seemed reasonable, as just constantly being fed by others without providing payment would make them lazy. If the town continued to do that, she could see the place failing to expand. Some villages and towns had done that before, dying off quickly due to the residents not putting in the hard work required to survive.

The empress waited for any other questions, but there were none. She then walked to the door and opened it, with Davin stopping arguing and staring at her in awe, with Liyana coming out behind the woman. "You must be Davin, her brother." He looked between his sister and the empress as both stared at him.

"Um, yes… your majesty, I am." He looked down at the ground, acting the same way as Liyana did, with his eyes constantly glancing at her armored body. He had never seen a woman wielding that much power before, while also being beautiful. He had seen a baroness at one point, but she was overweight due to eating so well. Nobility had quite a bit of wealth compared to the commoner. The empress stood right in front of him with her hands on her hips, sternly staring at him.

"I hear that one of my soldiers defended your sister from two Artinian guards as they entered the town while you were found lying in your bed high as a kite." He looked embarrassed.

"A… kite?" Liyana asked, not knowing what that was. Selene ignored the question and continued to watch him.

"Liyana, this is something else that will change; while I don't have much of a problem with recreational drugs, it seems to have become a problem here in the town. It should be restricted a bit more. Davin, you were on drugs while your sister was being molested. You should have been there." He glanced up at her eyes.

"I'm sorry your majesty, but I just… I…"

"He was trying to forget. He was threatened to be locked up in a dungeon if he impeded the guards any further in getting to me. It was either that or… knowing what they were going to do. He didn't want to live with knowing" Liyana explained.

"All the same, Artinia isn't here anymore. While you will never have to confront my security here ever, I expect you to take better care of your sister. She is the head huntress of this town, you should strive to protect her at all costs. She's family, she needs to rely on you. Unless you face criminal charges, proven to be true with evidence, you are to help her succeed. Can you do that?" the empress asked.

"I can your majesty, on my honor I will do better." Selene's face slowly changed from stern to a small smile.

"Very well." She looked at Liyana and nodded to her, who bowed in a jerky motion not knowing what to do. As the empress walked away, with Davin walking up to his sister and looking back at the receding woman, the dev stopped.

"One last thing before I go…" she said as she turned around and motioned towards the lodge. It shook and moved as Liyana and Davin backed away, worried she was destroying their home.

"No, please… don't-" but it fell on deaf ears as the roof was raised up by new walls appearing from seemingly nothing, the front entrance expanded a little more with a second floor added, some windows and a small stairway to the front door. They were in awe that she could use such awesome power. Davin looked at the empress as she stood there smiling while the home built itself up. She was a goddess, there was no doubt about it.

"I expect the head huntress to at least have something of this size befitting their residence. It is absolutely unacceptable you didn't have your own rooms. Now, both of them are separated with their own doors and walls." They both looked at each other with small smiles growing on their lips, their eyes widening. They both ran inside and looked around at the improvements. The kitchen was streamlined with a counter, a kitchen table and four sturdier chairs sat nearby. A small meeting area with a fireplace was in the corner closest to the front door with while not luxurious couches, they were still very comfortable for two teens that had never had one. There was a staircase heading to the second floor with both bedrooms separated, having their own bathrooms.

"Ooh, that's right... no plumbing set yet…" Selene muttered to herself outside. The teens looked in their own rooms at the new beds they had with dressers for clothing, a chest made available at the foot of the bed and a simple rug. While it wasn't a massive house, it was amazing compared to the bungalow they had previously lived in. The empress walked her paces as she built basic stone plumbing through the ground heading away from the home and draining down towards a basic septic system. It would be replaced once Juliet could get her construction teams here to provide real plumbing and upgrade the town. There also needed to be an expansion railroad connecting to Glass Dale.

Once that was completed, the teens came outside to see the empress walking back from what she was doing to the door and reentered. "I think I have a few of these still available… let me check…" they couldn't see what she was doing as her eyes seemed to jerk around, looking at something that wasn't there. Her hand moved forward and disappeared into a portal before pulling out some sort of large pod. It floated in mid air as she motioned for them to move out of the way, ripping up some wood planks on the floor as the pod slowly sank into the ground and disappeared, replacing the dirt and wooden planks right after. The ruler of the Clockwork Empire had not once touched the floor, all of it done through some sort of magic.

"There, all done. Should have ample amount of water from that" she said. Liyana turned around with a massive grin on her face and a gleam in her eye, unable to contain her excitement. Davin touched the faucet in the kitchen and saw clean water coming out. The young huntress was about to jump for joy, instead bolting forward and hugged Selene, with Davin worried that could be seen as aggressive to the Honor Guards. Liyana's head barely reached up to the woman's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around the empress. There was a small pat on her back as the woman gave her an awkward hug in reciprocation. The huntress then regained her composure as she realized what she was doing and pulled away, her eyes wide as she looked at the empress. A gauntleted hand simply came up and patted her on the head and ruffled her hair.

"Well, that's about it for me here, time to go. You should see some construction crews coming in to work, don't worry and just answer questions if they are asked." The teen girl nodded, her eyes almost filling with tears of joy. There was no reason for the empress to give them this, she didn't gain anything other than making sure they were taken care of. The empress turned around and walked back out the door.

"Will we… um… will we ever see you again, your majesty?" she asked. Selene glanced over her shoulder.

"Parades may happen in the future, festivals, I might throw a ball in the future maybe. I'd expect my mayors and heads of government would be allowed to attend." The teens both looked at each other. They had nothing to wear to such a fancy event though. It could be they might happen much further in the next year, allowing them to earn some money and get some fancy clothes. With help from the administration team, it was a sure bet. This woman, this empress… this goddess wanted them to succeed.

The empress walked to a lowering metal turtle like creature as it descended and opened doors on the sides, with her climbing in followed by the Honor Guards. She waved goodbye to the teens as they waved back, the doors closing as the vehicle flew away. As it headed off into the sky, they turned and walked back inside. The Clockwork Empire had taken over, hopefully bringing a golden age to the town.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"You let her hug you?" Hrist asked over coms as she landed on the airship. The Valkyrja was standing in the control station waiting for the platform to recede as she didn't want to put on an air mask just for walking twenty feet.

"She wasn't trying to stab me Hrist, she was genuinely happy. They needed a little enjoyment given to them after everything. Now they realize the empire cares they are a part of it." The Valkyrja seemed to be getting a little red in annoyance.

"She should not have touched you though! It's… she's… that should not have happened."

"You sound almost like your jealous" the empress laughed out as she walked from the landed helibot as the platform receded inside _Majesty's Grace_ , just behind the Azaltos Mountains. It definitely helped getting from place to place now that she had a mobile command center and home. Hrist was getting flustered at that thought.

"I'm not jealous! I just do not want… a commoner to… there was no guarantee she might not have hurt you is all I'm saying. You were in a new town, you didn't know how she would react to your actions. Your safety is paramount, with I as a your general… I… just… don't want to see you harmed. Yes. The Clockwork Empire would fall before it even began without you."

"And a hug is supposed to hurt me? Hrist, I fought you. My armor has only been getting stronger since then, I highly doubt a hidden dagger would even break through my skin these days with the spells I cast all the time. Besides, the Honor Guard didn't detect anything larger than a small knife on her and it wasn't very sharp." The empress rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face.

"It could have still been an attempt on your life!"

"It was a hug from an eighteen-year-old girl Hrist! She was happy! Haven't you ever gotten a hug just because you or someone else was happy?" Hrist looked away, her face flushed red.

"No, I never have. Valkyrja are warriors, we are not coddled."

"What about me patting you on the head that one time?"

"That was one time, you don't do it every day!"

"Alright, fine, but seriously, never? Does somebody need a hug? You want a hug Hrist, so you know what it feels like?" she asked her in a baby speaking tone. The battle maiden screwed up her lips and held up her head high. Her face was twitching.

 _Ooh, stack overflow. Might have gone a little too far teasing her._

"Ab-Absolutely not! I am a bringer of the slain! Hugs are for mewling children or for a lover. Hmph." The Valkyrja crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, still blushing and flustered.

"Ok, fine, no hugs for you then. Suit yourself." Selene waved her had in dismissiveness as she walked into the rest of the airship; Hrist looked at her receding form out of the corner of her eye, feeling as if she just lost out on something.

"I'm not a child and you are not my lover…" she muttered to herself, reaffirming her reasoning, but her logic didn't have much of a leg to stand on. One of the maintenance automatons stood there holding a hose looking at her. She glanced at it and stormed off, frustrated with a red face.

Selene walked into the main compartment and headed down a hallway, checking her inventory and preparing some disposable items to disenchant and craft some more **[Unending Flow]** water systems for Juliet to install in the homes for Eld Horn. There were going to be backup water silos as a precautionary measure for hygiene and the fire department that was going to be built too. As she checked her character sheet, she noticed her level was 130, meaning she had gotten fifteen levels from the battle with the abomination. That should have made her pass out right after defeating it, but all she did was get tired like normal. It was possible due to not checking her sheet right after that the levels trickled in over the morning while she slept as a safety feature.

While it wouldn't stop any medical problems if she forced herself to level from the orb, it at least let her fight stronger enemies without worry that she'd spontaneously combust or scramble her brain. However, she wondered why there was only fifteen levels provided given the abomination was well above them in strength. As she sat down in a couch nook waiting for the air fleet to head back to the castle so she could prepare for the next offensive, Sweet Water Harbor City, her first thought was to check on the Philosopher's Stone ability she had to modify another Stat Potion. As it rolled the dice, the number of points the drink would provide turned out to be… one hundred. Her eyes widened at that. That was what anyone would consider a "critical roll."

 _Ok, that's definitely worth drinking. I'll survive the half hour upset stomach for that amount easily. I doubt that'll happen a second time._

The empress pulled the potion from her inventory and popped the cork, downing the concoction as quick as she could. The flavor was boring, but it was necessary. Her stomach churned a little as she sat reading and checking where to place points. Adding in another one hundred to Agility would allow her to move like a cat anywhere, probably be the most graceful being on the planet. However, adding into Movement Speed would allow her to zip around at hypersonic speeds. Does that help her in combat though? There were only so fast arms could move in a small space to fight each other unless her enemy was ranged. However, Movement Speed didn't govern Dodge, Parry or Block. Those stats were already each at one hundred percent. Even with those stats being high, that could be whittled down by accuracy from an enemy, defeating defensive stats.

 _Speed wasn't so much a problem in the last fight as restricting the regeneration of that monstrosity. Still… I could find myself in need of increasing my movement… of course strength could make it so that I could one shot anything… eh, everything is useful. I'll go down the list right now and get everything to two hundred percent over the next week or two, no rush._

Adding one hundred points to Health to bring it up to two hundred percent made her feel like she could take on the world all at the same time with the massive boost to her hit points. Combined with the stat boosts from her armor and she had a little over five million hp. The second one-hundred-point injection went into Mana, easily allowing her to cast without needing a mana potion for a very long time. It also increased the Biomimetic Barrier's field since it used hit points and mana points to determine the amount of shield points it had. Fifty points would wait until tomorrow when she had another fifty to combine for another one hundred drop in Stamina. While stamina wasn't exactly needed much due to spells that helped regenerate it in combat, getting it to two hundred percent might make those spells useless.

Her thought was that if she reached a certain number, similar to magic resistances creating immunities, she could gain "phenomenal cosmic power" in that stat. She just had no idea if it actually would provide that feature or if it was even close. For all she knew, unlimited stamina was around one thousand percent or more, or it could really just be two hundred percent and that was it. There could also be no unlimited stamina for her, simply a restriction for being human, different biology compared to Hrist or the others.

Logistics was brought up to one hundred percent simply to help get the food shipments moved to Eld Horn Town without using much of her reserve, as it allowed her to get more out of crafted food with **[An Army Moves on Its Stomach]**. Two basic universal skills had one hundred points added to each right after. Those skills were Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, not the steampunk version. This was to help with any new equipment that wasn't steampunk now that she had already reached the Space Age, along with assisting in miniaturization aspects. In her eyes, it was entirely possible to integrate standard technology into steampunk objects or automatons if it was an improvement. One issue she had which was going to be fixed was stopping her military models from clanking all over the place, their armor needed to be quieter. Mechanical Engineering would help with locking down the armor or silencing it with new designs.

 _Oh, that's right… gotta get that launch pad ready… and a working shipyard…_

While she wasn't going to change the look of her machines to the public, keeping most of her new advanced technology hidden away would allow her backup options if the Artinian kingdom ever found out somehow to defend against her mechanized armies. That seemed very doubtful though. They would be hard pressed to protect against British Red Coats with muskets right now.

 _Show everyone steampunk while a Death Star is being built right above their heads or something. Wait… no, that would still be seen… moon base? Maybe… oh hell, why would I care if I could be space capable._

There was already a plot set aside and cleared for the construction process for "Apollo 11." She remembered her Earth history involving the first few launches were… unsuccessful.

 _There is no way I'm going up in a Saturn V rocket. I'll wait until I have much better technology._

"Ma'am, it's Turnie" she heard over her coms.

"Go ahead Turnie" she replied as she finished throwing fifty points into Prospecting and fifteen points into Chemistry to start building it up for specialized materials beyond Alchemy. It would help once she reached Information Age and started to produce Graphene and Aerogel in large quantities. Metallurgy and Alchemy wouldn't work on the composites or carbon designs she was going to be creating. The Prospecting was preparing for decent deposits on asteroids or finding basic materials on another planet, once she got to it.

"I think I've cracked the code for how to bypass healing restrictions, barely."

"That's wonderful news. So, healing can be done anywhere, even in an enchanted building?" she asked her heal bot.

"Yes ma'am, though I think I have a way to get the enchantment to work at range too, restricting others from healing that is." Selene's head cocked back a little in surprise.

"Wait, so… you might have a lead on how to stop something like the abomination for regenerating if we ever come across something like that again?"

"It's possible, but it'll take a little more time to work through the experiments. Sorry for the wait ma'am."

"No no, by all means, take your time, make sure it works. If the experiment is successful, we'll have complete control of a battlefield no matter what, with the enemy never healing while we can repair or get civilians to safety. Both you and Orlo are making great strides while you don't have to perform your main duties. Sorry if it gets a little boring with me not sending you all over the place to assassinate high profile targets or disrupt armies."

"Ma'am, we're perfectly happy helping you extend your reach in other ways. Keeping our technology and capabilities improving is just one aspect of it. Oh, I heard about the narcotics being used in Eld Horn, should I go over there to see the extent of use?"

"No worries on that, the auto docs stationed in the field hospitals have it under control. Those people really didn't want to live in their own reality… kind of like… well, kind of like some people I knew about."

"I take it addiction to games or drugs was a thing you had seen?" Selene was surprised by her insightfulness into the games she was also playing with Bronze Team.

"Yes actually. The problem though with that was… well… for some people, life really sucked…" she trailed off as she remembered that not every country was doing as well as the United States. While her nation wasn't much better off with the mega corporations taking control over a decent chunk of Europe, Japan and many other countries, they barely dodged the bullet on letting them take over, Russia as well. China… they let them think that they were in charge, then quickly swept their legs out from under them once any technological improvements were made, very smart on their part. Finland and Norway fought back tooth any nail, keeping their people healthy and safe from the machinations of corporate greed.

"I see. Well, you can rest assured that Bronze Team are not addicted, I can tell you that. By the way, did you still want to play that game with us?" the little bot asked.

"Yeah, I'm just… so many things piling on, the work of an empress never stops it seems. I barely had a chance to fly my plane this morning due to the christening of the _Majesty's Grace_. I brought a sample of the drug called Scooze, I'll bring it to you. The next engagement is going to be taking Sweet Water Harbor where that stuff supposedly comes from. No idea how they produce it, but it might have something to do with the ocean during the processing."

"Understood, I'll take a look at it and see what the composition is like. Um, a notice came while you were gone from Mayor Stafinson. It's about a food shortage."

"Them too? Sheesh. Eh, I can't blame them as they did have to run for the hills if they were to escape the bandit army. Ok, I'll see about getting some shipments to them and explain the same rules I gave Eld Horn Township. Thanks for the heads up." Selene already knew there was plenty of food stocked in her inventory, hundreds of crates of fruit and vegetables with some meat available, all of it held in stasis while in her first inventory list. It was enough to feed thousands of people for the next year if need be. While there wasn't a substantial amount of protein given her hunter automatons weren't attempting to send animals into extinction, or any soy bean seeds yet available, there were plenty of greens, nuts and fruit. Some supplements were also crafted a while ago, but she had nearly forgotten about them. It could help with anyone suffering from scurvy or osteoporosis even if they weren't a pirate or elderly.

"Understood ma'am, I'll wait for your arrival." The communication ended as the dev laid back in the comfy couch nook, enjoying the flight. The airship wasn't very fast, reaching maximum speed of about half that of her Mustang plane, but it did have teleportation available and didn't need to be refueled nearly as much as a regular dirigible. While it wasn't rated for space capability, it could atmospherically seal itself, harden the gas bags that helped keep it aloft and go underwater.

That still didn't make it the best for naval travel though. Having a naval fleet providing support would be the next thing she needed to build, even if the airships were powerful. Having long range bombardment capability from the seas along with air and ground… almost total combined arms. Once the satellites could be launched, it would be complete, though the space weapons might not be used much if she didn't need to provide a "shock and awe" effect on whatever populace of the town or city she was taking control of. If they were used, there had to be nothing left for anyone to report about. Showing Artinia that she had space capability was a great way of having riots erupting, civilians getting hurt, religious cults sacrificing people or animals in prayer to save them. Superstition and fear tended to make people not care about harming others.

As she looked out the window next to the couch nook she was sitting in, she thought about her next move. Sweet Water needed to be taken over, to wipe out the pirates and mercenaries there and gain full control over the coasts and shores around the continent. The Artinian kingdom probably still didn't know they existed, given they just lose contact with whatever scouts or forces they send beyond a certain range. If she played her cards right, they wouldn't know who they were fighting until her forces were on their doorstep. Even if they thought she was some witch hiding out nearby and sent the wizard's academy after her, there was a decent number of anti-magic systems already in place, with specialized ammunition that could get through the protection spells.

Today was a great victory in many ways for her. She had finally launched her airship fleet, the first hopefully of many, Eld Horn Township was now under her rule, her army had destroyed Halivast Fort, Glass Dale was almost complete with people moving in already, and her shipyard was partially built up in the Eastern small opening between Boramar and Azaltos Mountains. Tomorrow would be even better.


	20. ch 19 Scrying, What is it Good For

_**8th, November**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Color The Sky)**_

Hrist had spent most of the early morning between flying Asterion to allow his wings to strengthen even more and sparring with Skuld. Bryn had decided for once to sleep in due to the comfortable beds they had in their rooms. They had no idea what it was made of, but the mattress was like sleeping on a cloud. There was sound of swords clashing and shields banging as both Valkyrja fought against each other, digging up the dirt of the arena as they dashed about, making sure not to leave its bounds due to orders. The castle walls were far stronger than what they could do to them now, but the foundation was still not reinforced just yet due to new plans scheduled for updating connectivity of the palace to the labs.

"Hey, Hrist, I've been thinking" Skuld told her as she whirled with a spear and threw it, making her sister dodge and flip into the air, attempting to strike at her shield. Their movement was almost in sync, knowing each other's tactics like the back of their hands. Every flourish, every strike was as fluid as water.

"You've been thinking of what exactly." The raven-haired woman swept for her legs, with Skuld backflipping twice and picking up a second spear available.

"I've been thinking of maybe, just for the time being" she bowed backwards as a spear flew over her shoulder, "that maybe the empress might not need me to command an army." Hrist struck and was deflected, but recovered as she rolled, nearly being struck in the back.

"There are many more battles to be fought Skuld, many places to take away from the evil of Artinia. She's going to need you for them while" she kicked at Skuld's shield and backflipped as she had her sword knocked from her hand, "the rest of us attempt to take other territory."

"But I was hoping if maybe she would allow something else instead." Skuld lost her shield and finally yielded to Hrist as she pointed her sword over her arm. They both walked to their respective equipment and picked it up, putting the swords and shields away on trays and stands. Hrist looked up at her in confusion.

"Such as?" she asked her sister.

"Rebuilding the temple. I was… maybe hoping to train some of the mor… er… citizens of the empire how to be warriors. It seems there isn't much honor beyond our empress's borders. Having an 'academy' open to those willing to learn our ways might help the people." Hrist wiped her face with a towel and looked at her.

"It's entirely possible, but given that she has this 'mechanized' army at her beck and call, why would she need human soldiers? Hers do not need to sleep, eat, they don't get lustful or lecherous, they don't stop until the enemy is dead. They are perfect, I'm quite content with the new army she wishes to have me command." Skuld stretched a little and bent sideways to work her back muscles so they didn't get sore.

"I do not intend to have the students be soldiers, the academy would be there to teach them right from wrong, that being a woman does not mean you are weaker; that honor and respect should be given to all that deserve it, even your enemy. Look around in the towns under her rule, most are scared, with no backbone. Can you blame them for that even? To teach them they are not pathetic, that they are strong, I think they need to learn this." Hrist picked up her shirt that she had taken off, fighting mainly in pants and her simple bra, with Skuld doing the same. Both draped their towels over their shoulders as they left the arena. The gates of the castle opened with four APCs heading to Gold Pine with reserve food shipments, the first of many to restock the town now that they requested assistance. Eld Horn would be restocked in the coming days by the larger helibots, with no need for the airships to show themselves just yet.

"I do believe they should be educated, but are you sure you have the patience? Actually, never mind, I realized who I was speaking to" Hrist chuckled as she glanced at her sister while they headed back towards the palace. Skuld rolled her eyes with a smile. In the eyes of her sisters, she was the definition of patience and understanding.

"Well I was always the one who mediated disputes amongst us Hrist, like that time you got into a fist fight with Kára."

"She had taken my mead! It was a special brew prepared by Heimdall!" Skuld laughed at that.

"You had been boasting of its flavor for some time, she just wanted to taste it."

"I distinctly remember you had sided with her on that theft." The brunette waved a finger in scolding to her sister and clucked her tongue at her.

"You were in the wrong resorting to attacking her, all she wanted was a chance to taste. She even offered many other gifts which you did not accept." They continued inside the palace, the guards standing ever vigilant at the entrances to each room.

"She had nothing I wanted…"

"Weren't you eyeing her hand mirror? Why did you even want that anyways? You never went out to flirt with men Hrist, so it was a wonder why you would care about your looks." The six-foot four-inch woman turned her head in annoyance to her smaller brunette sister.

"Aren't I allowed to take care of my looks to stay professional in the eyes of the gods? Odin might have been displeased if we did not take care of ourselves. It could hamper our gathering of Einherjar."

"Except you were always the one who stayed-"

"Not another word about me being forced to guard Asgard." Skuld put up her hands in surrender as they walked through double doors into the exercise room Selene used. Inside, the empress was on a new treadmill running in place. She had finally reached Information Age, with all the advantages it entailed. High end computers were available, internet access, electronics better than a cathode ray tube system, even cybernetics. They already knew that their ruler had now begun revamping many things 'under the hood' with newer technology. She looked at them with yoga pants and a workout top as her dark red auburn-hair bounced in a ponytail.

"Skuld would like to ask you-"

"When the time is right! I swear Hrist, you push when you shouldn't…" Selene slowed down and turned off the treadmill to walk up to them.

"Yes? What did you want to ask me?" Selene questioned as she glanced between them. Skuld gave Hrist a little glare before a small smile popped on her face.

"I was wondering your maj-" the empress shot up a finger pointing at her with her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her mouth.

"I was wondering, Selene, if you would allow me instead of leading your armies to instead… erm… help me rebuild the temple into an academy." The dev looked at Hrist for a second as she felt a little confused.

"But, wait, you want to train human soldiers? I don't quite understand."

"Skuld would like to be an instructor in hopes that it would rekindle some honor and respect amongst the citizens. Most are fairly spineless given-"

"I never said they were spineless!"

"You said they did not have a backbone, that is saying they are spineless!"

"Enough!" Selene shouted as they both went silent. "You want to rebuild the temple into an academy to teach the people they aren't… what, weak? The few, the proud, the… um… I dunno, Marines?" she asked, then started to mutter to herself as she realized the last few words didn't really fit. "I can't think of a name to call them if they got into this school."

"They wouldn't be soldiers, it would be to instill a sense of pride in their empire, honor, respect for those they are among, courage and strength in both mind as well as body" Skuld informed her.

"So, a military academy… but… if people join this academy, they'd be held by higher principles, to themselves and to others…" Selene stated.

"Exactly."

"They could be the new nobility of the empire" Selene responded in worry. The room went silent for a few moments. The last thing she needed was the people to worry about nobles trampling their new independence or trying to gain any sort of control that she didn't have. If anyone tried to hold her back, she'd show them the error of their ways.

"They wouldn't be like the nobility of the Artinian kingdom if Skuld is the one instructing them" Hrist broke the silence as she crossed her arms over her ample chest. The brown-haired woman looked at her with a small grin. Despite Hrist arguing a little, she supported her younger sister, if she could even be called young. The Valkyrja were far older than six hundred years, probably millennium old, maybe even further than that.

"All the same, while it would be nice to get the academy up, we'd need more than just one instructor, no matter how good Skuld is. The problem is finding people to match her or at least provide valuable skill sets to help build the next generation, or even the older adults who wish to learn and do right by the citizens" Selene interjected.

"We may come across some along the way, with each town and city we conquer there has to be some ex-soldiers who don't agree with the way the kingdom treats them, wants to do better" Hrist commented.

"You, the very same of us who looked down on most mortals, who believes all of them are a threat to the safety of our empress, wants to actually find some who can teach what is right? What have you done with my sister?" Skuld asked in a coy tone, attempting a jab at her character. Hrist blushed a little and fidgeted.

"T-they still are a threat to her majesty! While they're just mortals, I… I highly doubt they would be equal to one of us. H-however, given that there may be some who share the empire's ideals… having two or more instructors to assist in training the learned of the people would be beneficial, that's all. They just need to know their place." Hrist stuttered ever so slightly while explaining her reasoning in front of Selene. The empress raised an eyebrow.

"Their place if they share our ideals is one of equals to the rest of the citizens, Hrist, you missed the mark on showing respect. Perhaps you should be joining this academy now" Selene quipped as a slight snicker popped from her lips. The raven-haired woman's eyes widened as she looked at the empress, then averted her eyes as she felt a little guilty saying that in front of her.

"I'm just saying, until they can prove they are of equal comparison to us, beyond strength and power, they must show they have the right character, the right mind and the understanding to help the students learn how to use their strength of body and mind to help rather than hinder." Hrist's eyes blinked rapidly as she glanced around the round, anywhere but trying to meet the gaze of her empress.

"So… what? You want there to be tenure? Seniority? It isn't out of the question" Selene asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight from one leg to the next.

"What is… tenure?" Hrist asked, a little confused.

"Academic tenure? To have a professor, teacher or instructor work for a probationary period to see how well they perform their job, in which case if they do well, they can continue their work as long as another year or have a permanent position. It's sometimes used for companies as well that have apprentices that move up the chain of command with promotions."

"Then… yes, that might be what the academy should have." The dev gazed at Skuld who glanced between her sister and the empress.

"So Skuld, you want to switch jobs from General to Head Mistress of the Clockwork Academy? You'd have to vouch for positions and oversee any new instructors, teachers and professors." Skuld stood there in silence for a few moments as her sister looked at her with a reassuring nod, then back at Selene. Her green eyes were filled with anxiety, as she hadn't realized just how difficult it might have been to run such a massive thing. In her eyes, it was going to be a small class of elite, not one with many instructors all working to educate, all working to teach the tricks of their trade.

"I… I accept." Selene smiled and nodded at her.

"Ok, I guess I'm going to have to get a construction crew up there then. Gotta make sure the campus is large enough." The new Head Mistress seemed to be nervous. The empress tended to build big when it was required, with this being no exception to the rule.

"How would they be challenged after, I wonder? A final test of sorts?" Hrist asked as she glanced between Selene and her sister.

"I was… I was thinking… of maybe, using the arena here?" she almost squeaked back as a reply as she squinted her eyes with an eyebrow raising, hoping the empress would agree to those terms. The dev brought her hand up to her chin in thought and then scratched at the tip of her nose.

"You have a graduation tournament thrown here like a party, to show everyone how well they do and how far they've come. Use the arena with some extra improvements added in to show more than just martial prowess, but scientific achievement, smithing skill, um… poetry? Art? Oy, this is going to take more than one academy, I just realized there aren't any guilds in the empire" Selene told her. Hrist chuckled at that.

"Given the amount of people who will most likely wish to live closer to the castle, I can see many who would wish to show their mettle in your eyes, Selene" The taller of the two Valkyrja said with a smirk.

"Well, I dunno about that, but I can already picture one person as a guild master." Both battle maidens looked at each other in confusion.

"Who would that be?" Skuld asked.

"Giles."

"I… for a blacksmith? He… is acceptable" Hrist cut what she was going to say short, with Selene and Skuld both looking at her in surprise.

"Wait, you believe he's good Hrist? I've only seen his work to take care of the town, nothing weapons related. Have you caught eye of things he hasn't shown me?" Selene asked.

"I've seen a few of the things he tried to keep hidden, his past you could say. Despite what he might tell you if you ask him later, they are worthy of a god or goddess… for a ceremonial weapon of course. None would be caught in public wearing one for battle, the enemy would die from laughter and lack of breathing."

"Because he hasn't had a chance to work with better materials, right?" the dev asked coyly as an eyebrow raised, wondering what Hrist's next words would be. Even Skuld wanted to know what she was thinking. The raven-haired woman looked between them and became flustered.

"Yes! Of course, fine, I can see you want some respect for the man. If provided better materials… he could be a master smith with his latent talent. Many could learn from him. B-but this is a guild, not for the academy" she blurted out in frustration at their goading.

"Of course, of course" Selene replied as she put her hands up palm open to calm her down. Her buttons were easy to push to get her riled up. "Now that it's official, I'm sorry but I think I'm done with my exercise and need to go check on the shipyards being built." As she left the room with Skuld heading out of the palace to go wake up Brynhildr and tell her the news, Hrist looked at both receding forms.

"Well… I… I should accompany you then." The dev glanced over her shoulder as she walked towards the elevator.

"You sure you don't have anything to do? I mean, it's just a naval yard that isn't fully finished yet."

"I can provide escort."

"Uh huh, you're bored, that's what this is." They both got onto the elevator and headed up, only to find the highest floor to be under remodeling. Marble panels were removed from the walls, with the under paneling popped off to replace wiring with newer forms gained from Information Age, along with better insulation and electronics. Hrist's eyes widened as automatons worked on getting the floor updated behind the curtains.

"I'm not bored, I just believe it wise you have someone other than the Honor Guard watching over you, that is all."

"You're being paranoid in a valley that we have full control over, but I sort of see your point. Hey, I have a better idea. How about… you go check on Glass Dale?" The empress asked as she turned around and walked backwards for a few feet before flipping on her heel.

"Why would I go to that town?"

"Because they need a show of presence right now with the entire thing finished. Juliet worked hard to get it to where it is now, with every street and building now complete. Obviously, it'll expand, but I figure a small christening would do wonders for morale. Don't worry, I'll be there to do the grand opening, you won't have to write a speech, just show you're watching and protecting. The citizens will know we mean business about keeping the empire rolling, that they mean something." The General rolled her eyes. She wanted her to mingle, to learn how to be among them 'mortals.'

"Is that an order?" The dev squinted in confusion, as if trying to decipher if she was being antagonistic or really would rather be near her.

"What? Hrist, just go. I'll be there in a little bit, I just need to make two stops and then it'll be done. Come on, don't be like that. I don't need to make it an order, do I?" she asked the battle maiden as nicely as possible, smiling as wide a grin as she could manage to hopefully make Hrist bend to her request. Fortunately for her, Hrist was very willing if it meant making her happy but needed to keep up appearances. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Alright, I'll do it. But do not be long, do not do this… this 'dallying' I've heard about."

"Yes mother…" Selene walked towards her bedroom.

"I am not your mother. I am your… your… General…" she nearly slipped up with words. "And I must know where you are. If you say you will be there, I trust you, but being slow will make me worry something has befallen." The empress turned around as she walked through her doors and looked at her, rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Fine, fine. I won't be long, I promise." The doors closed as Jeeves prepared her bath as Hrist walked into her own bedroom.

"Ma'am, it's Orlo." Her coms engaged as she slid into the bathtub.

"You always seem to catch me right when I'm taking a bath, you and Turnie. It's like you both know when I'm in the bathroom."

"I… do not know how to respond to that, but it was just odd timing. My apologies. I wanted to inform you about our progress in attempting to block… scrying." Selene's eyebrow raised with no one around to see it. Her intrigue was peaked.

"Go on."

"Our current ECM capabilities installed into nearby listening posts throughout the mountains and valley provided limited disruption of any low-level scrying or magical reconnaissance surprisingly during tests, but not enough to block all of it." The empress used the razor and scissors in her inventory to shave all hair from the neck down again; the last thing she wanted was to have citizens of Glass Dale say anything about unsightly stubble on her legs or arm pits. Despite that, most women really only had basic depilatories with no sense of electrolysis in magic, and those depilatories probably hurt. It also wasn't very common for anyone below nobility or middle class to shave much. However, Abby didn't have much hair from what she could see of her legs under her dress, which meant it was known in Gold Pine.

"I didn't even know our science and technology was having an effect against that. Honestly, I nearly forgot certain spells could spy on us, shit" she replied as she brought her hand up to her forehead and bounced her palm off it while shutting her eyes temporarily, mentally chastising herself. While the Artinian kingdom didn't know what was going on just yet, it was only a matter of time before they'd wise up to losing contact with forts and towns or cities. "Do we have a way to fight against the stronger forms?" she asked as she opened her eyes. Yggdrasil had a few ways of scrying or spying on other players, but anyone worth their salt knew how to combat it, with even counter spells in place to harm those who would peer at her under a microscope. The thought that some pervy wizard might attempt to scry her while she was in the bath made her scrunch up and shiver despite the hot water.

"We do, I've provided a new schematic from research I've performed that should allow us to block all scrying effects via extreme feedback frequencies traveling along the same mana paths or even ley lines… however… the side effect it causes along with the counter is… deadly to all but the strongest of foes… if anyone is just curious about the empire, potentially wondering if they wish to travel and settle here but wish to see what it is like before attempting travel…"

"All travel agents would have their heads explode, that could be a problem. That could also hamper the view of the people who are looking for a better place to live. Hmm… as much as I hate to do that to any curious wizards with want to live a better life, I can't afford to have the security be low due to some random someone who has no idea death is knocking on their door at the cast of a spell." Her thoughts roamed to the idea of a couple going to a travel wizard performing the spell to show them where their next vacation should be, then promptly having his head blow up and them screaming and running out the door with a quick closed sign appearing on it.

She opened her inventory and integrated the schematic Orlo had designed. "How long to install the modules…" she whispered to herself as she crafted the new parts and added them into the fabrication unit that could build the listening post equipment, all listening posts were beamed the new requirements and altered their form to compensate for the new design. Somehow it was using matter transference to give the new tools to the bunker stations with high end radar and other sensors.

"Should be active as soon as you give the order ma'am" Orlo commented.

"Does this help with long range scouting? I mean for if we need to hide armies outside of sensor tower range. I'd hate it if someone could see our ornithopters flying around tracking everything." She started to scrub her shoulders and wash her hair as she activated the new security feature. The listening posts activated, humming with power as they blocked all attempts to now survey what was in the empire as well as any unauthorized teleportation.

"It can be made into a portable unit to install, but I would advise placing it on a dedicated carrier unit."

"So just like the communications automatons I was already thinking of getting up and running for Hrist and Bryn, could that work?" Selene dunked her head into the water and pushed her hair back. The entire conversation was happening in her head, with no need to even speak while underwater.

"It's possible to merge both, the equipment isn't very large. Having a system like that which can provide electronic and magic counters to surveillance will be most beneficial." She finished her bath and dried with a nearby towel, putting on a robe and slippers as she walked back into her main bedroom.

"Well, it's done, I'll see about getting that ECM unit built for the future."

"Understood ma'am. Are you heading to the naval shipyards today?" Selene combed her hair then brushed it while using a brand-new blow dryer. Her hair, despite being long and luxurious with nice shampoos and conditioners even with steampunk technology, was a pain to take care of. It was one of the reasons she constantly had it up in an arced hanging ponytail.

"Yes, just wanted to see the progress Romeo has been making. He doesn't have much room to work with involving that little cove, it's amazing he's building what he can. Once we have Sweet Water Harbor under control, we'll need to get a much larger one built."

"You could always have an expansion of the cove however, ma'am. We now have the industrial capacity to do that." He was referring to the larger Driller automatons that she was calling "Grinders." She bit the bullet and finally got Very Heavy automatons crafted, reaching the same size of large buildings. The vehicles were even bigger. The last thing she needed was any of her towns or future cities to see one of those things rumbling around doing its job, they'd either be scared out of their minds or definitely start worshipping the beast of a machine, probably considering it to be her "grand design" for the world. As much as she didn't want a religious cult with her as the main focus, she pretty much already shoved her hand into that cookie jar and can't take it out with all the usage of her Molecular Reformation in front of everyone.

"I know, and it will happen in the future, but right now we should clean house in Sweet Water due to the pirates. It's just easier to have two shipyards for such a large continent. I wonder if they even know there is a military shipyard being built practically right next to them just past the mountains."

"If they did, the well-placed artillery and nearby fighter wing would have sunk any ships peeking in on the location ma'am." The dev put on her underwear and decided to wear something not armored this time to commemorate the official opening of Glass Dale again. Jeeves brought in some maids who helped her wear a strapless pearl white with gold rose vine formal evening dress with open back and no cleavage, a sapphire blue Satin Bolero Shrug Jacket that only covered half of her back with full sleeves, with silver closed toe medium heels with small synthetic pearl butterflies on the tips. Small earrings were picked for her along with a necklace to go with the ensemble, along with a synthetic pearl weave through her hair now wrapped in a tight formal bun. A cloak really didn't go well with the set of clothes due to the jacket, however a beaded small neck scarf helped with the cold due to it being November.

 _I don't really need to wear the crown; the tiara works perfectly fine._

The new crown had been crafted and placed in a glass case near the middle of her bedroom, a symbol of the wealth she had available. The royal vault was brimming with large amounts of coin in just a short time, with everything from copper up to platinum with precious gems of all colors for any occasion, both cut and uncut. There were stacks of gold ingots and platinum standing in the main storage room in the vault, with smaller vaults holding the coin in organized fashion. The crown itself was roughly a foot tall, with hundreds of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, coupled with pearls and precious metal.

The problem was the crown was heavy, even with her strength, it just didn't feel right for her neck, despite her being so powerful. It also didn't really look right on her head, only really needing to be used for she figured a knighting or giving a reward to some personally chosen nobility. The smaller tiara or even the circlet that dipped over her forehead was more than enough for just about every formal event. She didn't like the gold wreath of laurel that a Caesar would wear, as it tended to poke at her ears like a pair of bad glasses or headphones. All in all, there was no one to tell her what she had to wear, it was her empire after all. If she wanted to sit around in the throne room wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, it was within her power to do so. There might be looks from anyone who came to visit, but it would be what she chose and there was nothing they could do about it.

"True." She turned left and right to see how she looked in the mirrors. All in all, she looked professional as if she was heading to a fashionable business meeting, but to the people who were going to see her, it was a show of just how diverse her wardrobe was and that she didn't need to always wear armor in front of the citizens to intimidate or prove she was powerful. Her Honor Guard would be there, as well as Hrist, but that wasn't all. Her personal stats and skills were more than a match for anyone attempting to assassinate her right now, with all but the equivalent of Blessed tier or higher, raid equipment as it were, being unable to harm her with her Natural Armor stat and Perception, combined with her other defensive stats and Movement Speed. There was so much surveillance that there was no chance of anyone harming her on her own turf. It was doubtful anyone would even attempt it either.

She had used the orb in early morning before working out, getting another five levels and adding fifty points into Stamina, bringing it up to one hundred fifty percent bonus. Combined with the stat boosts of even her clothing and enchantments, she was pretty much wearing at the very least Blessed tier with just clothes on, with her armor finally being upgraded with a sacrifice of one hundred Magic tier items so she could get access to Rare tier, the main quality level that allowed, as standard, the set bonuses. As she had figured the tier was on par with Relic quality for Yggdrasil, it seemed doubtful anyone right now had the equivalent of it.

It probably wouldn't see any use in combat either, given she was already working on getting to Epic tier, the equivalent of a Legendary item in the game she had been ripped from to this new world. There were many upgrades that were in the works now, with newer weapons being refit into tanks and vehicles, new equipment for automatons with true MOLE vests that could be easily hidden under armor paneling to keep the appearance of steampunk tech, even allowing magnetic weapon holsters and pop out magazine containers. While Class II shields weren't quite ready to install into everything, tier 4 magic immunity film was now ready for deployment, making all Yggdrasil spells of that tier and below simply not work on her army or herself. Even Bronze Team was going to receive some upgrades to their frames, with miniaturized actuator systems from a Heavy being installed into Jorge giving him much more strength and agility than he should have for his size. The materials for armor was also being upgraded for all of her army, with Security, Military and Special Forces getting rolling refits via module installation into the fabrication units for Graphene, Schwarzite and Fullerenes. If she can get the material produced without it reacting to everything, Carbyne would be the next replacement for Graphene, at least for armor paneling.

Everything had to be improved without showing she had very advanced technology, especially if others came to visit in the future.

Since Skuld was going to be teaching now, the possibility that some of those students would be brand new rich nobles or the children of nobles that were chosen amongst her subjects coming to royal balls or parties at the castle made her a little fidgety. She mostly hated the corporate fat cats from Earth, as they didn't really care about the people, just the money they could get. There would have to be some new laws she'd create that would restrict what companies or private controlling interests were allowed to do to keep that from happening in her empire. A few national parks, some restrictions on manufacturing and pollution, it would work fairly well.

Eighty-five Skill Points were dumped into Chemistry to give far more mixtures and special materials, with a speed up on creating two things she really wanted: Graphene and its sister carbon mixtures… and makeup. The remaining fifteen points was going to wait until the end of the day when she'd drink her first Skill Potion in a long while. Once she had a little more from the potion, she was going to take up Martial Arts to complement Melee Weapons skill. While she was absolutely scary with a sword, learning different moves with eight points of contact for some would be a great defense if she found herself unarmed. She didn't always expect to have a weapon available, despite having a limitless inventory and a slew of spare guns and swords now.

A thought occurred to her to remodel one of the spare rooms into a sort of armory to hold racks of ancient weapons just for looks, with mannequins set up for the different armor types and materials. Creating a museum might also benefit the people in learning their history. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, after all.

"Alright, I'll see you at the opening ceremony" she told him as she had her makeup put on by the maids, being careful to not wear red lipstick, as it could be considered a sign that she was a 'lady of the evening' due to how it was perceived in olden times. The new makeup she had available was worlds above what she had access to before, with waterproof mascara and eyeliner and concealer that didn't look like she dumped her face in flour. That was the main reason she didn't wear it until now, but with the new ingredients that could be made with softer tones, it matched her complexion far easier. She wasn't really fair skinned, but a light pink with a few very small freckles on her shoulders.

"Will do ma'am, have a safe flight." Orlo cut coms as she sighed and nodded. There was a shipyard to inspect. Selene walked out of her bedroom and headed to the tea room to have a small cup of coffee and a few mini Danishes, then cleaned her hands and headed out of the palace. A waiting royal helibot was prepared for her with four Honor Guards waiting inside. Hrist had managed to get her to always have the helibot activate active camouflage or invisibility to protect it during flight. That Valkyrja really did want her to stay safe now.

The helibot lifted off to head North towards the cove, with no real name properly set up for it as no one else besides her had explored the valley in any real depth. That would be something she'd have to decide once the shipyard was finished, as it was the defining thing on the shore. As the helibot flew over the valley, two Red Tails flew escort nearby, all of which had invisibility on. The Hud markers were the only way she knew they were flying near the rear of the transport.

Once the helibot landed and opened its doors, there was a formal dual line up of military automatons standing facing each other saluting as she got out and met with Romeo. He was a Military model Medium, not really meant for direct combat despite his size, but he was fantastic at getting military bases built given his main function was as an engineer. His color was a camouflage pattern of greens and brown set damn close to modern digital. It worked given they were built using steampunk technology, so box Tetris shapes weren't that far out there. He had orange bands on his pauldrons with what looked like a yellow safety MOLE vest on his chest with assorted tools. His head didn't wear a combat helmet like the other military forces had, or like how Jorge's head looked. He wore a camo mining hardhat with a reflector on the back of it and what could be considered a spotlight on the front with how powerful it was. The kneepads and elbow pads were also soft cushion to keep from ever damaging floor or wall if he was installing it.

This didn't mean he couldn't defend himself, as there was an auto grenade launcher attached to his left shoulder mount and a high-powered plasma torch on the right. The grenade launcher was mostly equipped with glue shells or emulsification rounds to seal or melt away materials.

"Ma'am, it's good to see you" he said as he saluted her, his voice sounding deep with a little South American accent in it, some Southern drawl. Despite their names, Romeo and Juliet did not speak in ye old English. They didn't have time for that, and it annoyed the hell out of the empress anyways. Luckily, the world translated all languages, so she didn't have to hear some random gibberish most of the time.

"Good to be here, so, how much more time until it's finished?" she asked as the helibot powered down the turbines and props, the wind slowing down as they continued towards the giant bays being wielded together. It wasn't quite as fast constructing the buildings with Civilian or Military construction crews as it was with her Molecular Reformation, as she had upgraded it quite a bit, but they could be in multiple places at the same time, effectively making her ability a moot point. Her building one base in a few hours versus them building twenty-four in a day spoke for itself.

"Another day tops, ma'am. Once the foundries and mills are powered up, assuming the generators are ready for it, we can start producing the fleet. What did you have in mind for the set up if you don't mind me asking?" he questioned as they headed to a small room set up just for her to sit in with a few amenities, sound dampening walls keeping most of the noise out. She never expected the place to be made for comfort, it was a military shipyard after all. A folding metal chair with decent cushions was ready for her as she sat down and watched through the large windows. The gantry system was already in full swing, helping move girders into place as wielder automatons got to work on the next few steps.

"I was hoping to first start with the smaller ships, get some PT boats ready, a few corvettes for rapid defense or recovery. Those could pack a punch against wooden pirate ships, probably take out some ironclads as well. Once those are done, frigates, heavy frigates and destroyers." Her eyes watched with interest as large parts of a generator were pieced together and sealed up. To most people if they ever got near the place, it would look steampunk above ground, but hidden under was the main facility with high end fiber optics and electronics, manufacturing and assembly similar to the newly upgraded airship field situated next to the airport.

"I was just thinking if you had in mind a yacht at some point. The factories are capable of making one if you wish it" Romeo commented.

"That's nice to hear, but I've never been really a sea girl." She remembered there was a skill for Swimming that she hadn't taken. She knew how to swim obviously, or she wouldn't have used the pool she had. The skill just made it easier with different moves in the water, better ways to stay afloat with less stamina used or quicker movement.

"If that's how it is then I can understand. It just might be nice for a vacation once we have full control over the continent."

"Possibly, but then we don't know if there are any sea monsters roaming the area. Until I have a little bit more knowledge of the world and the oceans, I'll hold off and take a land centered vacation. We may not be the apex predators underwater, yet, so I'll see about getting some submarines for scientific exploration along with attack." Romeo chuckled.

"That's probably wise ma'am." She drank some clean water in a cup as Romeo explained what was already installed and what needed to be built, which didn't seem like much. The main things holding it back from being prepared today was the foundries not heating up fully yet. They'd be ready for production as early as 2 am tomorrow. As soon as they would start, the ships would be rolling out, with five berths ready and multiple piers and docks already prepared. The hidden robotic arms assembly lines would allow the automatons instead to perform maintenance or move to another site to build, with a security force placed to guard it. Artinia was about to see what real naval warships could do in Sweet Water.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

King Teiyan Erelius II sat wrapping his fingers on his throne, annoyed with the report he had just received, as well as the mess now on his floor from the messenger now lying dead on the tiles. All efforts to learn what was causing them to lose contact with scouts or the towns just beyond the Azaltos Mountains seemed to be in vain. Every time someone was sent to investigate, they never returned. At the moment it was just Eld Horn, with Glass Dale he already knew was destroyed. Gold Pine seemingly became insignificant, probably destroyed by whatever it was that was keeping his men from moving to the West.

"ALPHONSE!" he yelled in a shrill voice, his vocal chords cracking a little as he hadn't quite come out of puberty yet, despite being of adult age… barely.

A man scurried out of some hidden spot and kneeled in front of his king, his wispy white hair only covering above his ears and a curl on his forehead, the remainder bald. His circular glasses always looked at the ground, never laying eyes on his ruler. "Yes, your majesty. W-what is it you require of your humble servant?" he asked.

"Summon the royal scryer! I wish to know what is happening in the West! I keep losing my pathetic scouts to something there!" he snapped as he slammed his fist against the side of his golden throne.

"B-but your majesty, you ended his life last week! Per order to… feed him…" he sputtered out as he continued kneeling, worried the young king would soon have a knife to his throat too.

"They haven't found a replacement yet?! Imbeciles! The villages are in dire need of their idiots!" he shouted as he slumped in his throne, thinking and brooding. His mouth screwed up a little as an idea passed in his mind. "I'm going to take matters into my own hands." He stood up and rearranged his royal purple clothing then walked out of his throne room, with the toady of a man trying to follow. The guards blocked him. The king headed deep under the palace to a large vault door with multiple locks. He was the only one who had the keys to enter.

Once inside, he grabbed a torch and used a small flint spark torch igniter, then headed down a long winding staircase. As he reached the bottom, a second vault door was waiting, which he carefully opened. Inside was a deeply grooved floor with panels cut out for drainage of fluids, with large pillars holding the ceiling up and engraved with runic language. There was a sacrificial dais in the middle, with what looked like an already rotting body of a slave girl gutted. Her dead eyes stared at the ceiling with cloth stuffed in her mouth, chains holding her arms and feet. Further to the left was another hallway that had multiple guards lining it.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Kazunori Miyake – LADY)**_

"Send for more slaves! Now!" he commanded as one guard brought his hand to his chest in salute and promptly left. Sitting just behind the dais was a pile of chains holding a woman with jet black hair falling over her face, red markings running down her pale arms and leather clothes in a language entirely demonic. Two obsidian curved horns protruded from her forehead and curved up like a goat. If he didn't know any better, the horns looked to be a part of her bangs. A soft laughter came quietly out of her lips under the hair as she slowly looked up at him through her long mane.

"Ah, King Teiyan, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she giggled out seductively as her golden irises set inside black corneas latched onto him, shimmering in the pale light of the torches. For each arm there were five chains with what looked like symbols marking each set, with more attached to her legs and one to her neck. Light whispering could be heard near her, dark secrets that he couldn't make out.

"My scryer is dead and I need sight of the lands that none of my blundering soldiers can manage to reach! You will tell me what I need to know!" he snapped at her. A slight grin peeled onto her lips as her eyes glinted.

"My my, problems we're having, aren't we? So sad that one such as you can't seem to see out a window. I wonder what is beyond the horizon of this city? Perhaps the world is swallowing up your land, eating your delicious little morsels you call citizens." He backhanded her across the face, with a moan of pleasure escaping. She enjoyed that, he had to remember to not do harm to her.

"Ooh, maybe that could turn into more? I do enjoy our little fun times together."

"I need to see what is coming! Now! Why am I losing contact with my towns Xaxara!" her eyes glowed.

"You used my name? Oh, how long it has been to be called that, almost like one of my followers. You usually call me whore or bitch… never what I truly am but I'll take all the compliments I can get. You only say it when you or your father were truly worried… or when you sacrificed your older sister to summon me here."

He stood in front of her and gazed down on her body, his frown turning into an evil smile. "I enjoyed that ritual, because you fell for the trap and are now bound here." His teeth showed as her smile lowered to a smirk.

"And you lost your only family member that ever cared for you. What was it like, placing your child into her against her will and then waiting for the chance to kill the new born? Was it as good for you when you cut her head off as it was for me?" she laughed as she remembered the entire event as she peered through that portal opened, being brought to this world by him.

"You bitch! If it wasn't a girl being born, I would have had your much more loyal brother instead!" He glared at her, seething.

"Maybe you could try again with your younger sister, if you ever manage to find her again that is. Oh, right, she left. Perhaps you need me to find where she went as well?" Xaxara giggled as he brought up his hand again to strike but held back. She was a sadist as well as a masochist through and through, it was engrained into what she was. She reveled in pain, in suffering, in the blood and sacrifice, in the fear of those who would lose their lives in despair and scream. It was music to her pointed ears. That wasn't the only thing she enjoyed though, as pleasure was also preferable with bedding provided mortals just before they were snuffed out. The high demoness loved playing with her food.

The king paced back and forth, thinking of what to do. She was trapped here by the enchanted manacles, forged by dwarves and having a ley line running just below the imperial city, with elven and human magic imbuing the metal. "What… do you want…" he ground out between his teeth.

"Well, it isn't as if you've been keeping me well fed these past few days, but then of course hunger is a nice feeling too." As if on cue, a chain of slaves was brought in, some of them dark elves. They looked haggard and frail, barely much of anything as they stumbled in while being pushed by the guards. Xaxara's smirk dropped to a frown.

"Fine! Your food is here, now give me what I want!" she yawned and laid down, looking up at the ceiling.

"Mmm, you bring poor slaves to me again? Scraps? You know the last time they barely gave any sort of sustenance for my powers." She knocked her toes together and rocked her heels sideways.

"Your majesty, I believe-" one guard started to say.

"Don't ever speak in this room! What have I told you?!" he shrieked at the soldier. The man held up the face of one of the dark elves, a woman. Her long white hair flowed along her back, with a scrap of clothing worn. She tried to pull away from his grip as he squished up her mouth to show his king. Teiyan squinted as he looked at her carefully.

"It couldn't be…" he muttered out as he stormed over and looked over her features. "Ha ha! It is! While not exactly your sister, you will do! Ah how the mighty dark elves of Olva'lore forest have fallen!" he reached up and grabbed at her chest and twisted, with a wince seen on her face. She hated the fact he was groping her. He was about to move his hand down when Xaxara spoke.

"She'll do quite nicely." He stopped as his hand was just in front of her abdomen, then glanced over his shoulder with his grin slowly fading. He wasn't going to have any fun with one of the two princesses of the dark elves it seemed, cutting straight to business. The demoness was looking at them both from the side of her eyes, a lick of her lips as she looked at the elf's perfect figure and form.

The slaves were latched into the ground in a sitting position as Xaxara slowly stood up and walked in front of the lineup, with the princess at the end. One hundred slaves, all held down by chains as she moved to each, her own chains clanking along the ground with a guard holding down a lever on the wall in his tunnel to allow her freedom of movement. The raven-haired woman looked into the first man's eyes and ran her fingers through his hair, smiling.

"Are you afraid of me? Little old me?" she asked him as she ran her fingers softly around his chin and jaw. He was almost mesmerized as she was extremely gentle, touching his forehead and then leaning in to kiss it, then down to his nose and finally to his lips.

"Yes…" he whispered out. He was trembling.

"Good… it makes this so much more enjoyable." She breathed as he started to shake, his very life force being sucked from his mouth and nose, his eyes glowing as he squirmed. As she drank of his energy, his body started to decay. His right arm fell off like a leper, his hair fell out as he screamed in terror. Once she was done, what was left of the body dissolved into dust, floating away.

"Next please" she giggled out as she moved from one slave to the next, continuing down the line. Their screeches and yells to spare them fell on deaf ears as she finally made it to the dark elf princess. She struggled in vain, the chains held tight as Xaxara touched her head. Teiyan grabbed her hand and pulled it away.

"Now, do it!" he snapped as she huffed and rolled her eyes.

"I guess my meal will have to wait." She seemed to be pouting as the demoness brought her hands out and pressed her fingers together, eventually starting to float. The woman crossed her legs as she used her powers to sift through the land in finding what Teiyan was seeking.

Unfortunately for her, it didn't go as planned. She was launched backwards with a massive electric blast, shrieking in pain… but at the same time enjoying every second of it. She landed on the ground entangled in her chains as Teiyan had never seen her do that before.

"What happened? What did you see? Tell me!" he asked as she shook from the electricity still flowing through her body, moans erupting from her mouth in ecstasy. Eventually the power drained from her body as she lay there, panting in excitement.

"If I had known that was going to happen, I would have willingly done it from the beginning! Wow!" She slowly rolled over and got up, sauntering a little as she made her way to the young king. Her movement was like a haphazard cobra due to the electric jolt she just received.

"Show me." She looked like she was blinking away stars from that bolt of lightning that had struck her, but her finger lightly touched the middle of his forehead. He only got one vision from it as the rest was blocked, which was hundreds, thousands of glowing ghost blue and green eyes marching towards his towns and cities in utter darkness. He couldn't even make out the forms. Something powerful was coming, with a massive army. Demons by their very nature tended to cause fear and terror via auras, not necessarily their features, but these things… whatever they were, very nearly made him wet his pants.

"Happy now, little king?" she asked as he slumped to his knees, his blue eyes widened. She kneeled in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear. "It's alright, there will be a place for you… as maybe my chair in my realm…" she giggled. She was grinding against him, but he soon came to his senses as he shoved her off. Xaxara laughed and winked. The king got up and stormed back upstairs as the princess had her manacles unlatched, allowing her to rub her wrists. As she stood up, the guards walked away, seemingly leaving her alone. Before she could figure if she was going to be alright, she could feel a hand on her shoulder, fingers running along the shape of her arm and up her neck, with dark whispering filling her ears.

"Come little pet, let's see how long you last." The portcullis for the guard's tunnel slammed shut, blocking any hope of escape. Teiyan heard loud moaning as he walked up the steps, followed by screaming and the sound of gurgling and crying as the second vault door closed. She was having her meal now; the previous slaves were just energy for her power. As he reached the first vault door, the sounds completely disappeared.

"Double the guards, prepare the armies! Something is coming to take what is rightfully mine!" he barked as he threw his hand out in command. One of his guards nodded and saluted, then left to report the order to all Generals.

They would not get his kingdom so easily, even if the people meant very little to him.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Kevin MacLeod – Carefree)**_

Hrist landed with Asterion in the streets of Glass Dale, seeing people already going about their business. It wasn't many, but it had already reached the same populace as Gold Pine, with almost six hundred citizens and still growing as secret word began to spread of the incredible towns the people could live in away from the tyrannical rule of King Teiyan Erelius II. She dismounted and tied Aster to a hitch post and started to walk around looking at the shops opened, not really interested in anything they had to offer. Many of the people looked at her, at her armor and her stature. She dwarfed most men walking along, though she did not have a muscular frame. Despite looking like she could tear someone's head off at any point, there were some men who were checking her out, even a few women.

"You better get here soon Selene…" she muttered to herself as she perused the products of the shops with her eyes. One immediately caught her attention, a toy stall. Sitting in a basket was a pile of what looked like plushie versions of the empress in her Clockwork Regalia, gold polished armor with two black buttons for eyes. It looked a bit simple with the knitted materials, but she was almost twitching, whether from annoyance or from cuteness overload the shop owner couldn't be sure. Within an instant, she was in front of the stall, looking down at the basket. The woman looked up at the Valkyrja and saw her pick up the plushie.

"Um, your… uh… General? Do you… wish to buy that?" she squeaked out. The battle maiden broke her vision off the toy and looked at the small lady.

"How much?" she said sternly as the owner glanced away, not able to meet her strong gaze.

"Um… fifty copper? Is that alright?" she asked. Hrist stood in silence as she inspected the plushie. The Valkyrja glanced quickly to her left and right, making sure no one's eyes were on her beyond the shop keep. Her hand reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a gold coin, dropping it onto the counter. The empress had made sure to give each of them a decent supply of currency in the event they ever felt like buying anything. It didn't matter to her if it cost a few platinum or a few coppers, it wouldn't make a dent in the royal coffers.

"That is very generous General!" she gawked as her small hands picked it up. Hrist quickly put her own hand on hers before she could pull away, frightening her a little.

"Make better quality. This is too simple. I would expect better of her likeness later." The woman nodded in compliance as the maiden tucked the plushie into the back of her belt, hidden by her cloak. She walked away as the woman looked at her, then the coin. She moved quickly in hopes no one would see what she had bought and kept from view.

"Later? Is she coming back?" the shop owner muttered to herself as she glanced at the basket of plushies and then gazed after the General, confounded by her words. The gold coin would help with the quality though.

She continued towards the stands where a podium was placed, with automatons setting up for a small speech at the signs that were still covered to the road heading out of Glass Dale. Ice cream was being sold from a stand, one of the flavors following the same colors of the empress's armor with golden honey for one, strawberry for the second as her hair color and blueberry blue for the third flavor to be the equivalent of her eyes. There were other flavors as well, but the 'Neapolitan' mix was the most popular it seemed.

Other stands were selling tea or ale, with the people starting to gather for the unveiling. Even Mayor Stafinson was there to help get everything prepared, with Abby writing as his secretary. Giles had been happy she could perform her hobbies as well as have a job other than a housewife, he was very supportive of his wife being strong and semi-independent because it made his marriage stronger.

The maiden sat down after getting a cone of the 'empress delight' ice cream, watching the town bustling. A little kid looked up at her, mainly because of the frozen food. She noticed where his eyes were looking… then gobbled down the cold treat. He ran away crying as she blinked. Why would he think that he could have what she had bought? His mother probably didn't want him to hurt his teeth with the sweets. Besides… she liked the ice cream. She made a mental note to inform Jeeves and the maids it should be made in the castle.

The sound of far off turbines was heard as she looked up, seeing in the distance a helibot become visible as it turned off all cloaking capability. She was finally here, what had taken her so long?

The helibot landed behind the main stand so that Selene could step out and to the podium, with multiple chairs placed behind her. Two automatons waited at the main sign to pull the ropes and remove the tarp. As the empress stepped out, Hrist was surprised by her clothing. It was very flattering for her looks, with makeup and her hair in a professional bun. The Bolero Shrug jacket was quite fashionable in her eyes, as she wondered if Jeeves might make one for her. Just then her eyes locked onto Hrist and she waved hello. She snapped out of her stupor and regained her composure.

"What took you so long? You said you wouldn't dally…" the maiden muttered to her.

"Sorry, sorry, Romeo was showing me the tide generators while flying and I had to check on the launch pad for the new rockets. The aerospike engines look very promising given how far into infor… uh… given how much research we put into them." The dev had to switch gears quickly as she nearly told her about her Eras. Hrist was constantly surprised at how fast her technology improved, not knowing how exactly she was managing it. Each time she thought she had an understanding of the technology, Selene had brand new stuff available. It was mind boggling sometimes. It was like she was a genius… or a goddess. As everyone else seemed to have landed on that idea, it was all but fact right now in their eyes.

"Hey, the empress is here!" they heard as they both turned and looked at the people now gathering quickly for the seats available. Some tried to whisper about her attire being beautiful or exotic. Stands were set up to watch her speak to them for the grand opening. Once the townsfolk were situated, she stepped forward to the podium and addressed the people via three large megaphones attached to it.

"To the people of Glass Dale. You have suffered enough from the hands of tyranny, of oppression, of gaining no help, no hope when you needed it most. To some of you, starting a new life in any other town to the East was not enough, you had to reclaim what was once lost, but you didn't have the ability to do so. To others, you lost everything, kept as slaves by a terrible force, now long since defeated and far behind you. Now, as your empress, I have come to give you back your life, your home, what you had once lost. It may not be everything, but it is a new beginning in familiar land, with familiar faces that survived that catastrophe besides you.

I know that you are strong, noble of spirit, and capable of building a new future, for yourselves, and for others wishing to settle here. However, they will need a sign to head towards, a beacon of hope they can see on the road in their journey for hope. Hope that one day, they will find a place to call home. This is that place."

The ropes were pulled as the sign was released from its tarp, built in Gold Pine wood with glinting seen in the knots. Lamps were placed on both sides and already lit, despite it being daytime. The entire town cheered in applause. She stepped away from the podium and smiled as the new mayor, a Mrs. Reeds, stepped up to the podium and bowed to her. Selene sat down next to Hrist as Reeds talked about what the plans for the town were, how it would be able to improve with the empire watching over them.

"Did you write that or was it Jeeves?" Hrist whispered to her.

"What? You don't think I can't write a good speech? I did the last one all by myself."

"And you blundered a little through the beginning, I remember that." Selene frowned.

"Fine then, next time I'll make you perform in front of hundreds." The battle maiden straightened at that, nervous she really would. Her back pressed against the plushie still hidden on her belt.

"Let's not be hasty, you don't want to offend the… citizens… now…" Hrist whispered back. Selene was about to stick her tongue out at her but thought better of it in front of the townsfolk. There was clapping to be heard as Mayor Reeds stepped from the podium and allowed Mayor Stafinson to speak. He was sorry to see a few people leave Gold Pine but understood their reasons behind settling back in Glass Dale. Hrist attempted to shift in her seat, with the empress noticing. She looked at her cloak to see an ever so slight bulge from the back.

"You know, you could just put whatever you bought on the ground until after this is over" she whispered. Hrist straightened even more. There was no way she was going to put that plushie on the dirty stand floor. It was unthinkable.

"Nothing to be concerned with, I assure you." The dev gave up with the advice as she continued listening to Stafinson finish his speech, with everyone clapping. Music was being played by a band as everyone got up to enjoy a feast prepared for them, with a plate provided to both Hrist and Selene at a special table set.

"You know, you don't have to wear your armor all the time, this was just a formal event."

"This was all I had, Jeeves has not provided me with any other formal attire." Hrist raised her nose into the air.

"He's made like six different dresses for you! Wear one!"

"None of them are to my liking! They… they…" she cut off as she started to eat some of her food.

"They what Hrist? Make your butt look big? Pinch your shoulders? What?" Selene asked as she sipped at her Champaign.

"They… do… that… I… I-I much rather prefer…" she was stuttering as she couldn't say it. It was embarrassing to hear the empress blurt that out to her. Despite being royalty, she could be quite crass.

"Just spit it out, I'm pretty sure he'll be willing to make whatever you want, as long as you're comfortable." Hrist looked at her, as if the empress had just given her approval of whatever clothing she'd want in her closet.

"Then… I'll ask him to make some…" she said in between mouthfuls to make Selene quit questioning her. Her first thought was to get something more… masculine, or at least not nearly as frilly as what she had right now. The remainder of the event went off without a hitch, plenty of food to be eaten and dancing. At one point, Selene lightly danced with two young girls who were attempting to teach her a certain dance style, but in the end, she didn't quite get it. They all laughed as Hrist felt a little out of place. This wasn't a show of martial skill, there were no drinking games, no throwing games.

"Come on Hrist, come out here" the empress laughed out as the two girls took her hands and lead her out, trying to teach her the moves. Finally, both women figured out the style, with Hrist adapting quicker to the footwork than Selene. "Ooh, looks like I have some competition." The battle maiden smirked as she danced with the kids, the dev keeping up quite handily as the music finally stopped to allow the band to rest a little and enjoy the food. Orlo had fired some fireworks into the air from his rocket pod, causing a great many of the townsfolk to enjoy the display of light and sparkles as the day slowly moved to evening. He even got a few chances to perform some good-natured psychology tests on the people, with performing some magic tricks and playing a small game of chess. He never lost… not even once.

As the event came to a close, the stands were packed away, and the empress left with Hrist and the Honor Guard in the helibot, with Orlo hanging out with them. "That was pretty fun, I think I'm getting better at this opening ceremony thing now." The Valkyrja chuckled as she laid back in her seat, with Selene checking on any 'reports' from the administration team in Eld Horn. Liyana might have questions right now, but so far nothing had shown up. Juliet was already beginning work on the town to get it up to her requirements, which is to say she wanted the same quality of life improvements as Gold Pine received.

"Ma'am, it's Turnie" she heard over spec ops coms. Orlo clicked in to listen.

"Go ahead Turnie, I take it you didn't want to be at the ceremony?" she asked worried something might be wrong for her healer. If anything was out of the ordinary, she wanted to know so she could help her team.

"Sorry I wasn't able to make it there, but I was running tests on that drug you brought back, Scooze. There's a problem with the processing of it, it's a really big one too." The empress looked over at Orlo as Hrist wasn't really listening, her coms earpiece not connected at the moment to the special forces team.

"What's the problem?"

"The process does involve the ocean as a cleaning agent. As you well know, not everyone has **[Unending Flow]** enchanted to running water. The chemical composition requires a wash to get rid of toxic byproduct to remove the drug from the middle, kind of like pulling the pearl from a clam… if the clam was a biohazard that melts your skin that is." Selene leaned forward in worry, her hands clasped together as Orlo listened.

"So, they use the ocean to get rid of the outer shell. But… the toxic waste is left in the water. Are they poisoning the ocean life?" The dev asked.

"That's only part of the problem. Eventually, that byproduct bleeds into the surrounding shore, working its way into the soil. Not only will the water be contaminated, it could affect farmers further in land." The empress thought for a moment while rubbing her hands together and pursed her lips.

"This means we have to take Sweet Water Harbor City ASAP. We cannot allow them to continue making it, it could cause too much ecological damage. They have no idea what their doing, as expected" Selene told her and sighed.

"You are right ma'am, we should get in there quickly. I might be able to work up something that could neutralize the waste, a sort of Potential Hydrogen balancer if you will. I can't guarantee it, but with your permission I'll get to work on it. The next fight doesn't look as if it will need Bronze Team working from inside yet."

"Yeah, taking Sweet Water looks like a military force operation, but that doesn't mean Bronze Team or special forces won't be needed in the near future. Yes, of course you have permission."

"We're on standby ma'am, always ready." Turnie cut coms as the empress looked at Orlo and raised her eyebrows, with him understanding the face she was making.

"I know ma'am, not everyone is as educated as you are about the ecosystem. We all have to live here, why destroy it?" he commented. Hrist looked between both of them as if she missed something important.

"Did I… miss something?" she asked.

"Sorry Hrist, um… how are you with the new strategy and tactics practice? I know you spar with Skuld and Bryn, but I need to know you can lead the troops." The maiden nodded slowly as she licked her lips.

"I have read the required material provided and checked with this 'task force one' involving standard… erm… operations… I believe I know how to best make use of them in the future, have no fear." The empress had a small grin creep on her mouth as she leaned back and relaxed as the helibot made its way back to the castle, the air fleet not needed for the quick trip.

"I don't have any fear, it's you after all, Hrist. I already know you take it as a challenge to work hard to excel, to not lose…" the grin turned coy as she glanced at her General. The helibot landed and they slowly came out, walking back into the palace as the lamps glimmered around the front courtyard garden. Orlo headed for his lab while Hrist followed behind Selene. As they headed upstairs to the bedrooms, with the empress wanting to change into some boring run arounds, the maiden stopped at her door.

"You know, I wonder what it would have been like, had I won. The result might not have been… to my liking" the Valkyrja told her softly. Selene stood at her door and looked at her down the hallway.

"Don't think about that anymore. You should look towards the future" the empress replied.

"I don't normally look towards the future, that was left for the fates to decide, we had three of them obviously. What I look forward to is the here and now, and right now, I am happy. However… one of these days we need to have a duel. I'm going to beat the pants off you just like you did to me." Hrist smirked as she pointed to her.

"Not to the death obviously, but sure, I'm willing to spar any time. Though, I've only gotten stronger since our tussle." Selene winked and smiled at her.

"Don't believe for even a second that I have stayed stagnant while you jump to new plateaus. I've learned quite a bit since then."

"Of course, of course. Besides, sparring will keep me on my toes, show me what I'm doing wrong. Good night Hrist."

"Good night Selene." The empress's doors closed as she entered her own room, sitting down on her bed and pulling out the plushie from her belt. It was so goofy, like a child's drawing of what the empress should look like, but it was adorable. She hugged it and put the toy next to her pillow, then proceeded to remove her armor. Once that was off, she snuck out and searched for Jeeves to explain her need for new clothes… and get him to make ice cream.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A nearly silent Phoof! was barely heard as a scout's head popped like a zit running from his surveillance point away from Eld Horn. Deacon and Ethan were sitting like two rednecks on an LRV drinking some of the stronger liquor that Selene had in stock, pouring it into the port in their necks. Each time they noticed or were informed by ornithopters that there were Artinian soldiers in the distance, they started tracking them, with Ethan catching tangos that were out in the open while Deacon hit the harder to see soldiers with trick shots.

"That doesn't count, he was running away" Ethan chuckled out as Deacon was lying prone on the small portable platform he brought with him while his brother in arms sat back with a knee up pointing at the body flipping backwards from the strength of the round. The new teleportation shells were fantastic in their eyes, making good use of them to keep any information from traveling back, as even the rifles were naturally silenced given the way the rounds exited the barrel. Normally the ornithopters could handle any surveillance from Artinia if they attempted to use their mark I eyeballs, but this was just for fun. While they did have ethics and morals programmed, they already knew this was war and the enemy were far from nice to their people.

"It does too, the fucking gopher was trying to use the hills to keep anyone from spotting him!" Deacon marked another notch on a spare metal panel they brought with them. While Ethan was the general-purpose jack of all trades of the team, he was still keeping par with Deacon, though it was only in kills and not in headshots.

"You think they'll ever catch wind and be a threat to us? To our empress?" Ethan asked.

"If they do, that's when the bigger badder things than us come out to play. Have you seen the secondary army our girl is making underground? If I could cry tears of joy, I would. Some of that stuff has no real use other than weapons of mass destruction… or being really angry at the planet and fucking with the wildlife."

"Well considering she keeps upgrading us, I doubt there is a chance this kingdom will ever be a real threat. You saw the stat levels from them obviously with the scanner systems she gave us, something around level 5 was the average? We've seen maybe one level 30, and that poor guy was taken out by one of your headshots. Was that their head scout or something, maybe the guy in charge of all their reconnaissance division?" he asked the sniper.

"No clue and don't care. Whatever they throw at us, we're fucking ready." Deacon looked down his sights and couldn't see anymore movement. Artinia knew something was up, there were far more surveillance incursions in the past twenty-four hours.

"Yeah. Hey, you see the designs Selene is secretly trying to keep from Turnie?"

"The ones with the upgraded legs instead of her ball? She's going to be jumping for joy with that. Good on the girl, she takes care of her own. We never ask for rewards, and yet she gives them without a second thought. I'm happy enough serving her."

"Same" Ethan replied. They got another report of another scout, much further with a spyglass. "I got this one."

"Stop being a pansy and make it a headshot for once. The flips are the tits."


	21. Ch 20 Sweet Water Harbor

_**10th, November**_

The empress of the Clockwork Empire spent most of yesterday refitting and scrapping old crafting stations to replace them with newer versions all networked together to one console in her inventory, making her entire inventory IoT capable. It allowed manufacturing of anything she needed infinitely faster with one place to see every recipe or schematic list. She even added 3D printers to the mix since no one really knew how she produced anything.

This allowed her to rework the materials used for Bronze Team and her automatons far quicker than normal, but while she was happy with the new carbon-based armors and plating, she couldn't seem to get Carbyne to work properly. It was much stronger than any of the standard carbon materials, but if its integrity ever failed, entire sections imploded or disintegrated. That got her to thinking about using her Material Redesign ability to create a new sealant for it. Unfortunately, her first few attempts either caused fires that needed to be extinguished or were highly acidic that needed baking powder dumped on it.

"I'll get that tile fixed in a little bit, sorry Orlo" she said as the smaller helibot puffed the fire extinguisher two more times. "How am I getting this wrong? It should be a stable mixture to act like a wax seal for the Carbyne material. Right now, it seems more reactive than what I'm trying to protect."

"Perhaps you are missing a step, a bad recipe maybe? It could be like cooking, you add extra ingredients or take it away depending on how the flavor is" Orlo replied as an auto vac hose descended from the ceiling and sucked up all the foam. She snapped her fingers.

"It's possible." She worked on focusing the connections of the different molecules on a petri dish, as it couldn't be done in her inventory. The dev sat there for another hour piecing and moving electrons and protons around by literally seeing an atomic model in her Hud, adding and removing them to change the atomic structure, or how it bound to other materials around it. It might have sounded incredibly complex if she tried to explain it to anyone, but it was really quite simple to her… or at least it would for normal resources and materials. Each time she did it, either a new mixture was created, or it was already done before to make some random goop or composite. It never reacted or exploded until she decided to experiment with a new batch, but on 'paper' or via model it was supposed to work fine.

"I'm missing something, now I have a sealant that needs a sealant…" the woman sat down and pushed her bangs back from her forehead in deep thought. An idea poked at the back of her mind to open her inventory and check her recipes for the chemistry benches she had, which sure enough had a sealant already developed for the Carbyne. "God damn it! I'm an idiot… there's already one available…" she dropped her head against the research counter in the middle of the medical lab and rolled her head a little. Orlo had left his own science lab to help Turnie and herself work on the chemistry and act as a spare set of helping manipulators.

"Ma'am, are you getting enough sleep? Are you resting well?" Orlo asked.

"I'm getting decent sleep Orlo, I just… bad luck situations happened yesterday that I had to deal with. We were doing so well before, but as expected, an empire isn't always sunshine and bunnies." The empress rolled her head right and looked up at him sideways. Turnie was on the other side of the room testing a neutralizing agent.

"I see, so too many things piled up?" he asked.

"That's one way of putting it. The shipments made it to Eld Horn and Gold Pine, but Eld Horn has a massive rat problem. Had to release Lightning Mines to clean them up, nearly caused a panic among the populace when they saw them scurrying around going for the kill in hunter mode. Their tiny little drug scrambled brains didn't understand we released them to fix the problem, but all they could do was pray to me and beg for forgiveness and save them. They couldn't understand no matter how many times that I explained it that I released them in the first place! I mean, they weren't even attacking them!" she gestured with her arms into the air fingers spread in a dumbfounded expression.

"Superstition tends to cloud judgment sometimes" Turnie grumbled as she checked on a petri dish.

"Oh, so you had issues with the town as well too Turnie?" Orlo asked. She glanced over her shoulder and then continued with her work. That look, despite not showing any emotion on her metal face, spoke volumes.

"They couldn't understand she was trying to get blood samples via syringe to do experiments on, like checking to see if they had high mercury in their systems or low blood sugar or whatever. They thought she was a torture bot. Again, more begging."

"It's a small little prick of the arm! They could barely feel it!" Turnie now threw all six arms into the air in frustration.

"Seeing their own blood usually lets them know they are wounded, instinctive self-preservation in the subconscious. They also have very little experience with modern medicine, only magic" Orlo responded as he tried to analyze the situation.

"On top of that, they still wanted Scooze. I put a temporary ban on the stuff until the processing could be done safely in a controlled environment and with full knowledge of what it does to the body, I don't want a town of mine drugged up every day." Selene leaned back and dangled her hands at her sides as she sat staring at the ceiling. "I'm not against recreational drugs, I just want to know if its harmful or melting their brains a little each time. If it's safe, fine, we'll allow it, but if it isn't, I'll consider it a poison and outlaw the stuff."

"That seems wise" Turnie replied as she slipped a test tube into a centrifugal spinning machine. Hrist opened the door and walked in wearing what looked like a black halter top and a red leather Bolero jacket, black tight shorts and black thigh high stockings. She also wore tall black combat boots to add to the whole look, along with a black choker and black combat gloves; a pair of gold rose earrings and a black O-ring belt were added to the mix. Jeeves had provided a small data pad for her to peruse clothing designs that he knew about, as the automatons with personality cores all had information from Earth as well as from this new world. Selene blinked at her as she also noticed she was wearing makeup. The empress on the other hand was wearing sweats and a t-shirt with some pink bunny slippers, no makeup and her hair in a ponytail to keep it in control.

"What are you dressed up for?" the dev asked in surprise.

"Am I not allowed to wear what I asked Jeeves to create? You did allow me to get a new wardrobe." Selene snapped her fingers as she remembered.

"So, goth look it seems. Suits you." Hrist did her best to not blush as she looked away.

"Why are you not wearing something… like last time?" the maiden asked as she scratched the tip of her chin. The empress glanced down at her sweatpants and back up at her. The fluffy bunny slippers wiggled.

"What? I'm not allowed to lounge around in run arounds? Oh, you wonder where that ensemble I wore last time in Glass Dale is. That's sitting in my closet until I have to do another speech." Hrist looked like she was going to snap at her already.

"B-but the empress should always look her best at all times! What… w-what if someone came to inform you of events outside or wanted to negotiate their surrender? What if a town decided to join the empire?" she blurted our as she tried to think up reasons for Selene to dress to impress.

"First, we have ornithopters, listening posts and these things called walls providing constant surveillance and defense. We'd know if something was afoot before anyone else and no one would get near me with a full brigade of Security automatons and Honor Guard. Second, I doubt any of them would be seen until after I had changed, we do have waiting rooms after all. Third, why do you care so much? I could walk around in my underwear until someone important showed up." Hrist went red faced at that thought, then shook her head.

"You… you…" the Valkyrja tried to stutter out.

"Point for me." The empress made a motion of marking a line in the air with her finger. "Also, if someone did show up, you'd have to change as well. I highly doubt that would look normal in front of some dignitary. Modern clothing I doubt would be taken seriously given it tends to show skin. Your midriff is showing and some of your thighs." Hrist looked down at herself, wondering if anything was off. In her eyes, showing anything of her body wasn't much of an issue, but the thought of her empress showing anything but armor or a full dress made her want to gouge out the eyes of anyone who would see her. Jeeves and the maids had helped her get the color just right for her jacket and stockings, along with putting on the makeup.

"W-well… I like the way I look" she snapped.

"Fine, I'm happy with the way I feel in sweatpants. Did you go entirely goth or are there any other styles you liked?" The maiden looked at the ceiling thinking about the different dresses and other clothes she asked for.

"Jeeves suggested different styles depending on what I picked out, so… I'm unsure what each one is called." Selene gave her a half-lidded facial shrug for a second then got up from her seat and stretched.

"I think I've got the neutralizing agent" Turnie piped up as she shook a test tube a little. The empress looked over the counter as she held it up, with Hrist crossing her arms over her chest. Science and medicine wasn't her strong suit.

"It looks… is that algae?" the dev asked as she furrowed her brow.

"Very perceptive ma'am. It is in fact algae that will help clean the water, just somewhat modified to speed the process up."

"Wait, you spun algae in the machine?"

"No ma'am, those were blood samples." Selene's mouth went agape as she nodded, realizing her misunderstanding.

"Well, I figured out my screw up with the sealant and we have a way to combat the toxins, might as well go check on the Frigates." As she headed out of the medical lab, Hrist followed her back to the palace. As they both got onto the elevator, the empress glanced over at Hrist. "One thing, what's up with the request from Jeeves to build a Gelato machine, Ice Cream machine and Frozen Yogurt machine? He said you wanted them?" she asked in confusion with a smirk on her face and her brow furrowed. The raven-haired woman tapped her left boot's toe on the floor of the elevator and looked down.

"I just like ice cream. I tried some of that treat in Glass Dale. Am I not supposed to be requesting that?" she asked.

"No no, it's fine, was just weird hearing about it. The ice cream maker is already made, just have to get the other two ready." Hrist nodded as silence filled the elevator.

"What is the difference between the three?" The battle maiden asked. Selene glanced at her while still looking at the elevator door.

"Well, honestly there are a few more versions than just three, I think. Ice Cream is fluffier and uses more cream than milk and churned faster than Gelato. Gelato is usually churned slower and has a much more intense flavor due to being denser, with less cream and more milk so I guess healthier for you. Frozen Yogurt, despite the name, isn't really yogurt as you know it, but just a modification of ice cream with yogurt replacing the cream ingredients and served at a higher temperature to not become solid. Sorbet is frozen juice, syrup and water so it doesn't have any fat; it does have lots of sugar though."

Hrist nodded in semi understanding. She had no idea there were more ways of freezing liquids to turn them into different treats. "Do you like ice cream, Selene?" she questioned. The empress pursed her lips a little and blinked.

"I've never really been a fan of it."

"You dislike ice cream?" Hrist sounded worried. Ice cream tasted great to her, despite the odd sensation she had in her forehead if she ate too fast.

"I don't dislike it, it's just not my favorite dessert. Gelato is nice, but I tend to not eat it much due to the calories." The elevator reached the top and the doors opened. Both ladies walked out and down the hallway, one dressed in style, the other walking in baggy sweats. "I'm going to go get changed to check on the frigates. No, I'm not wearing what I had on the last time, probably a dress suit and pants." As Selene started to walk to her bedroom, Hrist seemed a little confused.

"Why is it that you are using naval ships to fight the next battle? Can you not just have the air fleet engage with the armies on the ground?" the maiden asked.

"I'm covering all directions. Ground forces will move through the front gates but could be bombarded by whatever in the water. Bringing in air they might miss any of the smaller ships trying to slip away from the height, plus I'd rather no one see the air fleet until absolutely necessary so invisibility fields will be in full effect. They're pirates Hrist, I want to make sure none of them make it out alive."

"Are there smaller ships to use? Or maybe board their ships?"

"I intend to sink those floating coffins and have drag subs come along to get rid of the wreckage after we take the harbor. Involving smaller ships, yes, I do, but having a few larger ones for intimidation factor fits nicely with keeping any of them from trying to escape quickly. As much as I might want to bring in a battleship, I don't have any built just yet and that might cause more damage than wanted with the civilians. I'm taking a city, I'm not trying to exterminate the populace with riots and heart attacks. Frigates are fine, maybe a destroyer or two if available."

The maiden seemed to understand her reasoning. The empress was attempting to save the city and build it up after. Killing everyone, even the weak willed who may be religious or superstitious to gods coming to end the world, would be counterproductive. She had the automatons easily to populate the city, but that was pointless if there was no one to protect or keep in the empire. Having a whole continent to herself with no one alive would be a very sad and lonely life. One of the few ways to keep the people safe and calm would be only bringing in enough of a technology advantage to end the pirate occupation quickly and efficiently, without looking like some divine force rolling in as much as possible.

"Ma'am, it's Ethan." She heard her coms give her a request to speak.

"Go ahead Ethan."

"We're near Sweet Water, Deacon and I. There's a bit of a problem with engaging the harbor city." Selene motioned for Hrist to turn on her earpiece. The maiden swapped to the channel for special forces and listened in.

"What's the problem?"

"The city isn't just pirates as you already know, but it seems some of the people are going to be tough to keep safe. We did some reconnaissance and found the city populace is sometimes used as human shields on their ships if a fight breaks out. There are civilians that could be held hostage like slave labor in all directions."

"Then we just have to be careful with who we shoot in there, that answers the boarding aspect Hrist just asked about. I've already got the EW autos built, probably add a mana pool to them and give them **[Truth from Lies]** to weed out anyone who tries to slip by under the guise of an innocent. I trust our military to be dead shots; save the civilians, make sure they see us as rescue from their horrible lives."

"We agree. I'd suggest before we blast those ships that you send us special forces in to evacuate anyone who might be held in the brigs down below." Selene thought for a moment as she wondered just how many were being kept from sunlight, to be used as human shields if they board another ship. Removing that from the equation would make things a lot easier, returning those people to their families.

"Alright, how many ships have been tracked in the harbor first" she asked both Ethan and herself as she checked through footage quickly from ornithopters in the skies. There was a total of fifty ships that docked there, with another twenty already out on the ocean. The corvettes that were already built would make short work of those things given they were faster, smaller, and had both technologically advanced heavy armor for their size and far greater firepower. The dev already figured one corvette could possibly handle ten Middle Ages ships by itself. The only reason it wouldn't go over that would be most fleets probably didn't go beyond that number out on open water.

"We're looking at about seventy ships in total. The PT boats could get our teams on board without anyone knowing we were around, take control and retrieve the packages… sorry, rescue the hostages ma'am." Selene chuckled at that. While she would like to have a little more respect for the people, until they were integrated into her empire, they were just random bodies standing around that didn't know anything. If they were being used as slave labor or meat shields, that meant they had no magic skill, no combat skill, probably didn't know how to do much else beyond fishing.

"It's alright, I understand. Alright, let's get some SF corvettes ready for Bronze Team and the others. Once you finish with the operation, let me know so we can move onto phase two."

"Understood ma'am, I'll let Jorge know we are a go." The coms ended as she took a quick shower, not spending a lot of time in the bathtub today. As much as she liked to soak, the dev knew today had a lot of work ahead of her despite sitting around in the lab attempting her experimentation with the new sealant mixture. As she stood in the shower and cleaned herself up, Selene thought about the new naval fleet she was going to make. The hull classifications were pretty standard, but did she need that? What if she wanted a massive super ship made in the future or a tiny little life boat sized weapons platform?

That brought her to a new decision that would also have an effect on the air fleet most likely. She was going to use a new hull classification system ranging from the smallest ship to the largest. The empress had at one time brainstormed different hulls for a sci fi game that still needed work for another two more years before she came to the new world. It apparently had been used in a very old game in the past, well over one hundred years before her time. She had heard the name before and did research, what little she could find out, about Master of Orion series. This would allow her to have a very diverse fleet defense in the water, air, and perhaps in space.

Lancers were the smallest ship used, despite being roughly fifty meters in length for space, which meant something around thirty meters for the air and barely twenty meters in the water due to less life support requirements and systems needed. The Lancer would be the equivalent of a fast attack craft, meant to move up rivers, support fighters in the air as air gunships or close air support for the ground, and run interception of missiles and fighter craft for larger starships.

Cutters ran around one hundred meters in length for space, fifty meters in air and twenty-five meters in the water, almost similar to the size of a Lancer for a nautical vessel. While not as fast as Lancer hulls, they'd make up for the speed in lots of low tier firepower to fill the area with damage, mulching sections of a forest or jungle and turning boulders into dust. In the air, they'd be used to take on larger flying beasts, probably dragons head on. In space, they'd be in control of picket lines for the fleets.

Corvettes would be the backbone of any defense line. They'd range from two hundred meters in space, one hundred meters in the air and fifty meters in the water. They would be like a smaller Frigate but didn't have as much heavy firepower. While Lancers were attack and Cutters were heavy attack, Corvettes would be used as defense for the coast, watching over the air fleets and keeping space patrolled once she got up there. The length for a nautical version would probably be a bit small for something called a Corvette as from what she could read up on, a military ship could range from fifty meters to one hundred fifty meters for the big ones, but it would still work. They were meant for quick defense and patrol for the water anyways.

Frigates would range from four hundred meters in space to one hundred meters in the water. It would be almost as large as two naval aircraft carriers for the space version due to the special systems and engines. They would be used as escorts or heavy patrol for every fleet type. Due to time constraints, the main naval fleet engaging Sweet Water Harbor would probably be comprised of the nautical versions with no Destroyers. While powerful in their own right, these were not considered ships of the line; as such, they would normally not be used on the frontline, however, most of this world was barely in the Late Middle Ages, so their main ships were at best Galleons with magic cannons. This meant that just one of her Frigates might be a beast against one of Artinia's fleets unless it was their entire naval armada.

Destroyers would be the workhorse, highly adaptable and decently defended. The size would be around double that of a Frigate, despite that not being a normal size in modern times due to resources, time constraints and money, so nations only built as large as required to get the job done. She had no restrictions on any of that. These ships would be the main defense and offense for any engagement. If Selene decided to bring one of these against Artinia, she doubted there would be anything they could do.

The sizes would continue doubling each time with Cruisers, Battleships, Carriers, Dreadnoughts, Titans, Behemoths and Leviathans. This didn't even take into account for starships whether they were System Ships or actual Starships capable of moving between solar systems. System Ships wouldn't have the engines to get out of the solar system, but used up that same space for more power, defenses, weapons and crew space. Starships would use that area for the required systems to "warp" from one point to another. She hadn't even gotten to a high enough tier to worry about getting out of the solar system yet either. Teleportation, despite how powerful it was, couldn't move anyone beyond a certain range, regardless of how far infinite is supposed to be for Yggdrasil or Arcanic's Wizardry. Per game restrictions, you could move around the whole planet pretty much without issue but moving from planet to planet is a massive undertaking even for magic. Five thousand miles or even ten thousand miles to jump from continent to continent is different from well over two hundred thousand miles just to reach the moon, let alone whatever this new world solar system has for a "Mars."

Her main problem it seemed wasn't producing any of the hull sizes, but where to keep them or dock one of the larger ships. A pier or shipyard would have to be massive to allow anything like a Leviathan at its smallest naval size of 25 some odd kilometers in length to sit and repair or resupply, let alone a space station for the whopping 102-kilometer starships. The space stations would be the size of a moon if not larger, maybe part of a Dyson Sphere. Given her nautical Destroyers would already be almost as large as the Yamato Battleship from World War II, it stood to reason there would be no need to make anything beyond a Cruiser or maybe an Aircraft Carrier as a nautical ship. She already had an air fleet, despite _Majesty's Grace_ being only a "paltry" 500 meters in length and considered an aircraft carrier. If she reworked the entire fleet size, upgraded the hull of her flagship, it would be a floating city in its own right.

There was just no need for massive size when the enemy made ships barely below 150 meters. The logistical constraints would be huge for nautical vessels to dock, airships and for that matter starships would potentially cause gravitational issues for the planet if getting beyond a certain size range. It was better to simply keep things a decent size but keep the hull classifications ready in the event the planet got visited by hostile alien lifeforms or some crazed supervillain necromancer. Then it was going to be all bets are off, make the scariest thing she had available. This wouldn't stop her from building new advanced technology or special combat units hidden under the castle, however. The skunkworks area had some particularly nasty and quite _large_ weapons ready if all hell broke loose, with about half still being in the steampunk tech trees. Mass producing Information Age weapons didn't seem necessary yet when she had access to steampunk lasers, railguns and other weird science tech. Pulling out the VX gas or biological weapons, maybe nanite clouds, would be pure overkill and scare the hell out of the populace.

 _Probably be a good idea to have a canister of the nanites on my person though, it'd make a great offense and defense…_

She finished her shower and dried off, then got dressed. The dev could hear the helibot outside winding up and ready for her to head out and check the shipyard. Romeo wasn't there anymore as he just built the place, he wasn't stationed at any one military base. That made the station slightly lonely as there were no Super automatons stationed there right now. The amenities for any living creature to be there were low as well. The empress could get a filtered cup of water, there were a few chairs to sit in and an air conditioned and heated room to watch what was happening, along with a few emergency supplies stashed away like canned food and a sleeping bag, but for the most part it was a boring guard shack that she didn't want to stay in.

At least she would bring a book now that traders were secretly rushing to get to Gold Pine and Glass Dale. The amount of literature was growing, with the royal library starting to build up slowly. There was finally a printing press system built in a newspaper building she had built in Gold Pine that allowed copies of books to be made. Suddenly, everyone was attempting to learn to read and write at the free school provided so they could enjoy the public library, as well as opening jobs for crude journalism and newspapers for what was happening around town. It revolutionized recreational time for the citizens. Glass Dale also had a public library and school, but the newer books weren't quite in abundance yet. Public theatre was also starting to become a thing with plays happening once a week. That might be something she wanted to go see soon.

As she headed out of her bedroom while tracking updates from her special forces teams heading out in her "Lancer" nautical craft to board the found pirate ships out in open water, Jeeves walked by with two maids.

"Your majesty, already heading out to the naval shipyard?" he asked.

"Yes Jeeves, I… oh, I nearly forgot it was lunchtime." Her butler nodded as the two maids bowed to her.

"It is getting a bit cold up there as well. Are you sure you would not wish to wear a coat?" he asked. She snapped her fingers as she realized what she had forgotten.

"Nearly forgot it was November. Thanks Jeeves." He bowed to her as she headed towards the kitchen for a packed lunch. There were many advantages in her eyes of being an empress, but one of the most interesting was on call food preparation at any time of day or night. If she suddenly got a craving for chocolate chip cookies at 2 am, they would be baked for her immediately. Luckily, she had already gotten some cocoa beans from a trader the other day due in no small part to Stafinson. She made sure there were funds to pick up any new seeds, beans or animals that could be bred or grown here. Making sure she had whatever ingredients or creatures available made sure that the empire could enjoy luxury goods just as much as she could. There was someone in Gold Pine, some random cook that had figured out how to make Fried Chicken already. The street stall they opened was one of the most lucrative shops there right now.

One of the maids in the kitchen gave her a lunch that looked like it was a four-course meal. Soup and salad, main course which seemed to be chicken parmesan, along with dessert. There seemed to be a few snacks added in as well, just in case, as well as a thermos. The dev chuckled a little at a thought that crept into her mind of heading off to her first day of elementary school, her mother packing her lunch with extra snacks. Luckily, her metabolism kept most of the weight off her despite her friends having to watch what they ate. Exercising often was just something she felt like doing if it kept her body fit. The fact she got constant exercise anyways after reaching the new world just allowed her to eat what she wanted, along with the magic usage and modern medicine she had available. If she stopped exercising though, eating would probably start packing on the pounds. She wasn't immune to weight gain. There might be a stat for that…

"Thank you" she said to the maid which bowed and accepted her appreciation. There was no real need to acknowledge the female automaton, but it helped her psychologically knowing she was still being grateful. It also built a habit regardless of who she was speaking to, even if it was a drone without a personality core. The maids in the castle were mechanical versions of a homunculus, although probably a lot better at their jobs, given they were a lot faster. While she didn't know enough about homunculus here on this world, the dev had delved a little into the lore for Yggdrasil despite the story not being needed to research as she just worked on the features and programming. It helped make sure she got the features just right for the respective game to know what she was implementing and bring up issues with it not appealing to the target audience.

From what Selene gathered, homunculus in Yggdrasil were just labor, usually very low level and rarely reaching above level 10. While they did sleep, there were anti-fatigue items that could be used on them. However, they were NPCs, so sleep wasn't an issue, nor did they run out of any sort of stamina due to game AI restrictions. They usually were smaller than the average human but tended to have higher base stats as they were built for singular purposes; they also had some fluff lore of eating more than normal, with a nutrient deficiency. Outside of Yggdrasil, lore varied widely in many directions, from humanoids that could exceed human body restrictions and be nigh superhuman, to weird growth like creatures that could perform limited shape changing to accept whatever form their master enjoyed while being an amorphous being.

Her drone maids were leagues ahead of the homunculus in all regards. They were far more resilient, didn't need to sleep, extremely efficient, with much higher level now due to Steampunk Mechanical Engineering. Just the base Civilian model maids were probably on par with some elite soldiers in this world, roughly around level 60. If the empress ever decided to attempt to create some sort of "battle maid" for defense as well as serving her, it might be quite impressive.

That thought had reminded her that she had access to new designs in android and gynoid technology via Information Age as well as Super Steampunk and Space Steampunk eras. The new upgraded hover legs that would be given to Turnie as a reward for being… well… awesome, as her healer for Bronze Team as well as a personal doctor, was a major upgrade. The healing bot would no longer be the shortest member of the team with two anti-gravity legs that stood on their tip toes, with an extendable heel system out the back like a V shaped horseshoe for balance. It would make her very graceful now instead of rolling or jumping around rough terrain. Orlo probably needed a new design for his chassis as well, given the fact he was a Light helibot. He had been instrumental in far too many research projects to count already.

"Have a great day your majesty" the kitchen maid said as it bowed once the lunch was in her hands. The other maids continued to cook for dinner tonight. It would be a minor celebration for taking Sweet Water Harbor. That response from the maid brought her to realize she wanted some Supers with personality cores built under command of Jeeves. There would be battle maids in this castle of hers, probably with more humanoid features. The maids right now, while considered somewhat attractive by Gold Pine townsfolk, were still made mainly of metal, even their faces were a mesh weave to simulate facial expressions with some plastic. The Supers would be life like to a human being and focus on controlling certain aspects of the palace with Jeeves overseeing all actions. All of her Supers might get the gift of a new body if she could get the design and detail just right. They wouldn't have universal templates, the dev wanted to make them very unique and special.

"I will, thank you." The empress responded as she headed out of the kitchen and grabbed a wool button up trench coat from a closet, with a nearby maid assisting her. The whole palace, despite only having a few living people in it along with the wolves, was fairly lively with automatons moving from place to place, cleaning the rooms and dusting, always diligent. It might even get more livelier with any future nobility, if Skuld vouched for them of course. The dev was a little worried about throwing a ball or party in the future, with so many people coming to dance and see her.

One of the worries was having to learn how to dance. On the dance floor, she always seemed to have two left feet no matter what she did. Clubs were not her style either. There was a skill for it, but that took away precious Skill Points for use in other avenues.

 _Ok, time to go see these Frigates. It'll give me time to work through the points I got this morning from the orb._

As the empress made her way to the helibot, she noticed Brynhildr, heading to an APC loaded with toys. "Hey Bryn, where are you headed with those?" she yelled out. The blonde-haired woman looked up and smiled.

"Going to hand out a few to the young ones in Gold Pine! Also, I figured I'd try out some of the new drinks the alewife there has been concocting. Do you need me for something?" she replied back.

"No, just wondering. We're a go for the assault tonight though, so don't get too boozed up. I know anyone who tries to drink like you would die of alcohol poisoning before you got drunk, but still."

"Is there any reason for me being there though?" Bryn asked. She had a point. The main assault was going to be done entirely by automatons and ships, with vehicular combat thrown into the mix. They'd mainly just be sitting in the back watching the entire spectacle.

"No, but do you really want to miss out on seeing us take that pirate city?" The Valkyrja smiled and nodded with her eyes closed.

"I'll admit, it will be nice to see some justice served. I doubt any of those sea devils could ever be considered an Einherjar. I'll be there." Selene nodded in approval as she climbed up into the helibot, her four Honor Guard situated as the doors closed. The inside pressurized and warmed up to keep her comfortable as the automated vehicle lifted off and headed for the shipyard.

The ride was uneventful as she sat and read the book she brought, explaining the history of the religions that had surfaced on the continent. The range of historical records was quite small given most authors only knew what was what from the royal library, or from a decently equipped monastery. Monks made exceptional writers, but they didn't exactly leave their place of prayer to visit other areas of the world, so their experience was limited. Most of the information seemed to involve a pantheon of some form or another, changing twice in the past six hundred years. Given this world had magic, it seemed plausible that the gods were in fact real or had been real at one point.

From what she could see from research back on Earth, a lot of gods only had as much power as how many followers were worshipping them. The game Dungeons and Dragons had gods that were only as powerful as their following, with small cults having gods that did little more than make farms grow faster, while great gods with millions worshipping them could wipe out a continent. In other games, a person could become a god by birthright or by attaining some special object, a legendary treasure. Given the fact that Yggdrasil followed a similar path to D&D, the gods here might be very real beings.

The fact there had been already two lost pantheons meant that followers abandoned them, probably losing most of their power and becoming a "Vestige" or dead god by mortal means. While not truly dead, it could be possible to resurrect one if they suddenly gained followers and had a ritual enacted to awaken them.

What seemed to worry her right now was the fact that Artinia was corrupt beyond belief, with the people barely more than slaves to make money for the rich. If that was the case, and the fact that gods could exist as real entities, then there might be evil gods or goddesses watching over Artinia due to religious beliefs and how the nobility acts. It could be possible to destroy an avatar of a god, but it was incredibly hard. However, those gods, while powerful, might have been barely on par, if not weaker, than a Valkyrja due to constant stories of them being fought and beaten by regular, albeit strong, adventurers in many a game that followed D&D design or rules. A god could be constrained to a single planet, or even a single continent if the pantheon wasn't very well known. Valkyrja traveled the realms after all.

Normally to kill a god might require some form of taking some of their essence to research and create some anti-celestial weapon or ammunition to kill them once and for all, but she already knew for a fact Artifact quality tier weapons were already capable of defeating one quite handily. Even Legendary quality tier, the equivalent of Divine class items from Yggdrasil, would work, albeit barely. The Divine class items would have to exert an immense amount of damage onto the god's avatar, then find their astral essence and have some sort of severing effect to their following, effectively cutting them off from all life or worship energy. Artifact tier or World Class Items could do that usually without much issue.

 _Should probably get the points placed Selene, waiting until I get to the shipyard to do that would be a little pointless. I can read once I get there._

She checked her character sheet and noted her level was now 140, which was still nowhere near Jorge now. The dev made a note to eventually add in some more points to Steampunk Mechanical Engineering to increase their levels even more. The annoying bit was going to be if she ever moved their personality cores to something not steampunk in the future, that she'd have to throw more points into Mechanical Engineering or Advanced Mechanical Engineering to get their levels equal or higher.

The empress threw the fifty points into Stamina to get it to two hundred percent, adding into the very large pool she already had if she wore enchanted Rare quality armor. She also had decided to drink a Stat Potion in the morning, adding another eleven points she would hold onto until it reached fifty. That could happen if the dev drank another tonight, however it could increase even further if the next research project bore fruit. It was an attempt at removing injection or having to ingest the potions, turning some of them into slap patches for arms that could be absorbed through the skin via modern medicine. While it was possible it wouldn't cause indigestion, she highly doubted it wouldn't cause other issues like dizziness or skin irritation to counter the change in intake. There always seemed to be that balance to stop her from using massive amounts of them.

"Three minutes to land your majesty" she heard from the helibot as she packed her book away and finished throwing one hundred Skill Points into Martial Arts. That hit her like a sack of bricks immediately as she reeled from the amount of moves that could be pulled, the different styles and variations as well as the counters, grapples and pressure points. While knowing how to fight with melee weapons was diverse, the amount of moves she could make in a fight with just her bare hands was insane.

 _Ooh, Hrist is going to be in for an interesting sparring match next time when I steal her sword or shield mid strike with something from Krav Maga or Tai Kwon Do…_

On top of that, the special abilities she received weren't like the moves she gained from Melee Weapons. **[Iron Strikes]** allowed her attacks with any body parts to increase by two hundred percent in damage, pretty much making a punch shatter a rib cage now. Hrist seemed to be able to do something similar, but that might have had something to do with her raw strength. Given how Selene was now increasing her own strength as well and doing weight training, she could probably trade blows with her General eventually. The main problem was her armor was giving most of the boosts. Without it, she was much weaker than the Valkyrja. The throws and grapples would be the saving grace for her along with psionic boosts as a spare buff. The battle maidens were strong and fast regardless of armor, while she had quite a few boosts from equipment and consumables allowing her to be on par. Without those, her one hundred percent or two hundred percent stats didn't mean as much.

 **[10,000 Fists]** increased her attack speed, not as a flat increase, but multiplied the strikes she could land on a target. While it wasn't exactly 10,000 as it claimed, each attack she performed was the equivalent of ten hitting multiple points of contact, not just where she was aiming. An enemy can't defend against a strike to their knee if the initial attack was coming for their face.

 **[Iron Skin]** followed suit to **[Iron Strikes]** , though it worked on her stat Natural Armor. It would increase that stat by two hundred percent, effectively making her skin pretty much impervious to anything lower than a tank shell. The characteristics were the equivalent of bullet proof armor.

 _This better not make it difficult for me to put lotion on my skin…_

 **[Pressure Points]** allowed her to make aimed strikes at other parts of the body beyond the obvious chest or head, hitting critical spots on arms and legs like joints and arteries to cripple and wound. Pressing a certain spot on an arm while dodging an attack could paralyze it, giving her a far easier way of ending the fight quickly. Cutting circulation off or mana flow would be very beneficial.

 **[Flow Like Water]** seemed to act as a dodge ability, guaranteeing dodging all attacks for the next ten seconds as an active skill. That seemed immensely useful, as not getting hit at all was one of the best defenses. While her Dodge stat was at one hundred percent, it could always be improved to counter any guaranteed strikes.

Combined with her new experience in psionics as well as the new spells she was learning, it could be possible to well exceed supersonic fighting without causing issues with mass, vacuum distortions or wind knockback effects. Amplifying her speed and strength with psionics was her best bet in sparring with Hrist now that it was at a pretty decent level. Psychoactive Muscles and Psychomimetic Aura around her would make for an impressive display without armor now. The psionics actually dispersed air around her to not cause any issues while moving, creating a sort of psychic warp field so that she could move much more efficiently. She could only imagine what it would do if she was equipped with the new armor. Epic quality tier was almost there, but for the time being Rare quality was what she had available. As she got better at controlling her psionics, it could be eventually possible to go hypersonic in a fight.

The helibot touched down and opened the doors, with her guard climbing out and positioning themselves. The automatons stationed at the shipyard weren't in parade stance this time, as they were busy constructing the nautical ships needed. Six Corvettes and two Frigates were already in dock, 125 meters and 150 meters for both sizes. These were the old ship sizes based from Earth, not her new set up. It would hurt to cut the Corvettes down to half the size, but it would mean more ships working in concert, easier to maintain and control more of the ocean. They'd also be easier to man with Coast Guard automatons or military, despite easily being capable of producing platoons at the drop of a hat right now in her inventory, or a company for that matter. Of course, she could always just use the new hull classification system for space and just leave the airships and nautical vessels alone. There was nothing stopping her from doing that.

"Oof, I know these are powerful, but is this going to be enough to stop any pirates from trying to escape? Eh, the Lancers and Cutters should be easy to cover the sides for any stragglers" she muttered to herself as she surveyed the ships ready to head out. The weapons were mainly high powered for the Frigates, with the Corvettes being gunpowder with some small sized railguns and a few lasers at low power. By low power, it was referring to anything that wouldn't sink another ship in one shot, with high power being a critical strike weapon usually. Low power would be used for cover fire and taking out crew on board, allowing boarding operations or strafing to let the enemy know they meant business. The high power would just sink things, no nonsense, no diplomacy.

Selene went into the guard shack and sat down, no automatons coming to check on her as they were ordered already to finish the third Frigate. As she pulled out the book again to read up on one of the pantheons, at least whatever the writer knew about them, she got a request to speak from Skuld via her coms. As she opened the channel, the brunette was heard muttering a little to herself. "Is this thing on? Am I even getting through?"

"I can hear you just fine Skuld, what's up?" she asked as her hands opened the book and pulled the bookmark out. It was a cute little thing that Abby had painted for her, a slew of magical and mythical creatures she knew existed. At the top was a gryphon, followed by a unicorn and dragon, with a manticore on the bottom.

"Ah, so I did get through. Why does it sound as if your voice is booming?" Skuld asked. Selene had never thought about that before, as they were using small microphones in the communication earpiece.

"I… well I never realized my voice was so loud. I'm not exactly using my mouth, so I have no idea how to turn the volume down. Hmm… how's this?" she asked dumbfounded. Her attempts to be quieter in her own head befuddled her.

"Better, but I guess that was insulting, my apologies. It just sounded so… like it was coming from high above, as if a god was speaking down."

"I'll try to keep that in mind, no apologies necessary." That made her wonder if she had been 'yelling' at Bronze Team this entire time. She'd have to make a note to speak softer… in her own head.

 _I speak from up high down to my subjects mortals! I have come to warn you of a horrible thing that will come to pass! The plumbing will be backed up! You need to get that fixed before… ah screw it… I lost interest in this thought…_

"Anyways, I have word that five promising students will be arriving at the newly built academy. I will hold my excitement until after I have seen how well they fair" Skuld reported.

"Just understand that they are mortals, they aren't super people that can jump over buildings, can't pick up boulders or swing giant swords. They're just people trying to learn and do better."

"I understand that Selene. I've been working on the planned training to help them improve their bodies as well as their minds. I have been working on courses involving language, reading and writing, mathematics, martial skills, etiquette and civility and honor. I… erm… believe I am… lacking… in science studies or history…" the maiden explained, feeling embarrassed that she didn't have the expertise to address the deficiencies.

"It's alright, that's still great so far with just one instructor. It'll only get better as more instructors are added to flesh out the curriculum. The mathematics, does it expand to Calculus?" Selene asked her.

"Erm… Calc…ulus? What is that?"

"I'll take that as a no. Calculus is advanced mathematics beyond Trigonometry."

"Trigon… no… metry?"

"Ok… does the mathematics do anything with Algebra?" There was a stressed groan from Skuld as she didn't respond the way the empress expected. The dev felt sorry for her, as she was doing her best. Teaching the people addition and subtraction was probably the only thing in the math courses, no real multiplication or division, no tricks or hints to speed the process up for large numbers. The academy would need more than instructors, it was going to need professors with college level degrees. Skuld might not even know about non-real numbers. Science required things like this to improve and design just about everything.

"Ok, don't worry, it's fine. Just teach what you can, and we'll see about providing some more teachers. If we can't find anyone, as an emergency precaution I think I can get some automatons to help out. Everything will work out, relax."

"I'm grateful Selene, I really am. I've always wondered what it would be like to teach, to build up the sense of honor and conscience in mortals, to help them learn, even if it didn't amount to wars or gaining more Einherjar. I hope the academy will do well." Selene smiled, although Skuld couldn't see it.

"It will do well, because you're at the head of it. Five will turn eventually into five thousand, which means more instructors, professors and teachers will be needed. I'll see about getting some posters printed up requesting the learned to pop their heads out and get paid for their service to the community." As she said that, Selene checked on her inventory and opened a connection to the royal vault, checking the amount of funds that were available. There was more than enough to buy the whole continent many times over right now, if that was even possible. The dev set aside contracted funds for new teachers, placing the money into a small vault inside the main one.

"Thank you. I'll see about getting the rooms prepared."

"The rooms should already be prepared, there are attending workers to keep the academy maintained Skuld." The Valkyrja seemed to gasp a little on the other side.

"I thought the automatons you had here were just applying finishing touches to the buildings! They're going to stay here?" she asked.

"That was the idea. New students come to a clean room, but it should be noted it is their responsibility to keep it maintained while they stay there. Once they graduate, evaluations can be made on how well they treat their bedroom. The rest of the time the automatons are janitors."

"Teaching them to respect their surroundings and their home away from home, that sounds great." Selene checked her pocket watch on a chain, despite having a clock in her visual Hud. While it was simple with no symbols or plated designs on the door, the polish and build felt nice in her hand.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Christopher Tin – A New Course (Opening Movie))**_

The third Frigate was completed and being slowly pushed into the water via offload launcher rails under it, causing a small tidal wave as the water displaced. The fourth and fifth were almost complete, along with another four Corvettes. The engines engaged as it slowly was assisted by a tug boat to pull it into a berth. The weapons rotated on their axle points and turrets, checking to make sure everything was fully functional. The crew was waiting on the dock, ready to board and make sure all maintenance was ready, the marines stationing themselves at doors and on different decks.

"There goes Light 1-2 being launched…" she muttered to herself. Despite needing names, the dev was perfectly fine with her automated nautical fleet just going by numbers and designations. Having to call them some name like _Steadfast_ or _Abigail_ seemed pointless for these steampunk warships. Selene checked on the requisitioned automatons that were going to be stationed on it, despite it being capable of moving on its own. There was no need for a navigator or pilot, no captain or lieutenants. The only thing it would need were boarding protection and engineers for maintenance, given it could fire the guns by itself.

"Hey, I'll talk later, sorry if I'm cutting you off but the third frigate just launched and I figured I'd check out the insides, boring as it sounds. You'll be at the assault of Sweet Water Harbor, right? Sitting next to us?" the dev said as she got up and put her book down.

"Oh, no worries, go do what you do. I will be there, I want to see that city liberated, those pirates ended. Whatever gods they pray to, I hope they never meet them. It's dishonorable to steal from those weaker than you that can't fight back."

"Wait, what does that make us if we're going against them? I mean… they can't possibly fight back against us." Selene asked that in wonder. She already knew they were taking on Artinia to give a better life to the people, to build her empire and show them there were better ways to do things.

"That makes us responsible for meting out justice, on both Artinia as well as those thieves of the waters. Enjoy the tour Selene, I'm sure it is a beautiful ship." Skuld ended communication as the empress sighed and nodded to no one. They were going to end this corruption. These ships would help with that.

Once she got on board the new Frigate and got a chance to see the layout, along with a very small cabin always added as an emergency for her to stay in, the dev sat down back in the guard shack and opened her lunch. Written in vegetables on her salad was "Have a Great Day!" in cherry tomatoes, shredded carrot and cucumber. She laughed at that. "I will with you guys around."

 _ **8 pm, 10th, November**_

"30 seconds to landing" Selene heard as the helibots dropped over the side of the mountain range of Azaltos and kept a stealth distance of about two miles from Sweet Water. Five brigades of automatons, vehicles and air support were rolling into position, ready to storm the large reinforced gate and enter into the depths of the pirate occupied city. Hrist was in another helibot, along with her sisters as they had regrouped. Bronze Team and the other special forces teams were still finishing rescuing hostages from the ships in harbor, with the twenty out on the ocean already sunk. From her reports they were almost done, just had two left. The main problem was getting to each one without someone noticing them. Each special forces team was busy boarding, clearing the crew out quietly and rescuing the hostages, then getting them off the ship and back on land via PT boat pick up; only then were they able to continue to the next ship once they could make sure the people were safe and didn't need medical attention. She had decided to keep the original classifications for all nautical ships, changing them around would just cause problems right now.

As the helibot dropped to the ground and opened the doors, her honor guard got out and lined their shields up, with Selene getting out and walking to a few benches set up for her along with a portable overhead heater. There were blankets and a few snacks available along with drinks.

 _I can't believe I'm setting this place up like we're about to watch an outside projector movie… people are going to die soon… sheesh, I've changed a lot in the past weeks…_

The empress shook that thought from her head and focused. Precision artillery was already set up at Beyond Visual Range, with a squadron of fighters ready to fly over the top of the mountains and strafe locations. The small Frigate fleet was just around the bend, containing five ships with Corvette support. It was a little overkill, but she needed to make sure each ship was sunk with no hostages on board, despite the crew already wiped out on most of them. It was a message that the pirates had no more control over the waters, both to them as well as the citizens still huddling in fear inside the city. She had no idea how long they had been under control of the pirates, but it was coming to an end tonight. The special forces teams were not going to be setting charges, this needed to be seen by the people as her own ships came in to sink those wooden sailboats.

"Just about done with the second one ma'am, be ready for phase two momentarily" Jorge reported over coms as she sat down, her armor regalia worn. It was a bit annoying having to change constantly just to make a first impression to the people once she walked in, but it was obviously worth it each time.

"Copy that, take your time, get the people safely away."

"Solid copy." Snipers were setting up at key positions, tracking the watchtowers that were created in the event someone did lay siege to the city. The plan built was to take out the alarms quickly and efficiently, blow the gate wide open and roll in, dump soldiers via APCs and systematically go through the buildings with EW commandoes to check who was a civilian and who was a pirate. What she expected from the psychology advisory from Orlo was the pirates would run to their ships and attempt to leave, abandoning the city and just hiding out in the ocean or a secret harbor somewhere else while fighting with ballistae and maybe some mana cannons. The fleet would put an end to that very quickly.

Hrist walked up in her armor and sat down next to her. "Ready for your first command?" Selene asked. The maiden sighed and nodded.

"This will be my first chance to prove I am worthy of being your General. I will not let you down." The empress chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. Hrist visibly straightened at the touch and blushed.

"Most of the work is being done already from the planning stage. Now, we sit back and watch how well the army does claiming the city." Selene furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you so tense? Shoulder pain?" she asked as she removed her hand from the Valkyrja's shoulder.

"What? No, just… erm… nothing, do not worry about it." The dev shrugged and gazed out at the dark two miles ahead of her. All lights were turned off nearby beyond the space heater above them. Although normally November wouldn't be that cold, they were a decent way North, with the harbor city practically right in the middle. While there was no ice to worry about or snow due to still being fall, temperatures would drop slowly in the coming weeks. "Did you inspect your ships?"

"Yeah, they're everything I need right now to balance out the combined arms military. Already have one Destroyer in production." Hrist seemed surprised, as she didn't really have any knowledge yet on the new hull classification system Selene was going to use above her head.

"This 'Destroyer,' it is a formidable warship?"

"Yeah, well, I guess. From what I've seen before in vid… um, from what I'm seen before, not the most powerful. Compared to any other ship in the water right now, it could be considered a dreadnought." The raven-haired maiden waggled her eyebrows for a split second as she blinked. Now the Clockwork Empire had control of the land, air and sea, or it would once the city was under their control.

"Ma'am, last ship taken control of, hostages are being offloaded." The report from Charlie team gave her relief. Now they just needed to worry about the people still stuck in Sweet Water.

"Copy that. Main army is ready. Let us know once you've moved a safe distance." Hrist opened a thermos and poured some hot chocolate for herself and for Selene. The Valkyrja was getting used to the sweets available. Skuld and Brynhildr walked up and sat down next to them, pouring themselves some warm beverages.

"Have we missed the big event yet? I don't see any explosions" Bryn asked as she pulled a small cookie and dipped it in her mug. Selene really thought it felt like they were just enjoying themselves as she already knew there were dead pirates on those ships.

"Not yet, it's just about to start. Just need word from the special forces teams" the empress replied.

"We could probably go in there ourselves, save the whole city."

"Except that could cost more lives than just pirates. Sweeping the area carefully and pulling civilians away to safety is the main goal." Brynhildr nodded her head, conceding to the reason. The Valkyrja were battle maidens, they didn't just want to sit around when there were things to be done. However, they were making changes to their lives, living it for themselves and not for the Norse pantheon. They just wanted to make sure their skills and strengths were put to good use.

 _ **(Recommended Song: FreQuency – V)**_

"We are clear, ready for the party to start" Jorge reported as Selene held her breath for a moment and looked at Hrist, nodding. All the maiden had to do was give the order for her empress. The raven-haired woman looked at her sisters as they nodded to her in support. Snipers took beads on heads as tanks prepared to go full throttle towards the gate, with six of them targeting the giant bolts and pivot points to smash through. Artillery was lined up and tracking, with fighters about to dive in. The fleet above as well as the water pulled in a little closer for support. Soldiers piled into APCs as the doors closed up and got ready for a dash through the soon to be blown up front entrance. There were even paratroopers ready to drop in.

Hrist looked at Selene gave her a reassuring smile. "Go."

The first few rounds thundered off as the shells slammed into the ships from the Frigates, the tanks rolling into full speed and knocking out the gate almost instantly. Snipers performed a synchronized shot across all towers, killing all pirates ready to set off alarms at the same time. The tanks rolled through the shambles of the entrance and fired coaxial machineguns and pin point lasers as the APCs behind them rolled in and dropped their bay doors, with automatons jumping out and kicking down doors, aiming their rifles in a complete sweep as ECM troops came up behind and checked for any pirates hiding out amongst the people.

They were absurdly efficient, moving from floor to floor, building portable checkpoints for civilians to be herded towards as not one single fire was started from the siege.

 _Completely different from what you would see from a pirate movie. Usually some of the buildings were burning down._

The Valkyrja were very surprised at just how frighteningly effective the automatons were, moving from building to building and cleaning them out. The whole siege couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes tops, if that. "Your automatons are… very… proficient…" Skuld commented as she tried to find the words while watching from afar. The only time they had seen them fight was when they were breaching the Artinian fort before, which made them feel like a fifth wheel. A drone fighter flew over the city and performed a clean strafe run, wiping out a line of pirates trying to make a mad dash to a dingy, the main ships already sunk.

Selene brought up a small display showing what some of the military teams were doing inside, with one soldier kicking a pirate through a wall and flying out the other side. The pirates were scared shitless of the mechanical soldiers taking them out, showing no mercy and only allowing the ones that immediately surrendered without a fight to live, handcuffs placed on them as they were dragged to one building now secured as a temporary jail. One scene was of a pirate attempting to ambush a soldier, but it quickly rifle butted his face after dodging and double tapped after. Why it allowed the pirate to attack so close without shooting through the wall he was hiding behind they had no idea, probably because it considered him easily dispatchable.

"Reports are coming in, almost no loss of civilian life. Very few if any were trampled or killed by pirates in attempt to get human shields. We did good" the empress told them with satisfaction in her voice. Hrist let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, with Bryn slapping her on the shoulder and chuckling.

"The plan worked" Skuld said as they watched the city, the sounds of gunfire dying out to almost nothing. They got up and finished the hot chocolate, folding the blankets and got ready to head into the city themselves. Once packed, they flew in and landed, with the mayor waiting with two Mediums flanking him. Hrist stepped out along with her sisters as Selene came up behind them along with her guard. The people behind the mayor were in awe. They had heard a few rumors there was a goddess empress taking over Artinian and free cities, bringing them under her control and providing brand new lives in the utopias she built. While most of those stories were far fetched and exaggerated, some of it had to be true for them.

"I believe you are in charge here?" Selene asked as she stood in front of the little man. He barely reached up to her chest in height as he rubbed his hands together in worry.

"He… uh… that man… I am the mayor, yes… but…" he started to say as he couldn't find the words, his voice a little nasally. The few people that were wounded were quickly healed by auto docs and nurses looking out for them. He looked over his shoulder at a man pushed onto his knees with a slew of tattoos on his arms and grimacing.

"Oh, I see, he was in charge over you before" she replied as she nodded in understanding. The empress walked over to the man as he swore and yelled at the automatons holding him down and pulled her sidearm, aimed, and fired. She had just executed the pirate lord of the city in front of everyone. A few people screamed at the gunfire in shock. The dev walked back over to the mayor and holstered the weapon.

"Not anymore he isn't. This is now my city. I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. You are all now my subjects, taken away from being used like animals by pirates and treated like trash by Artinia. For the privateers that surrendered, I offer a chance to change your employment quickly or face the consequences. To others, if you had family held captive on those ships, they are being returned shortly without harm." Security teams were quick behind the military, setting up auto turrets and having ornithopters swoop in to track the streets. Dredging submarines were already working alongside the Corvettes to pull the wreckage of sunken ships out of the harbor to a waiting recycler platform.

"Ub… bu… of course… uh, your majesty, yes of course. Um… we uh… we… welcome your rule?" the mayor asked as he tilted his head up at her while hunching over. He stopped immediately as he realized she might be just like King Teiyan and averted his gaze from her gold polished armor.

"Ma'am, Orlo believes there is a dungeon in the city for prisoners by the looks of his scans. There may be some miscreants even the pirates didn't like around" Jorge reported over coms.

"How many?" she asked.

"Roughly about a dozen, not a large amount." She thought for a second as the mayor stumbled through his happy speech that she was taking over and that her reign be as long as possible, trying to kiss up any way he could.

"See to your citizens and make sure they are taken back to their homes. I'll have the bodies removed from the streets. There will be changes happening here, for the better I can assure you. If any of the buildings are too damaged, we can provide temporary living accommodations until repairs are complete." The mayor nodded in acknowledgement, his head rapidly moving up and down.

"Yes, yes of course, hehehuahua… yes…" he made a weird noise as if he was trying to speak a few words mixed together and laugh at the same time, his hands rubbing together. The mayor ran towards his people and waved his hands around, explaining to the civilians they could go back to their homes, no one was going to harm them and that they were now citizens of the Clockwork Empire. Whispering could be heard as people talked to each other wondering if it was really true, that the stories had finally become real. Apparently, Selene was a bit of a legend spoken under breath by the people. However, she was until now just considered that, a legend.

"That little man kind of gives me the creeps…" Selene whispered to Hrist who nodded in agreement. He was odd, quite odd. They had no idea why he was the mayor of the city. It almost felt as if he was undressing her with his eyes, making her shiver in disgust. "I'm heading to the dungeon, give me the coordinates and meet me there" she said via coms to Jorge.

"Copy that, sending coordinates now" he replied as a marker showed up on her Hud. It was incredible that she didn't need any electronics or Augmented Reality visors to see the marker, it just showed up when required in her eyes. They started walking away from the spot and headed through the city to the water line as the city folk stared at her in awe.

"Why are you seeing prisoners?" Hrist asked as they continued on.

"Going to see if any of them are good upstanding folk who just had a run in with the pirates and didn't concede to their leadership."

"But aren't they criminals?" The maiden countered.

"Politics sometimes play more of a role than you think they do Hrist; if they don't like someone, regardless of what they did or didn't do, they might have been dropped in a cell to die. It happens sadly." The Valkyrja were surprised mortals would do that to each other without proper cause, only to further their own agenda.

 _I'm going to have to build a prison eventually, there's just no way around it. Some people can be redeemed, while others the death penalty is the only way. I'm not about to make it seem like tax money is going to take care of serial killers, but it could go to help rehabilitate minor thieves just trying to survive in a cruel world. Oy… I just remembered this place probably has a red-light district… that's going to need some monitoring and laws to get under control… probably medical… it's oldest job in history after all…_

They finally reached the entrance to the dungeon and opened the double doors. The winding stairs twisted downwards as they went underground a good five floors before they reached the iron wrought gate that Jorge ripped off the hinges. As Selene walked up and down the cells to observe the people there, two stuck out, a few of the others might be just political prisoners. One of the others seemed to be looking worse for wear, needing medical attention. One was a woman leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, her ragged hairstyle and fiery red hair and dirt on her face seeming to run through it told her that one wasn't going to be nice. Her clothes seemed like she knew how to fight, with what looked like a small spot for a cutlass now removed. Her gut was telling her trouble was behind that cell door.

The second one was a man, or she thought was a man, laying down on his metal bed that was chained to the wall, his body rolled to face the wall, a ragged blanket wrapped around himself. He didn't even move given the sounds of explosions outside, just continued as if it was just another night. His haircut seemed familiar to her, as if she had seen it before…

Selene grabbed the cell gate and slowly pulled with one hand, her own strength already bending the metal and prying it open. She didn't need her troops or Hrist to open anything for her with the armor as well as her psionics, no consumables needed. As she slowly entered and looked down at the man, he spoke.

"If you're going to end me, do it quickly, I'm tired." That voice was the same voice as the General who sold her Asterion.

"General?" she asked softly as she peered at him curiously. He rolled a little and looked up at her. His mustache was unmistakable, if quite overgrown with a rough beard now.

"You… I sold you… Asterion…" he almost whispered out. "Wha... what… w-what are you doing here?" he asked as he slowly sat up with her backing up a little to give him room.

"I'm Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. I've taken over Sweet Water Harbor as of tonight. There isn't a single pirate left alive in this city."

"I find that hard to believe!" they both heard from the woman in the other cell as she laughed and stopped leaning against the wall, proceeding to lie down on her metal bed and look up at the ceiling. Selene glanced at the wall that sealed the cell off from her, then back at the General.

"Empress? You're an empress?" he asked as he furrowed his brow and squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Yeah. Long story. I… I kept my promise. Aster isn't exactly a horse anymore though…" she replied as she scratched her chin and looked away from him. The General looked over her shoulder at Hrist and the metal man standing behind her, massive in size. Jorge could easily break through every wall in the dungeon without a single issue.

"Is… Aster here?" he asked quietly.

"Um, Aster is a Pegasus now, and no, he's back at the castle. He's the mount of my General, Hrist who is standing right behind me." She motioned towards the Valkyrja as she stepped forward in her armor.

"Aster… a Pegasus?"

"He is well taken care of, a noble steed and one of the fastest Pegasus I have had the honor to fly with" Hrist told him as she looked down at his sitting and feeble form.

"But… how?"

"Hrist is a Valkyrja, a bringer of the slain. She provided Aster the gift of becoming a Pegasus. Now, he has wings and flies faster than most creatures in the skies. I doubt a gryphon could come close to him" the empress told him. He half chuckled and stopped, then looked between both women and continued in full laughter.

"He really? He's a Pegasus now? Oh, my friend, you have risen to the task haven't you…" he gazed at Selene and smiled. "It is good to know he is happy with his new owner, an empress no less."

"Well, he is living a good life, which is more than I can see from you right now. What the hell happened? I thought you paid to get on a ship and leave the continent? You were supposed to be on some other land retired. By the way… what is your name? I feel like calling you General is a little odd given there are two in this cell right now." He chuckled a little from that.

"My full name is Antoine Falksworthy, I forgot you never asked me that before when we first met. As for what happened… they took the gold bars and knocked me out, captured me and sold me to the pirates here. Apparently, I had cost quite a few of them friends on land when they tried to smuggle, so they made me fight in arenas for money. I've survived up until now, but I was about to give up. A miracle you showed up… unless… you are here to end my suffering?" he asked.

"What? Oh, hell no, of course not! I wouldn't do that. You're one of the few people I've seen with honor and a conscience. Definitely better than Artinia by a long shot." He scratched at his dirty cheek and smiled at that compliment.

"Thank you, but it's not as if the compliment will change what Artinia is." Selene looked over her shoulder for a moment at Hrist and smirked.

"I have something to tell you. We're at war with Artinia right now. We've already taken Eld Horn, Glass Dale and Gold Pine, with just tonight Sweet Water Harbor." Antoine gawked at her for a moment as he glanced at Hrist as if she was talking nonsense.

"You… you're at war with Artinia? Then… you… y-you've taken some of the towns already? But… King Teiyan… he'll send armies to defeat you… he'll send… he'll send those… those creatures… by the gods the princess might be in danger…" he spoke as the words stumbled out of his mouth in a haphazard fashion.

"Slow down, you mean the Halivast fort and the five thousand men sent to attack Gold Pine? That's two armies already wiped out to the man. Ghost's Ashes are also no longer among the living, Artinia's assassin's I believe." Antoine almost jumped back from shock. He looked up at Jorge who was still outside the cell.

"You… I can't believe it… but how? How… your army… is it comprised of… those?" he asked as he pointed at the leader of Bronze Team. She nodded.

"I'm the Clockwork Empress after all. My army is full of automatons… er… metal soldiers." It was the only way to explain the situation to him in a way he'd understand. He nodded slowly as if understanding what she was telling him. "What's this about a princess?" she asked, trying to dig for information. He sighed a gravelly sigh as he then cleared his throat.

"Princess Nia Erelius, one of two sisters to King Teiyan Erelius II. I… I rescued her from the imperial city once Teiyan… he…" Antoine almost couldn't speak as he balled his hand into a fist and slammed it against the bed, making Hrist step forward a second as if to protect her. The empress put her hand up to stop her as he looked to be almost about to cry.

"That mad man bred his older sister all to use her in a ritual, just as his father had once done to a mistress. Once the ritual was complete, he killed her. The problem was the summoning… was not what he wanted… he got the sister, Xaxara, summoned instead…" Selene held her breath as she was dumbfounded by what he was telling her. The king of Artinia was pure evil to do that to his older sister.

"This ritual, it didn't go as planned?" she asked quietly. He nodded as he rubbed his beard and tried to keep the tears from flowing.

"She didn't deserve that… when she gave birth to a daughter, he was outraged as the ritual was already halfway complete. It required a sacrifice, no matter what it was, even if it was his own body. He took out his anger on his sister with an axe, then… he sacrificed the newborn to summon Xaxara."

"Who is Xaxara? And she has a brother?" she asked.

"A demonic goddess that has had her following wane in the past few decades. He much rather would have had her brother who is much more loyal and more… violent… in hopes of using him to quell any uprisings as his enforcer. Xaxara is… deviant, manipulative and has a silver tongue. While her brother is straightforward a warrior and berserker that was worshipped by those who were driven by bloodlust and the fight, she was the embodiment of lust, sorcery and corruption."

 _So not just a demon, but an evil goddess… oh shit, we might actually have a fight on our hands…_

"This goddess, Xaxara, she's helping the fucked-up ruler of Artinia?"

"Against her will, yes. I do not have much information beyond she was chained up with imbued manacles to keep her locked away. That was all I needed to know, especially finding out… Princess Arilane was… was… damn him… damn him to the darkest pits of hell…" he replied.

 _Or not… very little following plus chained as a caged animal, still probably helping through knowledge or weird magic… definitely need to take this son of a bitch down… Xaxara might still be a threat, but a caged threat. I can deal with that._

"You said there was another princess though? Two in total?" She handed him a handkerchief which he rubbed his eyes with as the tears flowed. He must have cared about the wellbeing of that princess.

"Yes, um… she… when I found out about the ritual, I wasn't about to let him do anything to his younger sister, Lady Nia. I stole her from the palace and secreted her away in Silvinholm with some of my most loyal men guarding her. Last I heard, they had bought an estate to hide her in with some of the stolen treasury while I acted as a decoy. It might have worked, I do not know." His lips trembled as his eyes were red from crying in front of her. A small sniffle escaped as he rubbed the back of the cloth over his nose.

"So, there is hidden royalty? Is she like her brother or…?" Selene asked as she patted him on the shoulder.

"Of course not! They were both… rays of sunshine to all who laid eyes on them. I have no idea how such a vile pedigree could create such incredible women. In all my life, I have seen many a man be evil beyond contempt, barely to the point of sprouting horns from their forehead and snarling like beasts, the same being the line of Erelius. And yet, those two girls… their mother… it must not have traveled down the line of the ladies of the royal line." Selene committed this to memory as much as she could, slowly standing up.

"Are you planning to take Silvinholm?" he asked up at her as she glanced at Hrist.

"Yes, eventually. I'm trying to wrap the empire first beyond the Azaltos Mountains and down South. It might take awhile as each time we take a town or city we make sure the citizens are safe and secure, ready to be a part of my empire." He nodded in understanding.

"I can tell just by looking at you that you have what it takes that the Erelius line could never hope to be. Those… explosions… that was done by these metal men? Will that be done to Silvinholm?" he asked.

"Possibly. We have to take out the Artinian army stationed there. Any information you can provide? Any knowledge you'd be willing to share?" she asked him. He grabbed her hands and held them, with Hrist instinctively twitching and about to strike.

"Please, try and be diplomatic with them. Silvinholm is not what you expect of an Artinian city. The nobles, at least not all of them, they aren't completely connected to King Teiyan. They want a productive city to make more money, which is to say they don't always want slave labor. Well paid workers are hard workers in their eyes, at least most of them. It keeps the economy moving if they have money to spend, making the city productive. Some of them… I care not what you do those wretches, but please at least talk with them, they may join you without a single fight. Also, there is no army there."

"Ok, I'll try talking with them, but what do you mean no army? No guards or anything?"

"I mean to say they are mercenaries hired by the nobles to keep the peace. Crime is bad for business, so they hire their own city guards to control their sections. I am unsure how effective they are at their jobs though… there might be some criminal actions by the mercenaries themselves…" Falksworthy licked his lips as she motioned for Ethan to open a thermos and pour him a cup of clean water. He walked into the cell and handed it to him, who drank it quickly.

"Please… I know I have no right to ask of this, but would you do an old man a favor and check on the princess? I beseech you to look out for her, as I barely could do." Selene opened her mouth to say something, but nothing escaped, just a soft sigh.

"I'll… I've never seen her before, who would I be looking for? And aren't your soldiers looking out for her? She's… probably fine, I'm sure of it."

"Teiyan would not stop if he doesn't get what he wants. If even one hint appears for him to find, he will have his men investigate… her life could be in danger. Please, if you are heading to Silvinholm, he'll send some of his forces to look into rumors and intelligence" he begged her. She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. He was right, if they did anything, that put more pressure on the security force for the princess.

"Fine, how old is she, what does she look like. We'll check up on her, do a little reconnaissance, I can't guarantee we'll do anything, but we'll see about what's happening." He clenched his fist in accomplishment.

"Thank you, your majesty, I am so very grateful. She is no more than fifteen, with long blonde hair. She… tends to keep it in two long ponytails on the sides with blue bows, it's her favorite color. She tends to… she is quite meek given the state of the royal family. The estate… I…" he stopped as he tried to figure out what it looked like. "I'm sorry, I… I only know she is being protected in an estate they bought."

"Well, that's not a huge amount to go off of. The city is a big place and she's probably cooped up in the house… is there a symbol your men use, like a tattoo or something we can look for?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her ample chest. He pulled up the worn sleeve of his dirty shirt and showed her a tattoo on his wrist of a helmet with a sword on the back, two arrows and a shield half covering the helmet.

 _Yup, tattoo. So if some assassins come from Artinia looking for her, all they gotta do is look for the dudes with that on their arms. USE RINGS! AMULETS! SOMETHING YOU CAN TAKE OFF!_

"If you see this, they are from the 12th Legion, my best soldiers. No one could best them in combat."

 _Antoine, you haven't seen what my automatons can do, let alone myself or the Valkyrja…_

"Alright, we'll try and keep a lookout for them and track their movements. I cannot guarantee anything will come of it, but we'll do our best, alright?" he smiled up at her as his eyes sparkled.

"Bless you your majesty, bless you for humoring an old General and for taking care of his friend. I cannot thank you enough." The empress furrowed her brow with a small smirk crawling on her mouth.

"You were a General, so you must have experience in many battles like you had told me, right? The stories of your accomplishments in the tavern?" she asked. He looked a little confused.

"Yes, I mean, those are old war stories. Do you want to hear them again?"

"No, I mean, you have experience, real experience." He leaned back on the metal bed, trying to figure out what she was getting at.

"I'm no longer meant to be a General your majesty, there is no point in asking me if that is what you are thinking. I'm… I'm tired of fighting now, tired of seeing armies rush towards each other with weapons ready…" he told her as he sounded exhausted.

"I wasn't thinking of you being my General, I have two already, very fine Generals behind me, another just above us on the docks. I was going to ask if you could share your experiences as an instructor, in hopes that those students would turn away from following down that corrupt path. One of my Valkyrja is the head mistress of an Academy, we're looking for new instructors, teachers and professors of all arts, martial or otherwise. You would be a great boon to the next generation, I'll pay handsomely." He gawked as she told him this, looked at Hrist and blinked.

"You… you want me to… I… I don't know how much it would be worth, my experience, my training… there are many who could prove better at instilling common sense and teaching than me…"

"If there is one thing I've noticed, common sense isn't so common. How about it? Get you out of this cell and into a classroom with students willing to learn what not to do, how to act and stand tall, to right the wrongs they see? It's a good life, you'll be well taken care of, colleagues to talk to that are like minded, and you won't be considered a traitor in my empire" she asked. Silence consumed the cell for a minute as he thought and pulled on his mustache a little. A light chuckle escaped his lips as he gazed into her blue eyes.

"You have yourself a deal, your majesty." He slowly got off the bed and kneeled in front of her.

"You trust him?" Hrist asked.

"Yes, I got Asterion from him after all." She patted him gently on the shoulder to rise. He stood up and saluted her with his hand on his chest like lightning, showing his conviction and how he thought of her already. Ethan escorted him out of the cell with a clean blanket around his shoulders. The maiden watched as he walked out of the cell and slowly down the dungeon hallway. That man was the reason Aster was the way he was, why he was such an incredible steed.

"Perhaps it would be wise to let him see his old friend once more?" Hrist asked.

"Yeah, probably a good idea. Seeing him cry for a different reason would be alright." Selene walked out of the cell and stood in front of the one with the red-haired woman. The supposed criminal looked up at her from her bed and rolled over. The dev wrapped her fingers around the cell door and slowly pulled, the lock groaning and breaking open finally, startling the woman as she stared in awe.

"D… don't believe for even a second this means I'm a part of your empire! I'll never submit!" she snapped. Selene sighed and shook her head. As the woman had spoken, she was missing a few of her side teeth. In a world of magic that could heal, that seemed a little odd. There were probably no magicians or wizards that were in the city at all.

"Jorge, open the other cell doors and get an EW trooper in here to check on their loyalties. Any really nasty-" The woman in front of her rushed forward with a concealed shiv to attempt to stab at her. Before Hrist could even respond, Selene's hand shot out and snapped her wrist, grabbed her neck and twisted. It seemed so fluid as the woman just dangled there in her grip before being dropped on the ground.

"As I was saying, see to it that there aren't any other psychos in here, then get the ones that aren't back topside. I wanna know if there are any political prisoners here that we can get some intelligence off of. Orlo can help with that." Jorge acknowledged as she stepped out of the cell and went back upstairs away from the grungy dungeon.

"You knew she was going to attack you" Hrist stated as she followed behind her.

"Yup. I could pretty much tell she was put in there for a reason. Her clothes looked to have plenty of hidden pockets, so I assumed assassin or serial killer, maybe kleptomaniac. That's probably why she was there in the first place, probably killed someone that the pirates liked." They both continued up as Brynhildr stood on a dock and surveyed the harbor. There were multiple berths everywhere for large ships, but almost none of them could fit more than a Corvette from Selene's fleet. "This place is going to need a lot of work…" she sighed out as her eyes saw just how ramshackle the houses were. One strong storm and a good portion would collapse, some sitting on top of each other with stilts. There were ladders everywhere, with only a few roads. "Place should be ripped down and built back up, this is just… sheesh…"

Skuld jumped down from a building and landed safely just as the ceiling she was standing on collapsed. "How can these people decide to live here?" Hrist asked.

"Simple, good fishing, the populace built up too quick before they could get real housing ready. Probably not a whole lot of resources to gather due to no forests nearby to cut down, can't mine the mountains for stone as it looks like it could collapse down on them." The empress looked at the sheer facings of the mountains flanking and curving around the harbor. It wasn't a smooth cut out, but the whole place looked as if a meteor had struck a long time ago to create the crater, the water filling in after.

The dev ordered a helibot to pick up Antoine and bring him to the palace temporarily so she, and Skuld, could explain what would be needed from him at the academy and to allow him to rest in a guest room, be a little pampered for a bit. "Seriously, few roads, ladders everywhere… this has got to be fixed…" She headed towards the front of the city to the destroyed gate entrance and stopped. The citizens were watching her as they were being tended to by auto docs and counted, their information recorded for job documentation, experience and where their home was.

That was when she used Molecular Reformation to rip apart a healthy chunk of the nearby "city block" and built up the starting foundation of a wooden apartment complex. The people watched in awe at her power as the previous homes were destroyed, barely considered huts, and turned into real places to live in. At first there were a few people that were scared as she was destroying some of their homes, but then saw the new living conditions she had built to replace it.

That was when the praying started.

"This gets old quick, but I honestly don't give a fuck anymore…" Selene grumbled out as she stared at the stars with her mouth agape in annoyance. Too many people thought she was a goddess, probably prayed to her secretly behind her back anyways, and more than likely held mass with an idol in her image. "Juliet, please tell me you aren't busy somewhere else" she asked over coms to her head of construction.

"I'm here ma'am, I believe we just finished with the railroad to Eld Horn, do you need us to come to Sweet Water?" the automaton asked.

"Yes please. I'm almost positive you will hate this place. Sorry."

"That bad? What am I looking at fixing?"

"The whole damned city. I'm seriously not joking." Juliet sounded as if she was sucking air through imaginary teeth.

"Ooh, that bad huh?"

"Yes. Mind the people praying in the streets… see about getting a church built to get them out of the way…" the dev grumbled out in her head.

"Will do ma'am. Will be there in a little bit." The coms swapped to Romeo to request he get to building the shipyard here. Both Romeo and Juliet would work on mining out a large tunnel between the cove and the harbor to transfer supplies and provide quick access back and forth through the Azaltos Mountains.

"We're currently building a FOB after clearing the ruins of Halivast Fort. Do you want us to stop and come over right now?" Romeo asked. Selene took a deep breath and thought for a moment.

"No, finish the FOB and then prioritize the shipyard after. It'll give Juliet a chance to get the residential districts rebuilt and lay the ground lines."

"Understood, we'll head over as soon as we've finished up here." The coms ended as she watched the water calming down with her own fleet staying at a decent distance from the inner harbor. Having a FOB near Eld Horn would allow QRFs to move along the mountain range and protect both Sweet Water and Eld Horn, despite both having their own security forces. She couldn't be too careful, couldn't be to protective.

"Alright, we're done here until tomorrow. I'm gonna hate this, but I'll meet with the mayor again and hash out the laws and rules, taxes and requirements." The empress walked to the waiting helibot and got in, with Hrist and her Honor Guard in tow. Skuld and Brynhildr came in just as it was about to lift off, the doors popping open temporarily as they strapped in. The more religious of the people watched it ascend and leave, still praying as the helibot continued over the mountain range and headed back to the castle, the air fleet right behind them. Despite being able to land on _Majesty's Grace_ and having it do a short teleport jump, she needed the time to think while they flew. The whole trip took an hour and a half.

This would be the farthest she was willing to use a helibot from now on, excluding the assault on the Ghost's Ashes fort before. If the trip took more than two hours, the air fleet would be a layaway station to go to.

"I'm going to have to go to Silvinholm it seems…" she muttered out as Hrist gazed at her.

"I'll go with you" the battle maiden replied.

"No, I need you to continue taking Puldoros Orchards and Werelosil Town. We need that fruit for Eld Horn, and Werelosil… I found out from Giles they breed horses." Hrist was about to object, but Selene put up an open hand.

"Hrist, you're my General. I trust you to take control of the situation without me being there. I can handle things on my own in Silvinholm, please… trust me. I'm just going to go scout around a little, nothing fancy. I'll be back before you know it. I won't start anything, just get names of nobility, their houses and check the market. I might be able to find the Estate the princess is hiding away in." Brynhildr looked at her.

"You could check on the adventurer's guild there as well, see how strong the people really are in Artinia." Selene wore a facial shrug as she nodded in agreement.

"That might be a good idea, I could get a feel for how strong they really are. So far, we've been fighting le… er… um… low strength, weak soldiers that prey on the people. There might be a chance in how those adventurers treat people, given they have to take quests." The whole visit wouldn't be for a few days, as she wanted to make sure Sweet Water was up and running as part of the empire and give her a chance to get a decent disguise ready. It also would allow her to finally finish crafting Epic quality tier armor.

"Take Bronze Team at least with you, or… Bryn, go with her" Hrist said as she pointed towards the empress. Selene chuckled at her worrying about her safety. She really cared about her wellbeing.

"Fine, fine, Bryn, you want to come with me? Could see what the market has to offer, maybe pick up some recipes for liquor along the way." The blonde-haired woman crossed her arms over her chest and nodded.

"I'd be happy to. We'll see just how impressive this trade city is supposed to be" Bryn laughed out. The blond-haired woman was actually a pleasure to be around, very social. The dev nodded and worked on her plan. Hrist was annoyed she couldn't go with her, but duty called, and she was going to obey, begrudgingly. Skuld now had a new instructor to help at the academy, probably with some knowledge of who else to bring into the fold as well. He might have some Lieutenants or Sergeants to help with the course work, maybe know some wizards or magicians to teach basic magic, even some sages. Not everyone in power was as corrupt as the nobility, there had to be plenty of people that were decent folk just trying to live their lives.

"Hrist, try not to damage the ranches or stables too much in Werelosil. We need more Pegasus" the empress said with a coy smile. The maiden closed her eyes and nodded.

"I have to make sure my sisters finally have mounts. This will be a defining moment. I will inspect them carefully Bryn, you have my word." While they talked about the next few steps in front of them, Selene checked her research and spells to be learned. She finally got **[Pocket Dimension]** as one of the spells, creating a temporary or even a permanent place to hide in. If it was permanent, she could store a building or even an entire army to suddenly pop into existence at will or stay in herself instead of being on her flagship. Her capability to be anywhere now and not worry about heading directly to the castle or _Majesty's Grace_ helped quite a bit, with absolutely no need to attempt to stay at an inn near Silvinholm. In the future it probably would be a good idea to build some mansions in Sweet Water, probably Silvinholm once it was under her control.

The future seemed to be coming towards her at an ever-increasing speed as more and more of the land was brought under her rule. The only thing she felt like she was going to have to tackle was the religion that was definitely building around her. There would have to be laws set in place so they don't attempt sacrifices or harm those who do not have the same faith. Wars had been fought on Earth over religions, she didn't want the same to be done in her empire.

Tier 4 armor anti-magic film had finished being researched, causing most tier 4 Yggdrasil magic to simply not work once fired at herself or automatons. It might be possible to create an anti-magic field emitter for AOE immunity, fizzling out spells before they could even be cast, a "lockdown" emitter as it were. Class 2 shields were also completed, being able to stand up to tank shells without much issue.

The way the shielding system worked wasn't like what was seen in sci fi, there was no percentage of damage before the fields would collapse. The shield either protected against the damage or it didn't, with bleed through only happening due to stronger attacks pushing through the field. Class 1 could stop small arms, with the new class allowing heavy arms to be protected against such as vehicles or mounted weapons. Class 3 would probably stop anything that was not a higher-powered weapon, such as a laser or railgun. Given no one on the planet had them besides her, it was a sure bet the Class 3 shields would stop just about anything. That wouldn't stop her from researching higher class levels or stronger defenses, however. The class of shields seemed to go up to at least ten, maybe even higher.

The helibot landed with the ladies climbing out and walking to the palace entrance. As they headed in and went to the dining room for a late dinner, Hrist stopped Selene for a second.

"If you are going to Silvinholm, you should… we… we should spar tomorrow. You have no idea if someone might come up behind you and all you have been doing is exercising." The dev chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Bryn will be with me to watch my back. But, yeah, sure, we'll spar tomorrow. I uh… with or without armor?" she asked. Hrist cocked her head back a little.

"Without armor normally, that is what sparring usually entails. Do you want to do it with armor on?" The empress nodded in understanding and looked away.

 _Hopefully the enhancement of my muscles and speed via psionics is going to be enough to keep up with her without armor… crap, I better sneak in some potions and elixirs to be on the safe side…_

"Right, of course… no armor… like it normally is… heh heh…" they continued into the dining room to eat a late dinner. Selene was a little worried, but it wasn't as if Hrist wouldn't hold back, as it wasn't a battle to the death this time. She'd be too afraid of really hurting her empress now.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A man ran through the streets wearing a hooded cloak, checking completely around him and peering at shadows suspiciously as he made his way through twisted passageway of Silvinholm. As he reached one door to a large estate that looked to be an old townhouse, he knocked on the door in a certain pattern. The eye slot opened as another man on the other side looked at him. The slot closed as the door opened, with the hooded figure entering and taking off his backpack then removing his cloak.

"I bought as much as I could get under short notice, sorry" he said as he opened the bag and pulled out vegetables.

"You did good lad. The princess will be fine with that" the door man responded as he looked over the ingredients he brought, his bald head gleaming from the lamp just above his head. The bag man picked up the backpack and brought it to the kitchen where a young woman, barely mid-teens, stood at a pot stirring. Her long golden blonde hair flowed down her back with two draping ponytails with blue bows holding them up to accentuate. Her clothes, while elegant, weren't as royal as it should have been.

"Your highness, I brought the things you requested" he said as he put the pack on the counter and started to unload it.

"Ah, u-um, Gilford, t-thank you. This… t-this should do nicely" she stuttered out in a timid and meek voice. The young man smiled bashfully as he pulled out the last of the vegetables and picked up a knife to help chop them up. Gilford had been a Lieutenant in the 12th Legion, barely reaching that rank not because of his combat skill, but because he was just really good at logistics and memorizing things. General Antoine Falksworthy had given the rank himself. He was also very loyal, albeit known to have a crush on the princess.

"T-thank you for helping me… um… get the stew ready" she said as he nodded.

"It is my pleasure my lady, I'm happy to serve in any way I can." The fact the princess was cooking meant they didn't have a chef available, hiding as they were. Silvinholm was the only place they felt they could disappear, despite having to be careful if anyone saw her. The princess, even though she wasn't a prisoner, was held captive in the house, never allowed outside as someone would recognize her. The mansion would be her jail cell, pretty as it was, like a gilded cage.

Once the stew was prepared, twenty men and two women, one of which was a magician with the second being another guard, sat down with her at the head of the table in the dining room, including Gilford. They waited for the commander, Ralos Alfinteim, to test the food and make sure there wasn't anything that could hurt the princess. She was the one who cooked it, but there was no guarantee the ingredients weren't poisoned beforehand. Once he deemed it worthy, Nia took the first bite before the others started eating.

"Gilford, I need to have a quick word with you for a moment" Ralos said over the table as Gilford looked up from his stew. He felt as if he might have done something wrong.

"Yes sir." They both excused themselves from the table temporarily as the men left the room.

"Did you see anyone follow you?" the commander asked as he leaned against the wall.

"I checked very carefully, no one was nearby. Is something the matter sir?" Gilford asked quietly. Ralos looked into the dining room at the princess, at his men for a moment and licked his lips to wet them then sighed.

"I've gotten word that the king's men are searching for her. There's no guarantee they won't find this place, we need to be ready soon if we are to get her out of here." Gil gawked at his commander as if he never expected this to happen.

"I thought the main army never entered Silvinholm, there was no need with all the mercenaries about."

"Lieutenant, do you not realize they might be under disguise?" Ralos said through gritted teeth. "The market shop keeps might be them for all we know! We may… may need to get her out of the city eventually, it's no longer safe here. It might be possible the nobility has caught wind of her hiding away and come in hopes of receiving some sort of reward."

"Where could we go? None of the towns would have a place to hide her, and we cannot trust the nobility, there is no way we could get her away without someone noticing sir." Commander Alfinteim looked into the dining room again and saw the princess laugh at something one of the guards said to cheer her up. Her smile brightened up the room instantly.

"Given a week's time, we'll be ready. I'm pretty sure we can get a stage coach, that should get us away in the dead of night. Once out of the city we'll… we'll… there's a rumor, I do not know if it's true but… there is an empire in the West that has taken many a town so far from Artinia, treats the people well. I do not know if it is true, but it's the only choice."

"One week's time? Are you sure sir?"

"It's our only option. If he captures her, if the king gets his hands on his younger sister… we will have failed our General."

"Only if we get caught" a voice was heard behind them as a woman with a pink frayed and messy bob cut hairstyle walked down the stairs from the second floor, wearing a white poet shirt and brazier combined with brown leather pants and black leather boots laced up. A cutlass was hanging from her waist with a dagger on the brown leather belt with multiple pouches attached. As she came into full view, her pink hair could be seen with three stripes of her bangs colored red, two hanging from the back of her head blue, and to the side of her right ear one stripe of green. Her eyes shown emerald green as she walked up to the men, the glint of her three earrings in both ears popping from the light above her.

"Erilyn, don't do that" Ralos snapped quietly.

"I thought we were all supposed to be hiding? Can't I step out of the shadows once in a while?" she asked with a smirk on her red lips.

"Admiral" Gilford stated as he saluted.

"My father was an Admiral Gil, I'm just a glorified privateer now that my name is cast as a traitor."

"Yet you hold the title under her highness's power. There's no discussing it anymore. Now, how much did you just overhear?" Ralos said.

"Enough to know we need to leave. You really think we'll be able to get Lady Nia out of here without anyone spotting us?"

"It's the only way to keep her safe."

"Or, you could wait until I have a chance to check with some friends of mine to secret her away through the underground tunnels." Ralos and Gilford looked at each other.

"Those are just fairy tales, they don't really exist" Ralos quipped.

"Says someone who hasn't seen them. I myself have only found entrances, never really mapped them out so I can't say for sure what I found. However… it is much safer than going by road." The commander looked at the ground and sniffed with his hands on his hips.

"How long?" he asked.

"Give me two weeks and they'll have everything prepared I pretty sure. I just have to get in contact."

"Two weeks? We could be dead by then! And you know they're trustworthy? This is the princess after all, they might backstab us."

"If you travel by road, the guards at the gates certainly will do that for a reward immediately. The choice is obviously yours given you are in charge of her protection." Ralos glanced at Gilford and sighed.

"Alright… for her highness's safety, we'll… do it. Make sure they only know we are being smuggled out, not who they are smuggling out."

"You don't give me enough credit Ralos, this isn't the first time I've had to do this. Hell, I remember the first time was in a crate, I was naked with two-"

"We don't need the details. Just see if these friends of yours can help us." Erilyn smiled. She had just as much to lose as they did. She was also the only one who knew how to command a ship or work the sails in their group.

Fate seemed to be twisting in odd ways, some for the better, some for the worse. Only time would tell if it was for the worse for these people.


	22. Ch 21 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Empress

_**4 am, 11th, November**_

Selene woke up to Blue falling on the ground from the bed as he got up and looked around. He jumped back onto the covers and looked at her. "Poor boy. Hope it was a nice dream before that." She gave him a pat as Ash woke up and looked at her from a lying position. She was groggy as they had barely gotten to bed at 11 pm the day before. The dev had five hours of sleep under her belt.

As she made an audible sniff to take a deep breath, she realized there were at least a few more hours to rest. As she tried to drift back to sleep, with Luna curled up on the pillow next to her, almost twice the size of Blue now, her mind seemed to wander in hopes of jumping into a new dream. Her thoughts drifted from different ideas and seeing Silvinholm for the first time, what would it be like and what their levels would be if she looked at people. Then her mind drifted to the adventurer's guild and if they would have any information on the nobility or how the city worked.

The dev barely reached the start of a dream, just the start of REM before her eyes shot open with a big idea popping up. She had created the magnifying glass scanner to detect levels and stats that she integrated into her Hud. Was there someone else out there that could detect hers, at least on a basic premise? They might not be able to see her level or her stats, but it might be the same way as seeing thermal with NVT goggles, a weird heat blob in the shape of a person. For all she knew, someone could see hers as a massive sun blinding to them. If they were going to travel to Silvinholm, near an adventurer's guild, she'd need to figure out how to block that or conceal her level.

Hrist seemed to somehow screw with her scanner, despite it probably being far more advanced in nature than some ability someone had. Her level still showed level 100, even though she was sure her power was more along the lines of 300-400 or even higher. She also was sure the Valkyrja were probably gaining levels as they adapted to their new lives, especially with the fight with the abomination before. If she gained 15 levels, it stood to reason they gained something as well. One of the few reasons she might be stronger was probably the very diverse range of features she had to help her out, magic, psionics, custom armor, a wide selection of consumables and advanced tactics and skills with some basic knowledge of combat from modern Earth, albeit from watching action movies and shows. Drinking stat and skill potions to exceed her level helped too, making her level 140 not mean much anymore.

Regardless of wanting to get back to sleep and needing to meet with the mayor of Sweet Water later, that thought rattled around in her head the entire time. Selene rolled on her back and stared at the top of her covered bed, the engraving and etching of the wood showing machinery and buildings along the inner mantling.

 _Damn it, I need more sleep… but this might be a problem… what if I conceal myself with psionics? Telepathy is something I don't want to work on based off the lewd thoughts just about everyone had… and I really don't want to know why the mayor of Sweet Water kept staring at my chest… I could ask Hrist later in the morning how she concealed her true strength, that's_ if _she conceals her strength… for all I know the scanner just doesn't work on a semi-celestial being…_

She sighed without realizing it, with Ash nuzzling her hand. The empress gave her a pat as Blue started to go back to sleep, with Luna out like a light the entire time. Although still tired, the dev opened her character sheet and inventory to get the recipe list available, checking for any potions or consumables that might allow concealment of her level or stats. Sadly, there was nothing available, as it wasn't exactly a normal thing for games to want to hide your level, instead promoting it in hopes a player would get into more groups, raids and show off their capabilities.

 _I wonder if I can research a new ingredient to make an elixir that's like invisibility, but for only my stats and level… hide my power so to speak…_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Kevin MacLeod – Scheming Weasel (Faster Version))**_

There was always the chance of crafting a perk with a built computer that would conceal her power while wearing certain armor. It was at least an option to consider for her. Selene rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleep grit at the corners and crafted a computer, nothing fancy, then got up and out of bed to pull it out and plug it in. As it booted up, she typed in word processor the perk she hoped would work, to allow her to change what was shown to others while wearing a certain type of armor. She stopped at that moment as she wondered what armor it would be. Connecting it to only a set of armor would waste it if she ever needed to change, but attaching it to a type, such as only a sword or boots would work.

Ash got off the bed and sat next to her, with Blue watching as his head lay on his paws. In her inventory, Epic quality tier was just about ready to be made, with the final Rare piece of equipment completed. The empress sacrificed the one hundred pieces, then crafted a circlet for the armor set. Each piece of the headwear was created individually, with enchantments and modifications placed on them to combine into something stronger. Afterwards, she crafted some invisibility dye from the Chemistry Bench and Writing Desk, inscribing special runes that disappeared along the edge of the circlet until the ritual was complete. The whole thing disappeared when worn and couldn't really be felt so that she could scratch her head or tie her hair in a ponytail or braid, unless she went into combat. Once that happened, the circlet would "activate" and act as a normal helmet, though still invisible.

Once that piece was completed, it was 5 am. "Jeeves, could you please bring me some coffee?" she asked over her coms.

"Right away madam." She started to type in for the perk that it would work while wearing that circlet. If someone ever, through some unknown means, managed to see the circlet, it would look like some standard armor, nothing royal. Under the hood, it was still Epic quality tier with high end Carbyne material along with the modifications. The rest of the armor set would look ordinary as well, probably on par with Professional quality tier in design to look like a high-end adventurer or mercenary to blend in. Once she set the armor pieces into production for the rest of the day, she tested the new perk that would destroy the computer in the process. At least now computers would create one hundred percent perks instead of the fifty percent she was previously working with.

As Selene crossed her fingers and hit the save button, read the words out and focused on it being changed into a perk, the computer started to crumple and implode in on itself, short circuiting the entire time. Then, just as the tomes would do, it dissolved. She checked her character sheet, but it still showed level 140, even with the circlet placed on her head now. However, there was a new tab button she could focus on that once she concentrated, gave her hundreds of slide bars that she could raise to the maximum or minimum. Maximum was what she was at now, but minimum seemed to allow her to show as low as level 1. Thankfully, it was just for show, as it didn't just drop her stats to barely able to lift her own luggage.

 _Woo! Now people can think of me as a level 20 adventurer or convoy guard… oh wait… Bryn might be in trouble… crap… well I can make her some custom armor as well to hide her power as well… I hope… please work on a Valkyrja…_

The alternative would be researching the new potion and hoping it doesn't cause a more substantial effect, like actually dropping levels now that she thought about it. Another circlet was put into production for her partner in crime for the trip. Jeeves came in with a wheeled cart, a pot of coffee ready along with an early breakfast just in case. The battle maids were on the drawing board to assist him, they just weren't finished in design other than they would wear French maid outfits heavily modified. All of her Supers were probably going to get some significant upgrades in the future, Jeeves included.

"Your coffee madam" he said as he poured her a cup and poured cream in with two spoonsful of sugar, just the way she wanted it.

"Thank you, Jeeves." The empress picked up the cup and took a sip as she built a new computer to create a new perk to mirror the previous one, but this time with one change. It would take effect on the armor worn by who she nominated as her bodyguard, which was Brynhildr for the trip. It wasn't certain that it would work, as the effect would technically be on another person and not herself. The computer completed fairly quickly. As she plugged it in and Jeeves left the bedroom to get started on the main breakfast for the others, Selene typed up the next perk and saved. She didn't know what she would pray to, but she begged for it to work, nonetheless.

By 6 am, Hrist was awake and just about to go see Selene to spar. Just as she knocked on the bedroom door, the Honor Guard flanking the sides, there was a sound of something happening inside. Hrist flung the doors open and looked around, with Selene just sitting on her bed and looking at her. "Are you… alright? I thought I heard something…" she asked as the battle maiden surveyed the room.

"I'm fine, just a little morning magic, that's all." The empress smiled and blinked, happy that her efforts weren't in vain for the perk. However, whomever wore that new circlet and labeled as her bodyguard in her Hud could have a second slider tab used on them. They'd never notice the effect, other than someone would see them as barely capable of defending themselves, not realizing that they were fighting a bringer of the slain.

Hrist stood there for a second, still suspicious, then calmed down. "I take it you want to spar today?" The empress asked. The raven-haired woman averted her gaze as she nodded. "Ok, welp, guess I'm not going to get as much sleep as I thought I was." The battle maiden stared at her with a worried facial expression.

"Did I wake you? I apologize if I-"

"No, you didn't, I've been awake for the past couple of hours, don't worry. Just couldn't really continue once some ideas popped into my head." Selene took a deep breath and stood up, her nightgown flowing as she walked to her closet and opened it, then walked inside. The closet was almost the same size as her bedroom, with plenty of shelf space for shoes, clothes and headwear. Belts were hanging on a mobile, dresses and blouses on hangers, all very high quality. The dev pulled a set of work out clothes, mainly for yoga, then put on some elbow and knee pads along with cargo pants. Hrist had turned around to give her some privacy, not realizing that an auto foldout screen came out from the side of the closet as a precautionary measure. Selene had no idea that there was a very near bloody nose moment from Hrist as she cast thoughts from her mind, one involving an apron.

"Ok, let's see how well I stack up against you sparring. Remember, just sparring ok?" The dev said as she brought her pointer finger up and smirked.

"T-there would be nothing else other than sparring, w-what would make you think… t-think otherwise?" Hrist replied, desperately trying not to have a red face.

"I'm just saying, take it easy, don't need to throw punches that cleave mountains." The battle maiden calmed down a little at that.

"Ah, yes, of course. We don't want to destroy the castle. Right." She felt relieved that was what the empress meant.

They both walked out of the room and headed for the elevator. The entire way was quiet as they got in, lowered to the bottom floor and headed outside to the arena. "Now, how do you wish to start?" Hrist asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you wish to spar with sword and shield, spear, bow and arrow or axe?" Selene blinked and cocked her head back.

"No unarmed?" she asked. Hrist tilted her head and glared at her.

"No one fights unarmed when their opponent is armed, you may as well lay down and die."

 _Oh, how wrong you are Hrist… that might be how middle ages fought, but not me… Let's see if I can do this right instead of flopping on my face…_

Hrist picked up a boring steel sword and shield for the sparring match, with Selene doing the same. The battle maiden then picked up a spear and stabbed it next to herself in the dirt since the dev had not stated what was not allowed to be used. The empress didn't touch the spear at that moment. The Valkyrja smirked, thinking she was handicapping herself if she didn't have a spear available.

"Alright, we start at the count of five. One, two, three, four" Selene counted off as Hrist got ready to strike. "Five." The raven-haired woman bolted for her across the arena, creating three shock waves behind her to close the distance, just like the dev used to do with Ethan. It was standard now for getting within range of her enemy for anything melee related. With psionics, while her stats weren't much higher, she could push close to hypersonic now; with new armor, that could probably push well past the hypersonic barrier.

The empress deflected and tried to strike back against her abdomen, but Hrist was ready and brought up her shield. Selene pushed her back a little as the maiden attempted to foot sweep her legs out from under her but failed as she backflipped. That gave the General a chance to lunge as she finished her foot sweep and come at her again. The dev was pushed onto the defensive, losing a little ground. As Hrist shield bashed her away, she lost her footing and backed up, moving into a controlled tumble that nearly made her lose the shield.

"You're being a little sloppy, are you feeling alright? Your power seems… off…" Hrist commented.

 _Oh shit! I forgot to take the circlet off! I'm probably like a level 50 or something in her eyes! Wait… she can sense it?! Oh right, Sigrun could sense it too…_

"I'm fine, good push though. I won't make the same mistake a second time." The battle maiden got prepared for a counter as Selene brought up her shield for another strike, deflected it, and struck the pommel of her sword against the back of Hrist's knee. She stumbled and backed off, with the dev grinning a little. "Don't lose your balance just yet." The maiden looked amused, a gleam in her eye and a slight grin on her face. It was actually fun.

The swords clashed faster and faster, with Hrist finding it a little more difficult to parry or block the strikes, both swords having slight damage on the blades due to the strength of both women. Selene's attacks were a lot faster now, requiring judicious use of her shield. Unfortunately, one quick move knocked the dev's sword from her hand in a twist. Hrist wasn't going to stop until she put her hands up in surrender or until she knew her sword was ready for a killing blow. The empress blocked another attack and then another, until a quick throw of the spear shattered the small wall she was using on her arm.

"I'm surprised. Are you letting me win? Please don't do that, this needs to be fair. Pick up the spear." Selene laughed a little at that.

"Wouldn't dream of it." The dev didn't touch the spear. The battle maiden looked confused at her, waited for a few moments as if she was pondering what her game was. As Hrist lunged again, with no defense for the empress to use, she dodged and grabbed her arm, pressed on the tendons of her wrist, and made her drop the sword. She then twisted and brought her arm up behind the maiden's back. It was doubtful the steel would have even harmed the dev given her Natural Armor stat or her Biomimetic Barrier.

Hrist tried to kick up behind to knock Selene away, but she jumped up and balanced herself on the Valkyrja's back while still holding her arm. "Give up?" she asked as the General stumbled a few feet, trying to pull her right arm away.

"I…" she tried to pull, but Selene's hold was strong. She couldn't exert enough strength to win this. "Yield…" Selene let go and leapt off her back, with Hrist turning around and staring at her. "What was that? You… did something to my wrist…" she asked as her blue eyes dropped to her hand and flexed her fingers.

"You said unarmed didn't work against someone who is armed. That's simply not true. You want to try straight fists? No weapons" the empress chuckled out as the Valkyrja gazed at her in confusion, her brow knitted together as she tried to figure out how that was even possible. Not once did anyone she had ever fought done something like that. As she dropped the shield and kicked it away, they both brought up their hands ready to fight and wrestle. Oddly, while Hrist brought up her hands in fists, Selene kept her hands open and loose as if to grapple and throw. That was going to be her mistake in the General's eyes.

Hrist took a few swings at her, nothing amazing, just testing her movement and reflexes. Selene was almost dancing, her feet moving constantly as she seemed to be hopping. Almost as if on cue, once the Valkyrja took one final swing, the empress changed her stance instantly, going from open hands to closed fists and kicked high, knocking the raven-haired woman backwards and rolling. She slid a little and got back on her feet, recovering quickly. Her empress had just swapped styles mid movement; this was throwing her off completely as she had no idea how many different ways the dev could fight without a weapon in her hand.

As the Valkyrja came up for a fast tackle and went for her legs, not her waist, Selene nearly fell but used the movement to rock her leg over Hrist's head and bring her into a full leg nelson. "Yield?" as they both dropped to the ground, with the empress doing her best to keep a loose leg hold on her neck for fear of harming her during the fall. Hrist slapped the ground as the auburn-haired women let go and rolled away.

"Damn it! How in Hel are you doing that?!" she snapped at her majesty as she got up and rubbed her neck a little. Selene cast a quick **[Light Heal]** on it to remove any chances of a bruise.

"Martial Arts. I'm using eight points of contact and pressure points. Your neck, your joints, easily wounded. You don't always have to throw punches or kicks, but those help too. I basically used your own body against you." The Valkyrja blinked at her in surprise and confusion, her mouth gawking open.

"You never want to be unarmed though! A sword will cut through your hand just as easily if you aren't careful! You can't parry a blade with your fingers!"

"Who says? If you time it right, you can catch a blade with your bare hands, catch the hand on the handle, the wrist, your entire arm is just another place to hit instead of going for the weapon. Here." Selene picked up a wooden sword and motioned for her General to do the same. As Hrist picked up one, the dev motioned for the much taller woman to slowly attack her. The Valkyrja slowly brought her arm down, with the empress slowly blocking with her own sword, then twisting and sliding down the blade to the cross guard, letting go of her own sword and grabbing her wrist. "Ok, now I'm going to slowly twist a little, let me know once it starts to hurt, sorry about this." Her hand twisted the battle maiden's wrist slowly until Hrist winced and warned her. The hand couldn't hold onto the sword anymore and let go.

"I just disabled you. Honestly your whole body is one giant weapon, the sword is just able to cut better while you bludgeon or push the right buttons on someone's body."

"Push… someone's… buttons?" Hrist asked.

"Yeah. There are pressure points that I… would rather not use against you… I uh… I dunno if I can really reverse the effects very well just yet... I'd rather not cut off blood flow to your brain or anything…" Selene explained as she scratched her nose and looked away in embarrassment. It was surprising that Hrist didn't have any real experience in Martial Arts combat. From what she knew, boxing was a normal thing along with wrestling in the middle ages but fighting in a certain movement style was fairly rare unless it was an Asian or Latino territory. Kalari was considered the oldest martial arts form dating back to India in the 3rd century BCE. France used Savate, a form of boxing, but beyond that it was fisticuffs and kicking things.

"How do you do this? I mean it, please explain" Hrist asked her. Her General was, while not outright begging for it, wanting to learn some of the movements.

"Well, here…" they spent the next hour going through the motions as Hrist learned some basic holds, throws and counters from multiple different fighting styles. While it wasn't in depth, it drastically increased how well she could fight with a sword and shield beyond wrestling. Once they were finished, they sparred one more time, however the battle maiden had to temporarily keep her face hidden due to glowing beet red as Selene helped put her arms and legs in the right stances, touching her along the way.

As they fought one more time, they came to a draw, with Hrist not able to overtake her empress, but the dev couldn't overtake her. They were locked in a double hold move together.

"I see you two have already gotten into the thick of it" Skuld asked as she walked towards them with two cups of water. They both immediately let go of each other as Selene got up and thanked the head mistress for the cup. Hrist accepted the other cup as Skuld seemed to be beaming at them.

"I thought you went back to the academy last night?" Selene asked.

"I did, but I was wondering if Jeeves might be able to create some uniforms for the new students. I somehow have more than five now, nine to be exact. They show promise at least, some are fairly respectful, others…"

"Troublemakers?" The dev asked. Skuld nodded slightly. "You aren't disciplining them with corporal punishment, are you?"

"Absolutely not! I would never do that. You do not teach a dog how to lay down by hitting it, you do not teach a child by starving them until they learn. I… provided… incentives… rewards… if they reach a certain goal, they are provided luxuries…" Skuld replied.

"Wait, luxuries. Like… wait, are the student's bedrooms sparse right now? I could have sworn we made sure they were furnished well" Selene asked.

"Oh, not that way. They are provided chances to receive extra rewards, such as desserts at the… um… café…teria? Yes, there. Also, chances to go to the towns for special events such as theatre or festivals."

"What happens if the festival happens while you expect them to take an exam per an instructor?"

"They take it at another time. They are provided tokens they can spend for those luxuries." Selene nodded in understanding as she gave Skuld a facial shrug.

"Ok, that sounds like an incentive to do well. I guess if they don't do well, you restrict them?"

"We would warn them to stop doing what they are doing. If they continue to do poorly in their studies, we would have no choice but to expel them from the academy."

"Ah, I can… kind of understand that… maybe I can get some automaton tutors as back up in case you have the problem students not doing well" The empress offered.

"That would be helpful, thank you, but I would like to keep those stashed away until needed." Selene shrugged. It was her academy; despite it being her empire, she wanted Skuld to feel she had full control over her student's education. Regardless of assistance, she wanted to make sure she wasn't interfering and telling her what to do too much unless what Skuld had planned might be detrimental.

"What happens if a student does exceptionally well?" Hrist piped up. Skuld looked at her sister and seemed to be fidgeting with a little blush appearing on her cheeks.

"I was… um… hoping that her majesty would help with that…" The empress looked between the two battle maidens.

"What, like have an empire paid shopping spree or something?"

"They… wanted to know if you might throw any parties or… balls, if they might be able to attend them." The brunette felt a little embarrassed.

"Well… I mean… if they're doing well, I don't know if that's a really special event, I won't be throwing anything amazing until a little later, but… wait, did anyone of them have specifics for the party?" Skuld averted her gaze.

"They… wanted to have a meal with you in some regard…"

"They want a date. Not happening" she said with a half-lidded gaze and a frown on her lips.

"A… date?"

"Courting. I'm not interested. Tell them if they get good merits and great scores on their tests and schoolwork, we'll provide a paid shopping trip, maybe provide an invitation to a ball or something. I'm not here to be used like a pop idol." Skuld nodded up and down very quickly in agreement, though she had no idea what a pop idol was. People couldn't buy tickets just to see her in the palace.

"I'll let them know immediately, sorry if that annoyed you."

"It… well, it's not your fault, but no way in hell am I going to giggle and bat my eyelashes because they got an A on their exams. That's not how my empire or myself works. Don't worry, we'll figure some other rewards along the way, there's plenty of time to work a merit system up. Involving the student's uniforms… well, lemme see. Jeeves can't make large volume, he isn't here for that." Despite Selene calmly explaining that they couldn't treat her like some heart to be won, Hrist was about to storm off to the academy and slay those who wanted that reward, sweeping through the students who wanted to show off in the empress's eyes like a divine wind. "Is there a problem Hrist?" the dev asked as she noticed how livid she looked. There was almost visible steam coming out of her ears before she realized she was be stared at by the empress.

"Oh, uh… nothing, nothing at all. It's good that you are stopping them from believing they can attempt to drag you around like some toy. You are the Clockwork Empress, not some random maiden in a town to woo." Selene nodded in agreement and continued to talk to Skuld. Hrist was already scheming if any of them attempted to get close to the auburn-haired woman.

Selene checked her inventory and made sure she had some sewing stations ready, then quickly manufactured some Uncommon uniforms in grey for the academy. There were no stat boosts or anything, just straight clothing for the students to wear. "Skirts for the girls?" she asked. Skuld nodded. Due to the lower quality, they were pumped out fairly quickly in huge numbers, allowing her to pull them from her inventory and have some civilian model automatons load them into some cargo trucks. Not everything needed to be in APCs for her now, there were non-military vehicles that were stored away for regular things as of yesterday. The deuce and a half was packed to the top and had a canvas top over the back, ready to bring the uniforms up to the academy with newly upgraded road and railway.

"Let me know if we need to send more ok?" Skuld nodded and thanked her, gave her a hug which made Hrist jump almost instinctively, but managed to stop herself as it was just her sister. Afterwards, the three had some tea inside while Skuld explained what was going on. Antoine came out from his guest room and was invited into the tea room for breakfast.

"I never in my wildest dreams would have thought you were an empress when I sold you Asterion" he chuckled out as he looked at the molding in the room.

"I wasn't always an empress Toni. I needed Aster back then desperately. Now, he gets to be pampered and fly around with Hrist a lot." Luna trotted in and sat next to Selene, who gave her a pat and fed her a little sausage. "No more ok? Your breakfast is coming." Antoine was surprised at how big the little wolf at become now. Last he saw the white fluff ball was able to fit in Selene's backpack.

"I see. Well, there have been epic tales before of rags to riches, sometimes happening multiple times to the same person or people. Tell me, is Aster… uh… erm…"

"Here? Stables are just outside, I'm not going to keep you from seeing your old friend Toni. You can come visit often to see how he's doing from the academy." Falksworthy thanked her profusely as he ate quickly, excused himself, and left to find the Pegasus. Brynhildr walked in yawning and carrying Blue on her shoulder, with the wolf panting happily from the attention. Once she put him down, a maid brought in a menu for her to look through.

"So, Bryn, I was wondering if you might humor me a little and put something on for me…" Selene asked. Skuld drank some of her orange juice as she watched what was about to unfold.

"I'm not a dress up doll Selene, but… what is it you want me to try?" she replied. The dev pulled out the circlet and offered it to her.

"Just wanted to test some new upgrades for the armor, hopefully it'll fit comfortably, or I can alter it. We're going to need some fairly inconspicuous equipment going into Silvinholm, so I've been working on it since early morning." Bryn raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Industrious as always. Alright, let me see how this feels." The blonde put the circlet on, which disappeared from view. Skuld and Hrist raised their eyebrows at that, then looked to Selene for an answer.

"It's to make sure someone doesn't wonder if we're royalty or anything." They both now understood as she opened her inventory and character sheet, then worked the sliders for Bryn. What she saw satisfied her curiosity as her level went from 100 and twitching just like Hrist's to level 25. Hrist and Skuld seemed to be a little confused at something and kept glancing between their sister and their empress.

"Selene, what did you do to her? She seems… not as powerful as before…" Bryn looked at Selene with wide eyes in worry, but the dev put her hands up to calm her down.

"It's alright, I just wanted to see if we could conceal our strength from prying eyes. I had a hunch you all could sense someone's power by looking at them, which made me worry someone else could do the same. Once we enter Silvinholm, I'd like it if some wizard didn't try to detect powerful beings nearby and suddenly have their heads explode or something like go insane. The last thing we need is to cause a scene."

Bryn took the circlet off, which turned visible immediately. Her level immediately shot to 100 and started twitching again in her Hud. It was possible she needed to simply upgrade the scanner to a stronger version, as it might only be able to read up to level 100 as standard. "It's a little tight around the ears" the blonde shield maiden told her.

"Sorry, I'll get it altered. Let me know whatever sizes you want so the custom armor fits perfectly. The last thing we need is for either of us to hate the feel of it while walking around in the city." Brynhildr handed the circlet back, which Selene threw into her inventory to get augmented for Bryn's head size. She didn't have a fat head, it just pushed a little too much on her ears. Just as they finished eating with Selene only having a small sample plate, she got a coms request from an administration member from Eld Horn, one of her automatons sent to help Liyana.

"Um… is this reaching you, your majesty?" she heard as an external microphone was used.

"I'm here Liyana, what's wrong?"

"We… Davin and I went out hunting a little further than normal… we… I… would really like it if you could come here and see what we found. We found a hidden dungeon of some sort in the ground with people chained up, lots of women… some young girls… most dead beyond two… I… dunno if they're going to make it…" Selene stood up and started walking to the elevator without saying a word to the others, with the Valkyrja sisters getting up and following her wondering if something was wrong.

"So, two survivors?" she asked as she boarded the elevator with the battle maidens following. It was possible to resurrect the dead if she could make sure she knew who the families were, otherwise, it was going to cost a fortune to the Ferryman per body.

"What's wrong Selene?" Hrist asked. The dev looked at her in worry.

"Someone has been capturing and torturing women from what I'm being told by Liyana in some weird dungeon." She swapped back over to the coms with Liyana speaking. The Valkyrja all looked at each other. Time to deal out some justice if they could find the culprit.

"Yes, two are alive, a girl and her mother, both hurt badly. There's so many… I didn't want to go in, Davin threw up as he saw the tools down there…"

 _Someone is a serial killer. They probably didn't expect anyone to find the hidey hole though._

"Where is the dungeon?" the empress asked. A marker appeared on her Hud with a very large range from her. She brought up her map and saw it was just at the edge of the forest near the open plains, just below Sweet Water.

"I'll show you, just… I don't know what to do… I need… I could use some help if you would be willing…"

"We'll be there shortly."

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

The bodies were aligned carefully as with gold coins placed on their eyes in the event they could find out who their parents, husbands and families were. Of the fifty bodies, twenty were verified to be from either Eld Horn or Sweet Water, one of the bodies apparently being a young boy. That started to build a link between the two locations for Selene. That left thirty of them as unknowns, potentially slaves. At least that cut down on the cost to resurrect the twenty that were named. Though she felt guilty for the thirty others, that was going to take one third of her money if she attempted bringing them back to life quickly, which was going to be taken from the treasury. The Ferryman needed to be paid, otherwise the Lazarus System would be used, and there weren't many of them just yet.

It was possible to try and learn Yggdrasil tier magic to resurrect, but that removed experience and levels. There were items that could resurrect before being used up, but those were usually found or bought with real world money in Yggdrasil. NPCs were normally resurrected via money if created by a guild.

Crafting resurrection wands wasn't really a thing in Yggdrasil, they were either found or potentially bought with the gacha system. Selene luckily had a way to get around that, with having twelve Lazarus Systems built so far. She completely forgot to build more of them; it didn't occur to her that a massive amount of the specialized equipment would ever be needed with her military.

 _I really need to get about one hundred built… while that would still be slow, it could eventually bring back an entire city… until then, magic it is…_

As family members grieved for their lost loved ones, with the two survivors being tended to by Turnie, the empress stepped forward and made sure each had two gold coins that were placed by sisters, brothers, lovers. Fathers held their sobbing wives as they looked at the coffins, but instead of being buried, the dev started to cast mass resurrection on the twenty named.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Subliminal Thoughts)**_

A mist coiled in and wrapped around the area, thicker than soup as the families cowered in fear, looking to their empress for guidance. An odd outline of a boat floated through the mist, still obscured with a large figure at the head, a long pole held in its hands.

No one could see what the figure was, but there were other humanoid forms that jumped off the boat and walked through the mist, a puff of air dispersing where the forms exited into the empty circle where they stood. The coins flew across the area from the eyes and landed in an outstretched hand from the Ferryman before the boat receded away into nothing, the mist slowly dissipating. The Ferryman was not evil, despite dealing in souls and undead; there were no doubts though that he was incredibly powerful, connected to death's existence itself. Gasps could be heard from all twenty women and girls as they woke up, startled and confused. Their families rushed forward to console them, to hug them close as Selene backed up a little and crossed her arms. Hrist walked up slowly next to her and glanced at her face before looking at the families, crying tears of joy now instead of sadness.

"We're going to find this killer. I want EW soldiers questioning everyone in Eld Horn and Sweet Water. Ornithopters are going to watch for anyone leaving these locations without documentation and a clear travel path." Hrist nodded to those orders. Though she was hiding it, the Valkyrja was seething in anger at whomever would do this. Torturing and killing these women and young boy wasn't honorable combat, this was shameful.

 _God damn it, I need to work out travel papers for people to go from one point to another…_

She already knew there was a skill for Bureaucracy, but she never expected she'd need to put points into it. As she already knew, all skills were useful. The dev wasn't going to like it, but it was going to be taken sooner rather than later. "Ma'am, I checked on the tools used in the… dissections… while crude, they weren't rusted" Orlo told her as he floated up behind both ladies. The families looked and pointed at Selene, explaining to the ladies and young boy that she was their ruler now, that she was a kind and protecting goddess. The young boy just blinked as his eyes gazed at her, too young to really understand what was being told to him.

"Anything else?" she asked quietly as the empress glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Yes ma'am, the dissection was efficient, with no erratic incisions. This seemed to be more… research, rather than torture. They might have been attempting to learn about the body for medical knowledge."

 _Leonardo Di Vinci turned sociopathic…_

"Freeze! Unmask yourself!" she heard from a Military model Medium nearby as it aimed its cannon at a traveler with a scarf and hood covering their head. The military team there were all aiming at them as they stood with their hands up.

"I came to see if my sister was among the dead" a man's voice was heard from under the scarf. He slowly removed it to show a half-burned face, some of his hair gone as he stood there. If it wasn't for the massive burn scar, he might have been considered handsome.

"What is your name?" Selene asked. He looked at her, his right eye showing somewhat red and semi covered in skin.

"My name is Altavis Mangerin, I am… was… the brother to Algeia Mangerin. We, or should I say my parents, are… were… nobles to the far South."

"Were nobles?" the empress asked.

"We… I'd rather not explain how we lost our future in front of so many… it is a point of embarrassment for my family… please, let me see if one of the dead is my long-lost sister." He took a deep breath and exhaled, looking at the other coffins still filled with bodies. The dev motioned for the automatons to stand down and let him survey the coffins to see if any of the remaining bodies were his sister. As he walked to each coffin, checking which one might have her decaying face, the color of her hair, a memento of some kind. He stopped and rushed to one. He looked the body over and peered carefully at the face, no eyes in the sockets and half mummified.

"This one… this one! I… can you… I saw what you just did, please." Selene sighed and took two gold coins from her inventory, hiding them in the palm of her closed hand, but didn't give them to him.

"Do you have payment for this? Two gold coins?" she asked. Bringing back to life his supposed sister was one thing she was willing to do, but she hoped it would be paid for by the family if they could afford it; otherwise, she would provide an act of charity. While it might have seemed mean, it was to uphold the notion that death was still to be feared, that a person may not always be able to come back without the proper payment. They couldn't always expect the empress to just resurrect loved ones no matter what. Some people were too stupid to bring back from the dead, either adventurers with an oversized ego or just really dumb villagers. Going against nature all the time was a great way of screwing up humanity… and keep crap floating in the gene pool.

"I… I do…" he said quietly as he pulled a small purse from his belt and opened it. There were a few gold coins, two platinum, a few gems and plenty of silver. It at least told her he wasn't exactly lying about being a noble… ex noble. Something seemed to itch at the back of her mind as she wondered why he was searching for his sister for so long…

He tried to hand her the two coins, but she put a hand up to stop him. "Place the coins on her eyes." He did so carefully and backed away, wondering if his coin was "dirty" in the eyes of the empress. That wasn't the case, she just didn't want him to give the payment to her, as that would technically make it her money and the Ferryman would take a much larger sum. She cast resurrection again as the mist encircled the area once more, the boat appearing and floating to the edge with one figure jumping from the side. Again, it popped from the mist in a puff of a humanoid outline, before the boat receded and the mist disappeared. The mummified corpse regenerated and gasped as she bolted upright, frantic and scared.

"Calm yourself Algeia, it is me, your brother." The brunette looked at him with wide eyes before looking around the area and noticing she was naked. The woman did her best to cover herself up as she seemed to cower in front of him. "We finally found you after all this time."

"Altavis, what… where… oh god… I was… I was…" she started to cry as she looked away from him.

"You have been brought back by a wizard Algeia from a gruesome death. Now, do you see what could happen if you run away?" he asked her as he leaned against the coffin to help pull her from the wooden box. She pushed away from him and tried to jump out, falling to the side as she tried to cover herself on the other side. "Stop this Algeia, you should be happy your alive now."

"If I hadn't been caught, I would have been able to finally escape our family! I would have finally been able to have a life of my own!" she snapped as she backed away and stumbled, Ethan catching her and draping a blanket around her shoulders.

"Ma'am calm down please and take a deep breath. Friendlies are here" he commented as she stared wide eyed at him. He steadied her as she pulled away, looking around at everyone.

"Your life would have been pampered! Luxuries everywhere if you just simply went through with it!" Altavis replied to the as yet unknown accusations.

"What's going on here?" Selene asked as Altavis started walking towards his sister, but Ethan got in the way. Algeia noticed he was defending her from her brother. Ethan definitely looked as if he could turn the burned man into a fine paste.

"This doesn't concern you any longer wizard, please acquiesce and stay out of this" the brother said as he put his hand up aimed at her.

"Excuse me? I take it you have no idea who the hell you are speaking to. WHAT. IS. GOING. ON." Her voice seemed to boom with the last few words as if thunder was being heard. She used the spells **[Amplify Voice]** and **[Truth from Lies]** to provide a massive volume increase. The first spell was mainly used to speak without a megaphone or mic attached to speakers but could also be used to get people's attention. At that moment, she really did sound like a goddess about to mete out justice.

"I can tell you! The Mangerin family was going to marry me off to another noble house like some trophy! It would connect our two houses and dig them out of the grave they made for themselves with extravagant spending of the family fortune!" Algeia shouted out as she held the blanket around herself.

"You would have been taken care of and we would have been saved! Do you not care about your family?!" he shouted back.

"That man is a monster! He was the one who found me!" she screamed with tears pouring from her eyes, sobbing as she fell to her knees. Ethan kept standing in front of her, acting as her shield. Altavis looked away and bit his lip. Selene walked up and kneeled down to her, slowly and gently putting her hands on her shoulders and slowly hugging her.

"Easy, don't worry, no one's going to hurt you. Everything is going to be fine…" she cooed as the brunette just cried against her shoulder.

"It won't be fine, not if I am going to be brought back to that house… please…"

"No one is going to be taking you back to that noble household. I swear it."

"That's not for you to-" a crackle of lightning popped from Selene's armor as she softly pushed Algeia away and stood up to turn and look at him.

"Algeia, I'm going to offer you an interesting proposition. I can provide you amnesty in my empire if you are willing, but you will not start off with a life of nobility." Altavis gawked at her in anger.

"What… what do you mean?" she asked as her sobbing slowly stopped, her hands trying to wipe the tears away.

"You don't know who you're talking to, do you ma'am? This here is Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire, ruler of all that is West of Eld Horn. She's offering you a chance to become one of her subjects" Ethan commented. Algeia gasped as her eyes widened. Another lightning arc curved from the dev's left shoulder to left thigh. It was mostly a visual effect to intimidate Altavis.

"You can't do this!" he snapped at her as he pointed his finger at the auburn-haired woman.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want. I'm the queen bitch of this place last time I checked, so you better realize where you are and that you are absolutely nothing to me little man. If I was you, I would show some more respect before I actually get annoyed." The burned man glared at her and at his sister, who stayed behind the empress.

"Yes, yes I would like to become one of your subjects. Please… if it gets me away from my family or that man…" she choked out as Selene turned a little to pat her gently on the shoulder.

"I cannot promise a luxurious life, but I can provide you a starting stipend to make a new one for yourself, one where you will be able to marry whomever you choose."

"You can't do this! She's the only chance to bring back our livelihood!" Altavis screamed at her but was quickly cut off with a **[Mute]** spell. **[Mute]** was not as low a dimensional spell as **[Silence]** ; the higher dimensional magic was so powerful that it didn't remove the sound a person makes, it removed the capability of the creature to speak in the first place. **[Silence]** could be used to block sound more as a defensive cast, to keep anything from hearing any noise that a person or creature caused. Removing their capability to even communicate did something to their very mind as well as their vocal chords.

"I'm done talking to you. At least we can sort of thank you for letting me know this was your sister, but frankly I have a good idea as to why she was here in the first place. Head home and leave her alone. If my armies see you again, it better be on far better terms, because if you have any ill intent, I will rain brimstone down on you so hard it will make every god on this pathetic planet jealous!"

Altavis stood there for a moment before storming away, heading towards the small stables in Eld Horn Town. Algeia hugged Selene again from behind but stopped quickly as she realized she was touching royalty. "I'm sorry you had to do this… your majesty… I… I'm so very grateful… I promise I won't be a burden to your empire… I swear it…" she told the armored woman.

"Easy, calm down, you're going to have a good life from now on. Now, if you are grateful, you can repay me by helping everyone, helping me, put a stop to this. This man you were betrothed to, what did he look like? You said he was the one who caught you." The brunette stood and wiped away at the drying tears and sniffed.

"I… he was short… um… hunched… had a bit of a cackle for his laugh… my god, how long has it been since I was… since I was…"

 _From my history classes, mummification takes about seventy days… however it could have been far longer with her corpse lying underground in that chamber… but this man… he sounds really familiar… holy shit… no way… I knew he was creepy!_

Selene immediately ordered two fireteams of military units to head to the mayor's house. The citizens of Sweet Water were frightened as two teams of automatons turned their heads at the same time, their optics changing from green to bright red temporarily and bolted for the home on the other side of the city, leaping over houses and bolting through streets. Juliet was working with her construction team as two military model Lights launched over her head on a mission.

As they reached the door and ripped it off its hinges, they moved in quickly, checking for traps and dropping flares in dark areas.

"Area clear ma'am, he isn't here" a military Medium reported.

"God damn it!" Selene snapped out loud as Algeia seemed a little frightened she was angry at her. "Sorry. Don't worry." The dev immediately tasked multiple ornithopters on scouting operations to see if he was on land or somehow in the water. While the ships in the harbor were destroyed, there were a few that were being repaired and were held up by ropes and cabling. A few were house boats as well. One was missing after a quick search. "Find that boat now" she ordered via coms to the small war fleet she had available. Three Frigates, five Corvettes and multiple PT boats turned around and headed out of the harbor in search for it.

"Is there a picture of the mayor in the household?" she asked via coms to the soldiers in the mansion of Sweet Water.

"Yes ma'am, on the wall." The Light looking at the painting beamed the picture back to her Hud. She quickly brought her hand upturned in front of Algeia.

"Is this the man that you were supposed to marry?" she asked as a small picture of what the Light was showing her appeared hovering over the small jewel embedded in the palm of her gauntlet. Algeia looked visibly frightened and nodded to her.

"All ships finding him, if you can verify the boat is under his control, there is no need to board it" she ordered. That was a kill on sight order she just gave. As she helped Algeia to an auto doc who started to perform a checkup on her with the other medical drones helping the newly resurrected women, Liyana walked up to her with her hands clasped at her waist.

"Thank you, your majesty. I'm… I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up. You just gave all of these families hope to see their loved ones again. I've never seen one single wizard capable of resurrecting that many people at the same time… I haven't even heard of anyone doing that… at least… not without turning them into undead…" she said as she rubbed her right arm and looked away.

"It's alright, this _was_ a situation that you wouldn't normally be prepared for… I wasn't even prepared for this…" she replied as her eyes grazed over the ladies who were alive with their families. She sighed and readied to place the Lazarus Systems for the twenty-nine other bodies that were as yet unnamed. If no one could claim them as someone they knew, the equipment would be turned on late today. It would take roughly three hours to finish resurrecting the poor souls still lying in coffins, but that just gave them time to get them up to speed in groups and administer medical checkups, get them situated in the inn or tavern in Eld Horn. Five of the bodies had pointed ears, but she couldn't be sure with the decay and rot.

"Jorge, can you take Bronze Team for a hearts and minds trip to Sweet Water to assure the people we will find a better mayor for them?" Selene asked the Special Forces Medium. He turned around as he watched Altavis leave on horseback.

"Can do your majesty. By the way, this might be a good time to… let you know that we attached… well, limpet mines to the houseboats in Sweet Water…" he told her as he scratched at his metal chin plate. She looked at him in surprise.

"But those weren't in the water."

"We were preparing in the event they tried to escape with those, make it easy for the fleet." Selene at first thought that was a little overkill, as well as it could have killed innocents, but it was a good idea. Jorge might have been a little bashful at that moment, but it was a plan he put into motion in the event things didn't go as well as expected.

"Ok… can you disconnect the limpet mines from the remaining houseboats… as well as let me know what the range is for activating the ones on the mayor's ship." Barely in the distance Altavis was riding away, with Selene getting a chance to cast **[Memory Loss]** on him to wipe any knowledge of what he found here beyond his sister. He'd be able to tell his family his sister was ok, but beyond that and a notion to not do anything stupid with a massive sense of dread, he'd be unable to tell them who he met or anything about the military surrounding him.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Mayor Evelgoy moved the houseboat as far as the mana engine would take him, getting ready to hoist the sails and continue on to Artinian harbors. With luck, he would be able to start anew, easily being able to get his hands on some slaves and learning the inner workings of their bodies. He especially liked to see how the ones that had husbands looked as they died, he wondered how much any sort of emotion had as an effect on the body as it slowly failed with his incisions or removal of organs. There were two in the past that were extreme masochists, he liked those very much as they seemed to enjoy what he did to them.

It was all for the sake of learning, so that one day he might be able to teach it to future generations. It didn't matter to him that the lives were being snuffed out by his experimentation and live dissection. The pain he caused mattered little to him if it meant he was that much closer to understanding how each muscle worked, each organ, how the women bore children or young boys grew up. Cadavers didn't help much as there was no movement, no reaction to what he was doing to the body if it was lifeless. Even undead were useless to him if he could trap one.

As the engine slowly sputtered and died, its fuel dying out and started to fall apart and dissolve, he swore and giggled as he ran to the sails and brought them up. The problem with such a simple part to the boat was that once the mana had run dry it needed to have the entire system replaced with a fresh one, the engine simply not holding together. There was no refueling it; they were also quite rare if near impossible to buy. Most of the mana crafters had long since died out, and what few there were had either been elves or dwarves, with only one ever known to be a minotaur.

As the final sail went up, he could see in the distance a very small few dots coming towards him. He pulled a spyglass and giggled again as he looked through it. There was an Artinian fleet of five ships heading in his direction, probably to figure out why he was heading toward the next harbor of Alsam. As they reached his boat, men threw grapple lines to hook onto the sides and jumped on board. Evelgoy put his hands up in surrender and kneeled on the ground. "Please! Have mercy! I am but a simple man coming from Sweet Water! The city… it has been overrun by a new empire!" he begged as he had learned as much as he could in the past day after the pirates were defeated. He was going to sell his information to the king about empress Selene, what she had and where she was in hopes that he could get a sizeable reward and help Artinia fight against her.

What he hadn't realized was as he spoke to them about the automatons, the ships and the ruler of the robots, was an ornithopter cresting the very edge of the Kaldanas Mountains to the far East of Sweet Water, completely blocking off a large chunk of the continent with not one single beach or shore to be found for at least two hundred miles. It spotted his houseboat and tracked the remaining Artinian ships surrounding it.

Once the Admiral of the small fleet agreed to take him in due to the information he had available, he looked up and saw an odd shimmer in the sky. It flickered for a moment which was odd; might it have been a play of the water reflecting the dropping sun?

As if a terror beyond anything he had seen erupted from the shimmer, a massive air fleet erupted from it. His eyes widened as he evacuated both his bowels and bladder at the same time. Empress Selene had found him. That was when he knew… there was no escaping. "Xaxara… protect m-" he barely was able to pray as a loud BEEP was heard from the limpet mines going off right in the middle of the small nautical fleet. The houseboat detonated in a clean explosion with a synchronized blast across the entirety of the vessel. The damage radiated outwards and enveloped the closest frigates, with all but two receiving critical damage and sinking. Wood and a little metal exploded in all directions, splintering and melting from the awe-inspiring power of the mines.

The last two were taken out by an airship Frigate via two railguns and a volley of rockets. Evelgoy was verified to be killed in the explosion as multiple pieces of his houseboat blew straight into his body, ripping him to pieces and incinerating the remains. Not only would he never be able to finish his studies on the human body, but he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about the empire or its empress. Red Tails ran strafing runs to clean up any survivors in the water. It was gruesome and, in a way, cruel to the unarmed sailors who could be taken in as POWs, but the empress couldn't afford for them to know what had just transpired right now. Casting **[Memory Loss]** on each of them would take time, which wouldn't help if they were held in a prison camp and saw automaton guards daily.

The remainder of Bronze Team had gone to Sweet Water as ordered and helped calm the populace, explaining there would be an election for the next mayor headed by none other than their empress. That would make sure they didn't have a sociopath at the helm, one that would actually stand up to the atrocities that could be committed by an evil kingdom.

Selene sat in her royal chair on the bridge of the _Majesty's Grace_ , not as impressive as her throne, but made intentionally smaller to not take up much room. She sat back with her legs crossed, watching through the holographic screen at the explosions. Not one sailor survived, all killed to the last man. Just around the corner of the mountain range was the small Frigate fleet from Sweet Water, following up behind in the event the air fleet couldn't teleport in time. Luckily, the ornithopters were expanded beyond the listening posts inside the empire, so their surveillance range was now much higher. Her military was already scouting out the next towns and cities to take over to the South beyond Werelosil, such as Paldos City. From initial reconnaissance, it looked to be a massive slave market.

 _If there was a Geneva Convention here, they'd try me for crimes against humanity for doing this. Not one single prisoner detained… I really do need to get a prison camp and a minmax built so we can take POWs and random criminals once Artinia really does know who they are dealing with._

"Take us to the castle. What's done is done." The entire fleet prepped for another jump back home, with the outside of the ships warping and distorting to teleport right over the airfield nearby. The empress stood up and walked off the bridge, Hrist at her side.

"It was still honorable Selene, you did what needed to be done so they couldn't report back" she explained quietly as both women headed for the helibot waiting for her. While a little slow now these days, the helibot was a tried and true workhorse for any aerial transportation or hovering gunship, at least the Medium or Heavy versions anyways. The Lights were Orlo's size, larger than a Light Ornithopter due to it being slower and designed slightly different for heavier firepower and armor. The new design for the spinning blade hover fans was to replace them with a toroid bladeless system with air compressors installed, increasing their power by fifteen and providing a much smoother flight with very little turbulence. No one would really notice the change of her air support except her in the empire.

Jet engines were going to be a backup system installed into the air fleet as well, with the turboprops folding up with a temporary drop in altitude to engage the jet systems hidden inside, with miniaturization allowing both engines to work on the same housing. There was still a use for all of the different engine systems, she just wanted the options for long distance as well as short distance, dogfighting as well as zoom and boom.

"I know, it doesn't mean I have to like it however."

"That's just your conscience still working, warning you that you know where you stand. It lets you know not to continue down that path all the time." Both women boarded the helibot and had the doors closed, with the outer panel of the airship opening to allow the helibot to leave.

"I'll be glum for about an hour as my brain mulls it over, then I'll be ok."

"Do you… would you… be willing to teach me some more martial arts moves?" Hrist asked. Selene chuckled and nodded.

"Why not? It'll get my mind focused on other things. I should probably teach Brynhildr the same moves if she's coming with me to Silvinholm." Hrist averted her gaze as the helibot lowered to the ground inside the castle walls.

"Um… about that… I talked with Bryn…"

"Oh? Wait… don't tell me…" The empress's jaw dropped as she tilted her head sideways at the raven-haired woman.

"She can handle the armies taking Werelosil and the orchard! She's a General as much as I am Selene."

"That's not the point! She has more experience interacting in those kinds of environments! We'll be in the middle of a trade city Hrist! Do you have that kind of experience?" Selene snapped as she rolled her eyes and glanced at the roof of the helibot before the doors opened. As the dev climbed out, Hrist grabbed her hand quickly though softly.

"I'm not going to get that experience unless I come with you. You know I've never been defeated, who better than to accompany you into that unknown? Besides… Bryn has always had a better eye than Skuld or I in picking out mounts…" the Valkyrja told her as she looked away and blushed. Selene sighed as she looked out the door to see Brynhildr sitting in the gazebo in front of the courtyard drinking some sort of alcoholic drink. The golden blonde waved at them. Neither Bryn or Skuld went with the two women, having decided to stay behind to keep an eye out for Antoine as well as check on the students in the academy. There were still things to be done within the valley, jobs to be completed.

"And she agreed to this?" The empress asked finally after a long pause. Hrist nodded. There was no reason to believe she was lying, it didn't seem to be one of her traits. The battle maiden let go of her hand as they both climbed out, the guards right behind the General. "Grrr… alright, fine… yes, you're right… you won't get experience unless you can be in the thick of the city… just… be careful alright? I know you have a good head on your shoulders, but make sure you don't say anything that could let people know who we are ok?"

"I swear it… and… thank you… for the… compliment…" Hrist replied as she scratched the side of her cheek and blushed profusely. She seemed exceptionally bashful at that moment. Selene thought very highly of her, she just didn't really know how to speak in groups. While her speech patterns were entirely formal, she did act a little awkward when not near the empress or her sisters. Put her in a battlefield and she'd destroy everything, put her in a book club and she would be lost.

"I guess I'm going to be making a new set of armor for you too. We'll walk in like regular low-grade adventurers to look around, get some intel on the place and collect things on a grocery list."

"Grocery list?"

"Yeah, seeds, books, magic knowledge, maps of the area, get a feel for the prices and the economy, that sort of thing. The main goal is to find the nobility and have a talk with them, this might take a few days for us. Hmm, might be a good idea to have Bronze Team stealth around and finish what I promised Antoine too, I dunno if we're going to have time to do that while mingling with the rich and famous" the dev replied as they walked to the gazebo. Bryn poured a glass for each of them of some brandy. "I guess it is happy hour somewhere…" she chuckled out as the empress sat down next to the shield maiden.

Having her little team see what Silvinholm was all about was the best option, with Bronze Team doing real surveillance on the mansions and large estates. They didn't really need to be seen either, just figure out which one had Princess Nia, verify her healthy status, then disappear back to the castle and wait for Selene to come home. Antoine would get his blood pressure dropped with information that the princess was fine, and the empress could focus on getting Silvinholm to join her empire without a fight.

"Of course! You've got to warm your insides somehow! Now, I heard about what happened. I know what might cheer you up" Bryn laughed out as she bounced a fist off the top of the table lightly. Hrist sat down and took a small sip of the brandy. It was one of the stronger drinks that Selene had crafted at the still, but the flavor was great.

"Don't tell me a drinking contest." Bryn looked at her quizzically and shook her head.

"Of course not! Besides… I kind of always thought you were a light weight…" the shield maiden took a light jab at her ego with a catty grin curling onto her mouth.

"Oh really? I'll have you know I'm a decent heavy weight, but still, no thanks. Any other ideas?" the dev said coyly as she turned her face halfway and looked at the Valkyrja with a squint and a smirk. Bryn had a way of making fun of a person without being mean, just trying to get them to open up. She had a great deal of experience with mortals, not necessarily just with rolling around in the hay like some of her other sisters. In Selene's eyes, she was "hip" or "cool." In just the past few days she had gotten a lot of street smarts about Gold Pine and Glass Dale.

"Theatre. There is a play in Gold Pine happening tonight, I doubt they would turn away their empress or Generals." The blonde bounced her fist against the table a second time and pointed at her.

"That's… actually not a bad idea. Ok, lemme get changed and we can go." She finished her glass in front of the two Valkyrja and smiled, proving she could handle her liquor. Afterwards, the team got up and went to get dressed for the occasion. As Hrist walked out of her bedroom, she wore a Nuoqi Victorian Gown colored sapphire blue, made of what looked to be flannel with a velvet outside. She had on a silver rope belt with buckle and two necklaces, one hanging lower than the other. Her shoes were short heeled and looked similar to the formal shoes Selene had worn with her dress suit when she had traveled to the shipyard. Her hair lay draped down her back with minimal makeup on her face.

Brynhildr came out of her room wearing what looked like a swashbuckler's outfit, complete with a sword at her hip. She was comfortable and happy with how she looked, along with being able to contain her ample bosom which already popped one button. Bryn was taller than Hrist and Skuld, with the brunette sister being roughly six foot two inches and the blonde being a large seven feet. Despite the size different between the sisters, Bryn still wasn't all muscle, although a little more toned than Hrist due to the massive tower shield she tended to carry around. It was almost on par with Jorge's portable wall he carried. She was one of the few Valkyrja that could be called a Shield Maiden instead of just a Battle Maiden.

Hrist seemed to be annoyed that her sister wasn't wearing a dress like she was, but there was nothing forbidding them from dressing in a masculine way, or, as Bryn had seen, as a pirate queen. The empress had finally opened her door and made the raven-haired woman's jaw drop.

Walking towards them, Selene was wearing an olive-green swallow tail gothic Victorian lace up jacket with hood attached, along with a short olive green Victorian dress underneath to not hide the pants. There was gold and silver along the edges and folds that curved, almost looking like elven vines wrapping around the buttons. She wore black soft velvet pants along with black leather boots to accentuate the look. To help with the color scheme, grey gloves were worn on her hands and a gold chain belt was worn underneath the dress, with part of the chain hanging a little like a pocket watch. A short olive-green shoulder cloak was attached with a gold chain clasped around her neck. To stop her hair from getting caught in the chain, it was braided up and draped into the hood. The small area just below her chin had a fluffed white scarf tied and tucked into the dress.

"You look… nice… what is that?" Hrist asked, her face flushed red. The dev explained the look and spun on her heel to show the whole thing. She was very elegant looking. It would definitely turn heads, and yet still looked steampunk in fashion.

"Want one? It's very comfortable and I think it looks great. By the way, blue might be your color Hrist, that looks nice on you." The battle maiden didn't think she could blush anymore than she already was. "Is Skuld coming?" she asked Bryn as the blonde chuckled.

"Yes, with a little bit of an entourage. Seems the students would like to come to the play as well, sort of a welcome to the academy thing." Selene cocked her head a little at that, seeming to wonder if this was planned. Some of those students were either crushing on her even without meeting the empress or wanted to raise their status by attempting to get on her good side. She was going to make sure they weren't near her little royal stand so that she could get some peace and enjoy the play.

"Alright, well, as long as they mind their manners. Hrist, you're going to need a coat, that doesn't look like it's going to keep you warm." She walked back to her bedroom and pulled out a long trench coat to work with the dress that battle maiden was wearing, then helped her put it on. Hrist could smell the light perfume she was wearing. Her nose lightly twitched as she inhaled. "There." Brynhildr declined a jacket, as she seemed to run hot normally.

The three women walked down the hallway and to the elevator. "I take it we're going to snack at the play?" Selene asked over her shoulder at Bryn.

"From what I heard, they're going to have a buffet." That surprised the empress, as she was providing spare food supplies for the winter. None of that better go to waste, though it was more the principle of the thing and not losing the food. There were ample stocks of food in her first inventory, plenty to feed everyone without an issue, but the problem was instilling a sense that she was the meal ticket, that they could just take what they had for granted. That would create an empire of people that just slacked off, didn't work and could cause it to collapse without even getting off the ground as they expected her to feed them.

"Hmmm, well, I hope part of that is a potluck instead of the supplies I sent." It almost sounded as if she was being stingy, but she really didn't want the views of the people to change to 'the empress will take care of it.' From what she was hearing from Gold Pine, the citizens were now a diverse lot, no longer farmers as a majority, but also having a few hunters, shop keeps, there were now two blacksmiths with Giles being the best regardless of any competition, a post office with postmen, the hospital had a few apprentices to learn about how medicine worked, and there were artists and sculptors that now lived in the town. It hadn't really reached one thousand residents, but it was getting there, with word secretly and slowly making its way to Artinian municipalities.

They reached the main entrance to the palace, but Selene broke off for a few minutes. "Hold on, let me check something really quick." The dev headed to the royal treasury, the turrets ignoring their creator as the doors opened up and allowed her passage. She almost felt that there might be needed some excavation to further expand the space needed for the money she had. The coin that was available seemed to mean very little now, as the main thing she figured would be a good choice to store was magical items of different stats and effects. With the new Epic quality of equipment, lower tiers were good for disenchanting into essence, but it could be useful as bargaining chips if she ever needed to trade.

 _Giving a Common quality sword or plate armor to an adventurer or aspiring knight might be a good idea if they are starting out. Sheesh, I'd be their sponsor it seems. As they improve and do better for the people and themselves, maybe give Uncommon or higher, like a carrot on a stick. Hmmm… that could backfire at some point, might need to put a restriction on how high a quality tier I'll give as rewards…_

She reached the orb and used it quickly, gaining five levels and enough actions to raise her tech tier to Exo-Atmospheric Era. Despite being similar to the Space Age, it was expected of humanity to be a multi planet civilization. Space Age allowed access to low and high Earth orbit, with satellites launched and potential research bases placed on the moon or maybe Mars. Exo-Atmospheric meant there was constant travel between inner planets of a solar system, though not quite to the effect of Early Intersolar Era that would be right after. The two reasons she chose to tech up was first, she always needed access to new technology and staying stagnant with Information Age tech seemed a little pointless when she could reach even more.

The second was the fact that the aerospike engines were decent for the rockets to launch into space, but she wanted access to better satellites instead of reaching a new tech tier and having to send shuttles up to decommission older ones. Having aerospace vehicles to transition easily to pick up space debris from older equipment was going to be nice once she launched her satellites up, which was going to be very soon, before she headed on her trip to Silvinholm. The first three launches would be for GPS navigation, then a few more for spy satellites to help watch the continent and combine with the ornithopters. There would be a few OKKS launched too, Orbital Kinetic Kill Systems, or "Rods from God." To compliment them, a few orbital laser systems would be used for bunker busting in the future. The lasers would have to charge up, which meant they weren't the best at moving targets, but could obliterate a building or military base.

All of this was going to be done in secret, with reusable rocket systems, airship launches for smaller satellites, the nautical fleets controlling water landings if needed, and the launch pads retrieving mining packages. If there was an asteroid belt somewhere in the inner ring of planets of this solar system, she'd have a never-ending supply of minerals and metals for anything she'd want. The problem was first finding out about that. A telescope wasn't yet crafted by her, but that would be a simple task. Getting an ELT, or Extremely Large Telescope observatory built would require some land cleared and construction done. Then getting some astronomical observatory satellites could help give her a decent idea of where she was, what she was dealing with and if there was anyone else out there that might be friendly… or otherwise. At least it was going to be an early warning system.

She used a quick Stat slap patch on herself, putting it just on the back of her neck for a minute and feeling a bit dizzy. Using them in concert with a Stat Potion would be alright as long as she sat down for the effect, otherwise there was a good chance she'd fall. As she kneeled down, another eleven stat points provided, Selene shook her head and cleared her vision. With a fast cast of **[Lesser Rejuvenate]** , she cleared her head and nodded. That wouldn't work for the Stat Potion, or using large quantities of the patches, but at least for the first one it fixed the side effects. If she did that at least once a day, maybe twice, that was forty-four points extra. That wouldn't be too bad for the next few days while she prepared for the trip.

The dev added fifty Stat Points to Strength, temporarily ignoring Rage or Psionics for a hefty boost in physical power, but still had twenty-two points available. After the play she'd drink another Stat Potion to bring that up to thirty-three.

 _Indigestion no matter what. I might be able to figure out what is causing that at least even if I can't get rid of it, just to sate my curiosity. Who knows, maybe I can get some Beano made to help lower the effect from half an hour to fifteen minutes or something._

Her research stations were now linked to super computers she had custom built to help in the labs for Orlo and Turnie to run plenty of experiments at the same time. Outside the buildings looked just like the rest of the Clockwork Castle, but inside the futuristic silver walls and soft glowing LED lighting eased strain on eyes, with sound from walking absorbed and high-end equipment strewn around the rooms. She slid one of each upgrade potion and the patches into one. If anything, she'd know what enzyme causes the dizziness or her stomach to get upset. If by some miracle it provided a counter to those "debuffs" then that could drastically increase her stats and skills as if it was nothing. The chances of that happening for her was slim to none though, she didn't get her hopes up.

One hundred Skill Points was added to the fifteen she still had, but quickly disappeared as she shoved them into Bureaucracy, mainly to help maintain her empire. She now knew exactly what was required for each village, town, city or larger. Garbage collection, Police, Fire Department, hospitals, water purification and plumbing, electricity if she decided it, road maintenance, tax collection, law creation and policies, even building codes and OSHA guidelines. The list went on and on, but it gave her a much better idea of how to combat issues that might arise for the city planning and upkeep. Previously, she let Juliet build the town of Glass Dale, which she did a fantastic job, but Selene had little hand in that, and that was just the construction. She felt it was time to get some knowledge on how to actually run her empire, not just letting things go how they go.

Eventually, the people in the Clockwork Empire would learn, improve and create new technology of their own. They'd move from Late Middle Ages to Renaissance, then Colonial and maybe Pre-Industrial. Knowing how to integrate new ideas and features into their daily life would help her immensely, she just hoped that she didn't create any horrible red tape to impede the people too much. Her next thoughts were actually to Dancing, Driving and potentially Zero Gravity Training. While it would take a little time to get things prepared for a spacewalk, it could be fun doing that at least once, get a feel for how big the planet was without seeing through a video screen. Driving would help in the event someone somehow invents a steam buggy instead of using horses, so she could get regulation done on where they can travel and what laws they need to abide. Dancing… was for future balls.

Amusingly, there didn't seem to be an Etiquette skill. Selene was an empress, she made her own etiquette. If someone didn't like what she was doing, she could flip them off and not even care. In her empire, if someone insulted her, she could easily have them executed, not that she would do so. There was a Manners skill, but she could already figure out what that was. Please, thank you, napkin in lap, salad forks and soup spoons, she knew most of that already. It might give her an idea of what was considered normal per era however, with certain habits changing depending on where you were. The internet was a prime example, as treating another person as, well, a person, went out the window most of the time.

Once those points were used, the last fifteen she had sitting around went into Dancing just to start it. It might help with combat, she couldn't be sure, but it did help a little with her gracefulness. Combined with Agility stat and she might be able to head down a catwalk for fashion modelling, but that was it.

 _I'll model in sweatpants and sneakers! That would probably elicit the same response as what I wear right now, applause, given the fact they wouldn't want to insult me… oy… as if I'd ever do that either… I don't even think I can be that thin honestly… or diet like they do… I don't know if I could give up a cheeseburger…_

Tracking was another thought that slipped into her head, as it could help greatly if she got it up to one hundred or higher. Being able to find someone or something in the city she was searching for would help with the amount of foot traffic that would happen. Perks might need to be revised a little, but that was going to take a lot of computers being destroyed.

Once she finished quickly with her point expenditure, the dev headed back out as the vault doors closed up. The turrets traversed across the front of the area as she headed up to the next floor and felt the second set of doors close right behind her. While she headed back to the Valkyrja, her mind drifted to what level they were. If there were so few of them, they must gain experience at a faster rate than a mortal, as there were so many more humans than Asgardians. It was entirely possible that Hrist was leveling each time she learned something new, potentially gaining ten or even one hundred times the amount of experience as she was, given her race. While human looking, including her organs and how she lived, her body was probably different in many aspects. Her strength might have come from far denser muscles, stronger bones and maybe double or even triple the cones and rods in her eyes just to name a few changes.

The empress definitely needed to attempt to craft a new scanner, if just to figure out if Hrist had a glitchy level 100 raid boss scan or if she was really higher like she theorized.

As the women headed outside, Ash and Blue came running up to the empress with Luna hot on their heels. "Ah… you guys haven't had a chance to head out in a while, sorry. Um… well, Gold Pine hasn't seen you three in a while, wanna come with?" Ash barked in agreement as Blue didn't even wait for the offer, just jumped right into the helibot. Getting a VTOL jet bot was already in the works, at least as a personal transport to quickly get around for emergencies. The helibot would be seen by citizens sometimes, but the VTOL would be used for reaching _Majesty's Grace_ or stealthed almost all the time. Besides, the new bladeless hover fans for the helibots would drastically improve movement anyways.

With the wolves stowed and the Honor Guards strapped in, the ladies got in themselves and sat down. Once they were situated, the transport lifted off and headed for the town, her first town. While in transit, she was already preparing the creation of the new improved scanner, with an old one already in a research station. Hopefully it would shine some light as to what levels a bringer of the slain really had. It might scare her, or it might make her feel powerful, she couldn't be sure. Hrist saw her eyes roaming the cabin as they headed towards Gold Pine, barely a ten-minute flight.

"So, Bryn, I hear you swapped places with Hrist. I take you don't want to try out the different brews they might have?" Selene asked. The blonde looked at her sister and laughed a little.

"No, that's not the reason. My sister needs a little help with communicating with mortals, and what better way to learn?"

"That's just what she had said too, almost word for word" the empress giggled out as the raven-haired woman crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat.

"I do agree. Just bring back some new recipes or a keg and I'll be fine. I don't suppose you might have Skuld lead the armies while all three of us head in, huh?" Bryn pointed at Selene, jokingly demanding payment for not going with her. She wasn't really ordering her around, but the empress was good natured and wanted to make sure her General was happy. Besides, the shield maiden would be taking two locations while she was away. The Valkyrja would need a chance to celebrate after.

"Will do, and… I dunno. Skuld isn't a General anymore, she's a head mistress. I don't think Antoine could handle the students by himself for the time we'll be in the city." Selene's attention was taken a little by Luna nuzzling her hand and wanting a pat, so she turned to look at her and scratch her neck. Brynhildr looked at Hrist and winked with a smirk coiling up on her mouth. The smaller of the two blushed a little and turned away from her, trying to assuage the notion she was going with the empress for anything other than protecting her and gaining social experience

The transport lowered down and landed carefully with the doors opening and a small welcoming party waiting for them. The guards stepped out first with the empress and her Generals following, clapping and bowing seen and heard by the populace as she headed towards a raised platform with some seats. The wolves followed right behind, the kids seeing Luna as a massive dog now, no longer the cute and fluffy pup she once was. It didn't stop a few of them from reaching out and trying to give them some attention, which Selene didn't really mind.

"About time you got here lass, I didn't know if you were going to agree to come" Giles said just around the corner of the platform. Despite being his empress, she quickly gave him a hug along with Abby, followed by a shaking of hands and a small hug to Stafinson. The mayor, unlike the sociopath that met a watery grave, was reliable and good to the people. He knew what was right and wrong, held his nose high without acting as if he was better than anyone else, and was friendly. The people who hadn't really seen the empress were awed by how nice she was being to those four people, and her attire. To touch king Teiyan without his express permission was inviting death. They still didn't know if it was even allowed to touch her hand or boot, let alone accidentally bump into her.

"I had to see something, there isn't exactly much to entertain quite just yet at the castle beyond books. Now, what is this play about?" she asked.

"Some story about an angel come down from the heavens and meeting some woman. They fall in love, but it somehow ends tragically. I've never really heard about it, but then of course I was never a… what's the word…" Giles said as he thought for a moment while snapping his fingers in hopes the sound would help his mind sift through his language, just to get translated to something she could understand.

"Thespian?" she asked. He pointed at her and nodded.

"That's the one. This will be the first play that was ever in Gold Pine too. I wonder how it will turn out."

"Depends on how well they've practiced, know their lines and if they have understudies for issues that arise. How big is the troop?" Abby and Giles turned around and looked at the massive wagons hidden behind the stage. There were torches being lit as evening started to come down on them, darkness causing shadows and making it slightly difficult to see some things. The curtains were closed on the stage, with ample space for what looked to be a decent size of people to stand on it. How they brought such a large stage with them on wagons seemed impressive given the technology.

"Is that stage portable or built here?" the empress asked.

"Ah! Built here, there's a carpenter that just moved in, got to work in exchange for free food. Well, beyond you of course, your majesty" Abby replied as she clasped her hands in front of her chest. That answered the question. A few spare maids were brought in another helibot to serve the dev as she would sit in her chair, bringing food and drink or providing blankets. A heat lamp was placed just over her head as it was an outside play. Benches could be seen lined up, just as if they were waiting for a speech.

Most of the town was there, with the numbers easily exceeding eight hundred now. How all of them were going to see well was beyond her, but some benches and bleachers were raised in the back. There were a few elevated platforms in the rear that had polished mirrors installed to beam light from torches down at the stage, acting as spotlights. Despite being in the middle ages, they knew how best to make sure everyone enjoyed the play. A glass of wine was provided to Selene by one of her maids, along with a small plate to eat some appetizers. Skuld was finally seen in the distance with her students following behind, their uniforms unmistakable. As she seated the aspiring knights, nobles and learned, she then slipped through the crowds to get to Selene. The students fought amongst themselves to reposition to see the empress, but she wasn't wearing her golden armor like they were expecting. All the same, she still looked regal and impressive in their eyes.

"One of these days, I'll be the one who marries her."

"You're an idiot. You really think you have what it takes to be with her? She's an empress for god's sake!"

"You're going to be jealous, all of you, once I prove you wrong. You'll see, she's going to be infatuated with me." A few boys whacked the egotistical one upside the head as they stared at the ruler of the Clockwork Empire.

Selene looked around at the town and saw things she didn't really notice before she gained Bureaucracy as a skill. Garbage collection needed to be a priority, potentially with pneumatic tubes to suck away the trash. Road angling would be needed to get rid of any puddles from raining, with drainage ditches on the sides for less maintenance and less costs for repairs. A whole sewer system needed to be fully installed other than the piping Juliet was installing in the towns and cities, with room to grow for a larger populace. A park would be needed with trees planted to help maintain morale. While these might have been incredibly innovative in the eyes of Gold Pine residents, she figured these were only a few ways to improve the quality of life for people here, to see nature without having to head into the forests, safety as well as keeping things under control. Hopefully Mayor Stafinson can handle things with Abby assisting him.

Just as it got fairly dark, with torches everywhere, the people sat down and got ready for the play. Once everyone was ready, a small head popped out of the curtains and looked at everyone before disappearing back in. There was a band of musicians on the side to provide appropriate music for the scenes. As the curtains pulled back, the spotlights were aimed carefully, but one had very weak light. Two actors came out and started to say their lines but slowed a little as the spotlights weren't allowing people to see the woman's face. The polished metal mirror was damaged a little, causing some issues.

Selene cast **[Light Orb]** in front of both mirrors, brightening both like the sun aiming at the actors. That gave them plenty of light to work with as an applause was heard from the people. They vaguely knew of her magical prowess, despite most of what she used being technology. The actors and actresses seemed a little worried that the empress had to involve herself in the play to make sure it went off without a hitch.

Once it was in full motion, the scenes came and went, with the wolves laying down next to the chairs that held their alpha and the Valkyrja sisters. Giles and his wife sat just next to the royal platform with Stafinson next to them. As the night started to get a little cold, the people tried to bundle up as best they could. There was a temporary pause in the play as they changed set pieces and backgrounds, which gave her enough time to craft quite a few more algae fuel powered heat lamps and have them positioned around the benches. The entire town bowed to her kindness as she made sure they all stayed warm, including a few large ones that overhung the stage to keep the actors from shivering.

 _ **(Recommended Song: The Piano Guys – A Thousand Years)**_

As a fight scene erupted, Hrist scoffed a little at their movements, with Selene smirking at her. "They're actors Hrist… they aren't trained. Plus, it's all a show, not really trying to hurt each other." One man acted as if a sword was impaled in his chest, reciting his lines clearly and carefully as he fell. There was a love scene in which the angel begged his lover to not go to the castle, to stay in hiding or she would be killed. Hrist watched it carefully as they spoke their lines, talking about how her life was already finite. The angel was immortal, just like Hrist was.

The raven-haired woman turned her gaze to Selene, who was intently watching them as the actress spoke as if her life was an instant in his eyes, but that meant they needed to cherish the time they had right now, together. The battle maiden knew that Selene was mortal, with her age in her thirties. With standard medicine, her life expectancy was around one hundred. With advanced medicine and technology, how long could it be extended? Two centuries? A millennium? Hrist had, in Selene's words, type one immortality. She didn't age but could be killed provided something was strong enough to defeat her. Type two was full immortality, the equivalent of a god. There were a few rare beings that she knew that had that type, capable of ignoring all attacks bar complete and utter disintegration. The gods of Asgard were now long since dead, or at least from what information they had.

What would happen if Selene died? For all Hrist knew, she'd be horribly depressed. This mortal, this woman had provided a new life for her and her sisters when at first, she was living in a decrepit temple, ready to end the young ruler's life. She had gained a new home, gotten to travel with her, see new things, a new Pegasus, even gotten to eat ice cream. New clothes, friends… a family. That could all eventually end if the woman sitting next to her became a frail old lady, white or silver hair, walking with a cane or laying on her deathbed while she, a Valkyrja, continued to stay the same, untouched by time sat by her side, watching her wither away.

That thought startled her, like a waking nightmare, as the actress kissed the angel protagonist goodbye and headed off stage for the next scene. She could see now why mortals were so interesting to gods, their lives were so small, yet they had such an incredible effect on everything around them. To miss out on seeing one of them rise to power, see what they could do before their fate threads were cut, she'd never see another person like Selene. Once she was gone, there was no guarantee the empire would continue. Hrist had seen many an empire rise and fall, either due to invasion or inner corruption. It might be possible for her to find some man of her dreams, have children and those would have new heirs to the throne. A part of that thought angered her. No man was good enough for this empress. She doubted there was anyone even close to her in power on this planet, let alone this "solar system" that the dev had told her about.

She had fought against mortals, beaten them, destroyed wizards that attempted to reach Asgard. And yet, she had seen these mortals battle against their own short lifespan, raged against the universe to show everything that they were alive, that they mattered in such a short amount of time. In one battle, she was told by her sisters of an army of soldiers knowing they were going to die, fight against a demon army just to buy time for a town to evacuate. They knew their end was coming, but did not once hesitate, not once fell back as their families would for sure perish. That bravery wasn't exactly new in her eyes, but the way they wanted to have their families continue, to live, to love, to grow, even without them getting to see their children grow up or see their grandchildren be born. The gods must have seen this, or they wouldn't involve themselves so much in mortal affairs.

The strength in such a small frail creature, to see them band together to fight against incredible odds, to win against almost impossible situations. This was the spark she was starting to see in them. If one had a vision, they could make it real if they worked hard enough, brought it to life and cared about it. Selene had built the start of an empire, waged war against an evil kingdom, gained a following not just as a great ruler, but as a goddess in their eyes… her eyes even. Healing those who needed it, protecting those who required her help; while she wasn't noble in all facets of her personality, not truly holy and good, she did her best to do the right thing. Her future thinking kept everything in check so far, kept them from losing to the abomination, found her sisters and ended the insanity of Sweet Water's mayor. It was no wonder Sigrun seemed a little surprised at the power radiating from the empress when she showed up for the ritual battle. That might have been what they sensed in heroes down on Midgard.

Her sisters were constantly having affairs with heroes. Even Odin and Freya were a little… promiscuous… with mortal men and women, she was starting to see why. This might have been the reason there was no issues serving mead in Valhalla's halls, they got to see new heroes, new mortals show up, each with a new personality and new way they lived life. They got to learn what they were missing.

Another battle erupted on the stage as soldiers fought in vain against angels while the main male protagonist questioned a captain as to the whereabouts of his beloved. Another fight broke out, with both of them moving around the massive platform, jumping over props and giving the audience a show. Hrist could relate, there's not one single army that would get between her and the empress, she'd fight through Hel alone, without anyone else assisting if she needed to, just to bring her back if the ruler to her left was stranded.

The curtains closed and opened for a background change again, with the battle maiden looking away quickly as Selene looked over at her and smiled. "Like the play so far?" she asked with a smile on her face. In the dim light, the smile seemed to act like a sun in her eyes.

"Yes, though it is… tragic…" she replied as a glass of juice was provided to the empress while some ice cream was given to Hrist. There was a plan building in her mind, though she had no idea how to bring it to fruition. She'd figure out some way of making Selene immortal, somehow. It might be possible the auburn-haired woman already knew of ways to bring about this transition, but until she knew for sure, she'd keep an eye out for any magical items, any magic or ritual, any treasure or legendary potion to bring about this change. She didn't want her to die from old age, she didn't want her to shuffle off her mortal coil. The Valkyrja couldn't bare it, potentially taking her own life if that ever happened. She now realized her attempt to kill her in the temple was a grave mistake she was grateful had failed.

Giles chatted with Selene for a little bit as the empress chuckled. "Oh! I nearly forgot" she quietly told him as she pulled from her pocket an intricate symbol showing a blacksmith working on a forge. The emblem was beautiful, with gold and silver wrapping the outside. "I wanted to ask you something. I, Empress Selene, would wish to nominate you as Guild Master for the blacksmiths of my empire. Will you accept?" she asked.

The smith was awe struck, staring at the emblem and rubbing his fingers over the top. It was incredible quality, with a small watch inserted in the top that worked perfectly. "I… don't know what to say lass…" he replied as Abby looked over his shoulder. "There are better than me though, I'm sure of it."

"Bullshit, Hrist told me about your swords you have hidden away. Even she said they were worthy of a king to have. Your quality is unparalleled."

"At least as long as I'm not being compared to yours, your majesty" he quickly replied as a smirk popped onto his mouth. She rolled her eyes up to the sky and smiled a little.

"Well… that's the exception. However, you're the best at blacksmithing, bar none. Teach others to be as good as you are, and they can travel throughout the empire to do the same as you, helping the towns and cities with repairs, crafting weapons and armor for aspiring adventurers, nobility, anything."

"I… still don't know what to say…"

"You can say yes, or you'll look like a buffoon!" Abby chided as her hand gently clasped his. He looked at her with a gleam in his eye. Then he glanced up at Selene and down at the emblem one final time, nodding.

"I will accept. I thank you, truly. I am so ever honored with this. Is there going to be a guildhall built?" he asked.

"Yes, just getting the plans ready. My construction teams are a little busy right now rebuilding Sweet Water, but once that's complete, they'll come over here to get a few more things up and built." He reached up to give her a hug, which she received and held him. "Congratulations to you, and to you for having a wonderful husband you can be proud of."

Abby was almost crying as her lower lip trembled, but Giles turned around and hugged his wife close. Due to the new job, his smithy would probably be sold, but in exchange he'd be able to live in the guildhall with his wife, along with a training building with multiple forges ready, including a master craft forge and small foundry. He would be coordinating with Skuld, along with other Guild Masters in the future. Having a council dedicated to education and economy would help immensely in the foreseeable timeline when new guilds were created. Carpentry, sewing, magic, farming, trading, everything would be controlled carefully by good guilds that want the economy to flourish, for the people to do well.

As the curtains moved back once more, they got back in their seats, ready for the final scenes to play out. The main female protagonist eventually died from old age after being saved by a small army of angels at the castle, with her soul being brought up to heaven to be with her lover for all eternity. There was crying in the bleachers as the townsfolk dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs and tissues. The curtains closed for a minute one more time before opening again and having the entire cast come out and bow to the audience. Almost as if on cue, the main female protagonist got up and lost her footing just at the end, breaking her ankle.

Selene got up from her seat and climbed down from her platform to the stand, checking the actress's leg. There was concern in the audience, but the empress quickly cast a **[Heal]** on the extremity, fixing the bone easily. The actress thanked her profusely, with the troop all worried it might have affected the view of the play in the empress's eyes, despite it being over now. "You did very well, I was engrossed with the play. You've all done a great job and put a lot of work into this. The sets were great too, I can see a lot of detail." They were extremely happy with how she was treating them. While she didn't know it, the troop had lost on two occasions two actors to nobles throwing temper tantrums about their performance. This ruler seemed far more understanding than anyone in Artinia by a wide margin.

The citizens of Gold Pine applauded to the troop as they bowed, this time without a medical issue arising. The troop of actors got to settle down behind the curtains and eat as the whole event slowly closed down. "I've heard they are thinking of staying here to act out other plays" Stafinson told Selene quietly.

"That's great news, it'll be nice to have some entertainment around here." The dev was glad to hear it, as not having tv, movies or anything beyond video games and books as something to keep her occupied in her free time was nice to have. Sparring with Hrist, hunts with the wolves, exercising and swimming were all normal things to do in the day, let alone check on the economy, work through any issues that would arise or complaints, check on the armies that were going to take towns and perform speeches for the new subjects of her empire. Getting a reason to travel to the towns, villages and cities other than inspecting them was great in her eyes. It also meant she'd have to build an auditorium for orchestras and operas. The people very well could move into Renaissance soon with new music and theatre to be seen. If she finally saw a cutlass, that would prove it.

"Thank you to all of our audience, thank you to the mayor of this incredible town… and thank you to the fair and glorious empress of this empire, who came to watch us. I would wish for blessings on you, your majesty, but I'm afraid you are the one who blesses others. A true goddess made flesh watches over these people" the main male protagonist shouted to everyone as he looked upon her visage and bowed again. Everyone kneeled, including the townsfolk. It seemed the religion wasn't going to be stopped now. The dev sighed a little under her breath and stood, straightened her back and tried to look as regal as she could. There was no chance of ending it anymore, it had started building throughout the empire. She just hoped it didn't get too fervent and start doing blood sacrifices in her honor.

Skuld gave Selene a small hug before heading to the students who were amazed at the empress assisting the actors, but Hrist was a little annoyed at seeing her hug the battle maiden's sister. She had yet to receive one, as she had at first thought it was for family or lovers. It frustrated her a little bit that she didn't take her up on the offer on the flagship. There might have been a way to get a hug in the future somehow, she'd just have to figure out a way to let it on that she was fine with it without letting her know about… something else…

As the people dispersed slowly to their homes, the royal team got up and walked back to the waiting helibot. It had gotten a little late, well past 10 pm when the play had ended. The women talked about the scenes that were enacted, the actors and what they liked about it as they boarded and headed back to the castle, with the wolves lying close to their alpha. Hrist seemed to have to fight for a little space next to Selene with Blue, who just really wanted to be close to her.

Once back at the castle, they headed back to their respective bedrooms with Blue wagging his tail. "Alright, you guys have too much energy, I'm going to need to take you on a hunt or something tomorrow." Luna barked at that as they ran around the empress, though they knew it was time for bed.

"May I come?" Hrist asked, seeming a little bashful though trying to hide it. Selene glanced over her shoulder and nodded.

"Of course, there's nothing that's stopping you from doing so. More the merrier. Sorry we didn't spar again today, after the hunt we can try again. You know, it could be interesting to go hunting with Liyana. I want to see one of these Eld Horns."

"That… would be nice…" the Valkyrja responded. The empress ushered the pack into her room and said good night to her General, with the raven-haired woman doing the same.

At that point, she felt like a cold shower would do some good.


	23. Ch 22 Silvinholm

_**14th, November**_

Selene had one last look at her backpack and items she would carry with her into Silvinholm. There was almost no reason to bring the bag beyond looking as if they had supplies, being regular adventurers in most people's eyes. It was carrying an assortment of gear, a grappling hook, lantern, some healing potions, knife and utensils, a pot and pan and a small tent to name a few. None of it would really be used, it was just there to make the two women look like they had been camping and had to take care of themselves. Hidden away was always the empress's inventory with a vast amount of food, items and equipment that could be pulled out at a moment's notice.

Jeeves and the maids would be providing food to the two maids in a special pocket dimension hidden while they were away, with a special meal for Blue. He had apparently jumped into the helibot and wouldn't leave yesterday, somehow knowing his alpha was going to be gone for a little bit. Ash was going to be taken care of by Brynhildr, and Luna would be hanging out at the academy with Skuld, to the enjoyment of the students. This would be the first time they'd be separated, but it also meant they'd each get attention meant just for them without sharing. As long as Skuld and Bryn allowed them to hunt a little for small game, the wolves not going on the trip would be fine. They received a bath, however, to Blue's chagrin.

The main reason Selene had decided on only allowing Blue to come was that taking three wolves into the city was a great way of turning heads, especially if Luna showed up. With just one black wolf it would look like she was a ranger or maybe a druid. She had thought of putting a collar on him, but that would make him look fully domesticated, and not really fit in with a ranger's visage.

The dev wasn't attempting to go as any one class, as it wasn't certain there was any real class at all for adventurers. Clerics, maybe, or a wizard with an assortment of spells, but most of the others were probably just called something to differentiate themselves from each other. This was real life, not a class-based game where someone was stuck going down one path and couldn't learn to pick a lock while being a warrior.

The armor sets were complete, both of them rated as Epic quality tier, but looking like Professional to throw off any intrigue from the locals. The circlets both Selene and Hrist would wear dropped their levels to a sneaky 25, easily moving unnoticed as long as they didn't call attention to themselves by speaking oddly or starting a fight. Keeping their distance, writing down what they saw for later intel review, and attempting meetings with the nobility was the primary goal. Secondary goal was to gather seeds, books, magical items and maps, then get the lay of the economy in the city.

For the past three days, it was just the empress preparing for the trip, sparring with Hrist and teaching her as well as Brynhildr the Martial Arts styles and moves. Barring anything physical, there was also construction going on for an observatory ELT, along with three launches of shuttles to drop into LEO, Low Earth Orbit; a satellite dish array was also in the mix. This wasn't Earth, but it wasn't as if anyone else out there would understand if she explained what LEO meant, so she could call it whatever the hell she wanted. These satellites were for GPS, with a theory it might have an effect on her map.

Right now, her mini map in her Hud always showed her position and the direction she pointed, but it didn't provide any coordinates. If her hunch was correct, the GPS would give XYZ coordinates. A new module added to the fabrication units allowed all automatons to provide a full topographical update to the satellites, to provide constant and accurate information on where she was at any time, including her military. Previously she just saw green dots or blue dots depending on where they were on the map or if they were looking at citizens in one of her towns. Green represented the automatons, blue was a friendly, yellow was an unknown potentially neutral, orange was an unknown potentially hostile, and red was verified as hostile. Purple was a complete unknown, with a powerful reading, potentially mechanical or electronic. She hadn't seen one of those outside the empire, ever.

Another two satellites were going to be launched today before she left with Hrist, spy satellites set for GEO, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit. Much higher than the GPS satellites, they'd be spying on the surroundings and provide a very crisp layout of the land, people and provide delayed analytics, which could be beamed to the ornithopters to get a closer look. Despite it being delayed, the information was much faster than having ornithopters everywhere for surveillance, allowing the empress to position them much more effectively and use less of the flyers to get more information. The only reason it would be delayed intel was simply the satellite having to zoom into sectors and increase resolution to figure out what it was looking at, the actual transfer was instant due to Selene's **{Communication is Key}** ability.

There would be two more satellites launched later, one for astronomical observation and finally an OKKS planned. Beyond those, she wasn't sure just yet, though there was a plan for far more GPS to completely cover the world. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be there to see the launches until after the trip. There were times when she wasn't going to be there for certain ceremonies the dev realized, so certain events would have to take place without her micromanaging everything. That might be odd in some cases, with Bryn moving to take Puldoros Orchards and Werelosil Town. She trusted Bryn to give a decent speech, as the blonde was pretty good at talking to people. The shield maiden must have had far more experience with interacting with mortals than all the others.

"Ok… got this finished… the helibot is prepped to carry us part ways…" Selene started to talk to herself to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. The backpacks were filled, the armor was ready to be worn, circlets were ready with no discomfort, a permanent pocket dimension was created with a house inside of it with three bedrooms and two maids. There were plans to get that replaced it with a mansion, but the whole deal was only going to be temporary at best if they were inside the city, though the pocket dimension would be used for other things later down the road. The two women would rent a room with two beds or maybe two rooms total, then sneak into the pocket dimension and sleep in rooms there. The main issue was there was no sun inside, so the whole place was dark without electric lights constantly running. That also meant it was difficult to tell if outside was night or day, so clocks were placed just about everywhere.

There was no time dilation effect inside, even if it was normally possible. The ground itself also could not support a farm, no matter how small it was. No sun with no dirt meant everything had to be outsourced.

The launch of the first spy satellite engaged in the distance, showing as a marker in her Hud as she looked up and saw… nothing. The whole thing was designed to be as stealthy as possible to make sure no one saw a massive fiery object flying up into the sky and away from the planet. The only reason she knew was the warnings in her Hud informing of the impending countdown. It would take roughly twenty minutes to reach its intended height to drop off the spy sat and come back down. The old space shuttle from the U.S. took eight and a half minutes to reach LEO, so the time required to get anything higher seemed about right, give or take a few more minutes. The engines she was using weren't necessarily faster, but they were far more efficient than previously used and much easier to control.

Turnie had figured out just how annoying Scooze is. While it wasn't lethal unless a massive amount was ingested, people did start to gain a resistance to it, requiring a larger volume to be smoked or drank. Apparently, it could be a liquid or a crystal form, with dilution not really having much change on the effectiveness. The healer had figured out a way to cleanse someone's system from the effect a while ago, but now she also had a detox serum to reset the body to a much smaller dosage of the drug. They hadn't introduced the serum in pill form until Selene could get back from Silvinholm and decide carefully if this drug should be allowed. The creation of Scooze seemed relatively simple, though it did require salt water for the cleaning process.

Once the algae was introduced into the ocean, the toxins that were floating around started to be cleaned up, but what was interesting was the spotting of merfolk popping their heads up from the surface and checking things out. They must have noticed someone was trying to fix what the pirates were doing and see if there was anyone around either to communicate with or spy on. It wasn't certain if they'd be friendly, but it might soon be required to enter diplomacy with them in some capacity. One thing she realized was there were no sub nautical automatons created other than submarines. Getting some flippers on them could help figure out what was in the far deeps of the oceans.

Tier 5 magic immunity had been developed, providing a new mixture to be layered into armor. From what a student advised Skuld at one point, which was told to the empress, the best wizards around used tier 6 magic, though they were very rare. That seemed to be a new goal now, making all of her military completely immune to what the Artinians could launch at them. There might be a legendary hero they have that could reach maybe tier 7, but that might be a one-time thing or just not even exist.

"Are you ready?" Selene asked Hrist, who was sharpening the new sword that was provided to her. There was no real need for her to do that, however it was something that was keeping her occupied while the empress reviewed what they had to bring.

"Waiting on you, just need to don the armor." The dev nodded as she headed upstairs to her room, took a quick shower and then armored up. Both women strapped the backpacks on and said goodbye to the other Valkyrja sisters, then to the two wolves staying behind. Luna and Ash both whined, unhappy they weren't coming with them. Despite Selene doing it once with Gold Pine, she had learned her lesson now. Skuld gave Luna a scratch behind her ears as Ash sat next to Bryn.

"We'll be back, don't worry. It's just a few days, a week tops." Blue just hopped into the helibot, this time expected to come with them.

"Don't scare the adventurer's guild too much you two" Bryn chuckled out. They just looked at each other and blinked.

"I'm hoping they won't even know we're there beyond asking some questions and getting out" Selene replied.

"All the same, if you get into trouble, remember, you don't need to hold back if no one else sees you" Skuld commented. Hrist and the empress both got into the helibot as they waved at the two other women, who nodded and waved back. They could see as the transport lifted off that the sisters walked to two other transports and headed to the academy and near Puldoros Orchards. Bryn was eager to take that place and prove she was a capable General.

The SF helibot flew over the Azaltos Mountains and headed to a halfway point that wouldn't be noticed by any travelers. The trip was boring and silent as Hrist just sat with her arms crossed while Selene checked her perks. All of them were upgraded to one hundred percent, which took a healthy number of computers being dissolved. It was worth it though, with a massive boost to her stats as long as certain criteria were met, mainly using specific weapons or armor. She had also gained fifteen levels, bringing her up to 160 now. That was one hundred fifty points available for stats, three hundred for skills. She also drank six Stat Potions and used six slap patches for a total of two hundred eighty-two stat points, not including the other twenty-two that were sitting around.

One hundred went into Movement Speed, bringing it to two hundred percent boost. Combined with armor and psionics, she had after images appear when she tested against Hrist. Another one hundred was shoved into attack speed, making it not fun for her bodyguard to defend against her. She now had to slow down a little to make sparring even, as long as she was wearing armor.

A final one hundred was placed in Psionic Power, to double the effect of any psionic abilities she had. Surprisingly, that had no effect on the Biomimetic Barrier, only what she cast out. It was probably due to the fact the barrier itself was connected in some way to her HP and Mana right now, with an almost certainty to get Rage or Stamina added very soon to the pool. The effect it had on Pyrokinesis was pretty impressive, causing a small crater instead of destroying a stuffed training dummy. Telekinesis could pull a slab of marble across the arena, with the dirt being shifted around by the block as it dug forward. The entire test was to see what would cause an issue with the movement of the slab, not if she could lift it and fling it through the air.

The last four points were dunked into Molecular Reformation Range, just because. For skill points she put fifty into Tracking, eighty-five into Dancing, one hundred into Driving and sixty-five into Zero Gravity. She could dance like a star, drive and win most races, track just about anything and move about while weightless. The only thing she worried about was once she had her first spacewalk would she lose her lunch. She had heard about people's bodies going completely out of whack for the first few days of being in space, not eating or sleeping well at all to no gravity telling them what to do naturally. Eventually the body learns though. Even though she had antigravity capability, creating gravity plates in a spaceship wasn't quite on the table just yet. Another tech tier would fix that hopefully, but until then centrifugal force would allow her to not have any long-lasting health issues.

Oddly, Dancing and Zero Gravity provided no abilities. Tracking, for obvious reasons, did. **{Den Marking}** , **{Reacquire Target}** and **{Always Got My Eye on You}** was gained for Tracking. Driving, for some amusing reason, gave only one ability, **{Evel Knievel}.**

 **{Den Marking}** provided a mark on every spot already investigated on her map that had animals living in it. The whole thing updated as a passive ability, showing where bears were, mountain lions, gryphons, everything. It didn't work if she couldn't see the area or hadn't had something visit it yet, like her military or her new spy satellites. Given she didn't hunt much anymore, it could be used for national parks in the future, to protect the wildlife and warn hikers "don't go here, wolves and bears." It could also help zoologists to teach students in schools, to learn more about their world.

 **{Reacquire Target}** worked literally like an aim bot program, allowing her to lock onto a lost target behind a wall or other cover. It had to be used as an active ability and had a pretty significant cooldown of an hour. Not that great for combat, at least after the first kill, but would make hunting take all of a few minutes at most. It seemed like it could be useful for sniping, knowing where a critical target was and shooting a round, correcting for wind and drop. This made her wonder if it could even compensate for Coriolis Effect in space. Orbital Sniping might be a very real strategy for any enemy who she didn't want to see an army at their front door.

 **{Always Got My Eye on You}** worked on the principle of attempting to track someone or something in a crowd. No matter where that person would go, she'd be able to pick them out easily and continue to follow them, even if they were trying to lose a tail. This seemed like it was at most a gimmick ability, as she could just mark the target in her Hud and be done with it. It might have had an effect of always knowing what the target was doing, but that worried her if the person she was observing went into a restroom to relieve themselves or did… other things. It could give an early warning if whoever she was following caught wind of the tail and resorted to pulling a sword, attempting to create an ambush for the two women.

 **{Evel Knievel}** allowed her to defy the laws of physics while driving a vehicle. There wasn't much else to explain about it, drifting always allowed her to regain traction, drive on two wheels, drive on an angled wall or barrel roll after launching from a ramp. While it wouldn't exactly come into much use beyond hobby stunt driving, as well as make Hrist have a brown pants moment as she barreled through the air in a muscle car, the ability did seem at least a little useful. Getting a chance to drive a convertible and feeling the wind in her hair on a coastal winding highway would be kind of nice without needing to slow down much.

"30 seconds to land" she heard from the helibot via coms as Selene nodded to Hrist and stood up. The bladeless fans made it a lot easier to not be moved or lose her balance inside, despite her Agility stat. As the transport descended and opened its doors, both women exited the vehicle and watched as it took off. A final "good luck ma'am" was heard from it as the helibot headed back to… a hidden air fleet. _Majesty's Grace_ and 1st fleet were nearby, ready in case she needed assistance. The chances of that seemed extremely remote but having backup nearby at all times was playing it safe. The Orb of Experiences was left in the treasury. While it could be useful while inside Silvinholm, she wanted to play it safe and make sure no one could steal it. The artifact didn't have a maximum it could hold, so the amount of experience it had, combined with actions, could either make someone else a threat or blow them up, causing a disaster in the city.

Now, it was just Selene and Hrist standing in an open field with Blue ready to trot around, no real sound beyond a few bugs and a light wind. "Welp, time to get moving" she said as her bodyguard nodded in agreement. The small team started to run towards the city in the far-off distance, making sure they weren't moving anywhere near Mach 1, Blue being carried by Selene the whole way. They didn't want anyone to hear their approach, and a sonic boom wouldn't help matters. At their speed, they quickly reached the five-mile visual range of Silvinholm, slowing down and activating invisibility cloaks to mask their presence. Casting **[Flight]** was an option, but it wasn't nearly as fast as how they could move on the ground. Using her amulet to teleport there could have worked, but she wasn't certain they'd appear right in the middle of a group of people.

"Are we going through the front gate?" Hrist asked. Her eyes roamed the entrance, with two large metal reinforced wood doors. There were ten mercenary guards checking for contraband or paperwork surprisingly. They might have been looking at lists of what the traders were bringing in. The line was huge, reaching almost a mile back with wagons and people walking along with large backpacks.

"Nope. Not going through there. It will take forever to get inside. We'll be going in from a different approach." Hrist followed Selene as they headed around the side of the huge walls, reaching up to fifty feet in height. What the guards roaming the ramparts wouldn't know, was that two women leapt over the top, their strength and agility easily allowing them to bypass the fortifications and land as quietly as they could behind a small house via **[Silence]** cast. Blue was set down on his paws as they surveyed the small back area they were in.

"And we're in. Remember, be careful what you say, alright? It's better if we use fake names as well" the empress told her quietly as she peeked around the corner. There was a very small alleyway between the house and a line of other homes. It was a city after all, so most residential locations were crammed together to fit as many people as they could.

 _The whole idea of lawns and white picket fences would be completely alien to them…_

"So… um… should I call you… Sel?" Hrist asked, not sure how to name her.

"What? No, nothing close to my real name. Whoever does that is guaranteed to be figured out… as long as the people aren't idiots at least… call me… call me Ilana. You can be… um… I dunno… got an idea?" Hrist looked up at the sky and thought for a moment.

"Bryn…ya?" she said, almost asking her empress if it was ok.

"Brynya. Well, ok. Yes, it works. Ilana and Brynya. So anytime you need to talk to me, use that name, alright?" Hrist nodded in agreement. They both snuck out of the alleyway and into a bustling street with hundreds of people moving everywhere. It seems they walked right into a side market, with small stalls on both sides of the road. Buildings seemed to tower almost as high as the walls that protected the city. While nowhere near as big as what Selene was used to, she was amazed they had the structural integrity to support the weight with middle age tech.

Despite what she was expecting, the city seemed to be fairly clean, with paid security at certain corners to protect the peace. The nobles probably thought crime was bad for business, so they enforced law, at least their laws that they thought up. That could have been anything from you shall not murder to slaves cannot be sold for less than a certain price. They both walked down the street slowly, looking at each stall. The weather wasn't overcast, with the sun shining. Shop keeps were yelling out to the people, to crowds, asking them to come in and peruse their wares. Most of it was food, two of the stalls were makeshift pens for livestock, one was jewelry. There was a group that were attempting to sell contracts for indentured servants, seeming to tell the women that slaves weren't normally a thing, except when paying off debts.

Hrist seemed to slightly scowl at the quality of the amulets and earrings. They were nowhere near fit for royalty in her eyes. Still, Selene checked them out as they moved from stall to stall, looking for anything that caught their eye for the grocery list. They also kept an eye out for anyone that looked to be either well to do or worked for the rich. Unfortunately, since it was a side market and not the main bazaar, it was doubtful they'd see anyone buying from here that was connected to the noble houses of Artinia.

The dev found cotton seeds selling for next to nothing. Apparently, there was very little farming being done near the city now, with most food imported from surrounding towns and villages. That was both an advantage and an easy way to cause the city to collapse if a siege every happened. However, due to the massive presence of mercenaries and adventurer's guild, it was probably suicidal for anyone without a large army to attempt it… or mechanized infantry. She was already seeing multiple security issues just walking through the small market.

Once they moved down another street and explored a little, they got a tiny bit lost. The empress pulled up her map, adding in the new spy satellite footage for a quick run down of the streets of the city. While they would still need a paper map bought to tell which building was which, she could at least navigate to certain places. Most people steered clear of them as they stood to the side of the road they were on, noticing their professional armor and swords. They either looked like rich noble's daughters playing adventurer or were deadly contracted mercenaries capable of killing people at a moment's notice.

Once she got the lay of the land, they continued weaving through the streets until they reached the main road carving right through the middle of the city, where the real merchant district was. The place was massive, with signs everywhere in a language Selene still didn't read very well. She had asked Giles to help with translating letters, and could figure out the basic words, but anything that was supposed to be exotic she couldn't make heads or tails.

"Brynya… can you read any of this? I can pick out Tavern and Inn, but… the rest of the words on the signs I can't figure out." Hrist stepped in front of her and squinted.

"Bookstore… Hair Salon…" the battle maiden started to name the buildings attached to the signs. There was a grocery store, books, barber, armor smith, blacksmith, specialty swordsmith, weaponsmith, magical items store, alchemist and quite a few others. Some of the shops had to be reached by stairs to get to the second or third floor of the buildings. There were so many citizens moving around it was difficult to see where they were going.

"Don't get lost, your ma… er… Ilana" Hrist told the empress as she smirked and raised an eyebrow. Both ladies walked down the street, looking into windows and shops to figure out what they needed to buy. The dev bought a pack of assorted seeds, some of which were normally considered poisonous if not treated properly. While not exactly food, the poisonous herbs could be researched later. At one point, Selene walked towards a bookstore, right next to a candy shop. Hrist seemed to gravitate towards the sweets it seemed.

"You can head in, I'm just going to take a look at what's on the shelves, I might be able to pick up some more history books." The Valkyrja bit her lip as she worried about her empress going into the store alone, but nodded in agreement, expecting to meet up with her right after. The dev checked through the books, picking ones out that might have been interesting, asking the shop keep what each one was to make sure she wasn't picking up a random romance novel. Some of the books were, in fact, very smutty. The fact that there even was a bookstore meant there was duplication magic available, at least for simple objects it seems.

Once she had a decent number of books stashed away in her backpack and satchel, she paid the shop keep and walked out. Hrist was still inside the candy shop next to her, picking out and sampling hundreds of different sweets. The empress stepped in to the store and watched as the merchant seemed a little too friendly, helping her partner test all sorts of delicious morsels.

 _She's going to be bouncing off the walls for the rest of this trip! I should have brought her into the other shop…_

"Ok Brynya, what have you found that you want to buy?" Selene asked as she tried to calm down the excited Valkyrja. Hrist looked at her and blinked, realizing that the dev was there. She calmed down very quickly, but still wanted to buy things… the equivalent of half the store. "No, no… how about this. We're going to be in the city for a few days, how about you get a sample bag? We can come back later."

"Hmm… that does seem to be the best option… I'll take… those" Hrist replied as she pointed to a large selection of sweets in a glass case. She then bought some ice cream to top off the sugar overload she was about to have. As the ladies left the store, they saw a man get tackled to the ground by mercenaries, pulling away a bag from his hands and checking the contents. A woman ran up and kicked him in the leg, before one of the mercenaries handed her the satchel. She thanked him and watched as they carted the thief off to wherever their jail was. Selene couldn't say they weren't protecting the people. This was not like the Artinia she had seen at Eld Horn and in the western reaches.

As they made their way down the street once again, Hrist pointed to a sign letting them both know it was the adventurer's guild. It sat nestled between two large buildings, one was clearly the tax collector, the other seemed to be an armory shop. Blue sat down and looked at the building, then looked up at his alpha. "We should probably go get rooms before we head in there. I'd rather we not get stuck asking questions or listening in just to find ourselves out on the street for the night" the empress said with a smirk. They absolutely did not need them, as the pocket dimension could be opened in the back of an alley and closed, being completely invisible and the size of a marble in the corner, or on a rooftop away from prying eyes. The air fleet was also just within a few miles, they could easily leave and come back the next day.

"Understood" Hrist simply replied as she finished her ice cream. Selene had already given her a little speech that the sugar would spoil her appetite for later and could cause cavities in her teeth, but that was before the battle maiden learned about taffy and other confections. A bag of caramel popcorn was hanging from her backpack as she stood there. Interestingly, the Valkyrja all brushed their teeth twice a day, knowing to maintain their hygiene even beyond the norm of the citizens of Artinia or any other kingdom. The empress knew about brushing habits from history classes, about people chewing on bristly sticks and using those to remove plaque. Hrist's teeth were extremely healthy, probably more due to the fact she was a semi-celestial being than actual hygienic action. Sadly, Selene couldn't say the same for herself, as she brushed and used dental floss now that it was available. While using healing spells would repair damaged teeth, she didn't want to have to do that due to hygiene being low. Her subjects wouldn't say anything, however having bad breath would embarrass the living hell out of her.

Her small toiletry bag hidden on the top of the backpack was just for show, as the real bathroom soaps, lotions and conditioners were inside the pocket dimension.

Once they got their rooms, they'd make sure no one saw them and the doors locked, then place door spikes on the bottom to wedge the entrances closed, seal the windows and slip inside to drop their packs off, sleeping on clean high-end beds with no bed bugs. The dev was unsure if each room was being kept clean enough, as it wouldn't be certain if the innkeeper would know a cleaning magic spell. As they passed the guild and walked further down the road to the huge inn, they could see the tavern right next to it bustling. Apparently, both were separate buildings here as compared to Moira's doubling as both traveler's stop and for people to relax. She made a mental note to have the place split, with Moira given the opportunity to manage both. In this way, the innkeeper would make more money and not have to worry about the drunkards trying to grab her ass all the time.

The women walked in to be met with a friendly, and small, rotund man with a curl of a hair on his head. His salt and pepper mustache was exaggeratedly moving around as he welcomed them to his humble inn, explaining that he had twenty rooms still available and the amenities provided. It was almost comical how expressive he was, gesturing wildly around himself at the building and showing the way to the awe inspiring "indoor bathrooms and restrooms." For obvious reasons, most people would have been astounded at the thought that the outhouse was inside the building, with no need to leave it to relieve themselves. Selene was unimpressed, though she smiled and thanked him for the very small tour. They received keys for two rooms, went upstairs and to the fourth floor, unloaded their random pack inventory to make it look like they were staying there, then snuck carefully into the pocket dimension to check in at the hidden house.

Electric lamps lit the way as they entered and went to their respective bedrooms, two maids waiting for them. The inn was clean with decent beds, but the house was on a whole other level. Anyone from Artinia would believe it was made for royalty, at least until seeing the Clockwork Palace of course. Once they were situated, they quickly exited and checked to make sure no one was peeking through the keyholes before removing the door spike and leaving to investigate the adventurer's guild. There was a magician's guild much further down the main street as well, that might have been a spot to check out after. It seemed a little odd they'd be separate, but it might be possible the magician's guild acted as a place for magic casters to learn and improve their skills rather than team up. It also seemed a little silly having a group of magic casters with no warriors or archers in the mix.

Both ladies opened the doors to enter the adventurer's hallway, seeing twin wrapping stairways up to a second floor, both surrounding a curved reception desk. To the left was a waiting area with a good thirty circular tables and chairs, to the right was what she could only think was a small bank set in the wall. It must have been where they stored the rewards for the adventurers once they completed their quests. The top floor seemed to be where almost everyone was at, either near the windows to look outside or along the safety railings. The building itself wrapped around a courtyard where the warriors or rangers could practice and spar with each other, aiming at training dummies or move through a crude gauntlet to test their agility. There was even a lockpicking table where she could only hypothesize the "thieves" would practice allowing entrance to dungeons or secret treasure halls for the teams.

Just to the right of the reception desk was a large double layered quest board that seemed to reach up to the second floor. They were covered with all sorts of requests, some to kill goblins, others to end an undead threat somewhere. Surprisingly, there were quite a few that just weren't worth doing at all, not because they required low effort to end a "kobold threat" or provided a poor reward, but because they involved very boring requests. There were finding lost pets requests, investigate where wives and husbands were secretly slipping away to, watching for tavern brawls and breaking them up. Those requests were for the private security force, not for adventurers. Still, some of them might have been strapped for cash and would do the easiest quests for some food or inn money.

"Welcome to the adventurer's guild! What can I help you with?" a woman said as she stood behind the reception desk with her hands clasped in front of her skirt. She had blonde titian curls falling around her neck and shoulders as she smiled at them, a beauty mark on her chin and pink lipstick on. She seemed to be wearing a blue dress with a white blouse underneath, frilled at the wrists and neckline. There was a small emblem on the left strap of her dress, proving she worked at the guild.

Selene and Hrist both looked at each other and blinked. "Uh… we're… uh… just, looking around. Um… can we ask a few questions?" Selene asked as they slowly walked up to the desk.

"Of course! We're always happy to help!" the woman beamed. As they neared her, they could see the hidden nametag hanging from her belt now behind the desk, Tilly. Hrist remained silent while Selene talked to the woman, explaining that they were visiting the area and just having a look around.

"Sure! Have a look! Are you two interested in joining maybe?" Tilly asked.

"Uh, we're not really adventurers. We're… uh…"

"Oh, my mistake. You must be captains for the nobility then?"

"Uh… I…" Selene hadn't quite hashed out their background stories well enough. There wasn't really going to be a need. "Yes, yes we are. Just looking at the talent here. Never know if quest needs to be written up for a specific client." The empress asked her about the city and how long the guild had been around, any advice for where to see and what not to do, how the different noble houses and families that lived in Silvinholm interacted with the guild. Tilly was a wealth of information, as she was probably asked these questions all the time. There were two other receptionists to her left that were helping adventurers walking up and getting odd tokens, some of them having copper dog tag plates on their armor. Quite a few had copper, some had iron, about five had silver. Only two had gold rank, one had platinum. Selene asked Tilly about the ranking structure and what it was for.

The blonde explained that the ranks were how qualified an adventurer was for a quest to keep them alive and away from more difficult battles. The ranks were copper, iron, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orichalcum, Adamantite. Hopefully Selene and Hrist looked like they were roughly gold or platinum to everyone, unimportant and not worth being watched. It was possible they looked more like a mithril adventurer, maybe even higher, but that was something the dev didn't want. Being boring and ignored was the best chance they had of not turning heads, because then questions would be asked that could blow their cover.

This was all regardless of them joining to become adventurers, as Selene didn't see a point to it. They would only be there a few days, a week at most, it wasn't as if her automaton army couldn't just sweep the land of all monsters later. She wondered what was going to happen to the guild once she gained control of the city. They'd either have to find new jobs or potentially, somehow, be employed by her empire. That was a can of worms she didn't want to open right now, it already boggled her mind. There wasn't one thing they could do that wouldn't be done better and faster by the automatons, by the new droids and robots she was quickly adding the technology from to her steampunk soldiers.

The empress received a small map, for free somehow, from Tilly as a welcome to the city. That had to prove there was duplication magic available, there was no way they'd just give out things like that made by a decent cartographer worth their salt. Hrist tapped Selene on her shoulder and she stopped speaking to the receptionist. "I… um… where is the… restroom?" she asked as she fidgeted.

"Oh! Just to the left and behind the stairs, first hallway and first door. Can't miss it" Tilly said beaming at her. The battle maiden nodded at Selene and left temporarily. The empress continued chatting with the blonde who chuckled a little when asked about different things. The receptionist tapped on the map and explained points of interest, history of the city and the guild and its affiliates, the security in Silvinholm and the citizens. The trade network made it the hub of Artinia, the lifeblood of the people. If it was ever lost, it would only be a matter of time before the kingdom would fall, unless the imperial city of Aureo didn't take up the reigns. The foundries for smelting ore in the city were huge, far larger than anything she ever built for one of her stations. That also might have been why they weren't as efficient. Her ingots were on par if not better than the quality of metal Giles could get from this place, with far less work involved.

"Well, thank you for answering my questions, I appreciate it. Um… is it possible to sit upstairs and observe the talent a little? I'll understand if you say no, I don't want to confuse anyone with them thinking we might be up for hire or anything" Selene asked with a smile on her face.

"Oh, not at all! Go on ahead! Just remember, if you decide to take a quest, you have to register with us first. Unfortunately, I have to let you know that you would start as a copper rank until you have proven you can handle yourself if you do." The dev did her best to hide her slight annoyance at that. The fact she would be considered a copper ranked adventurer, despite being able to fight toe to toe with Valkyrja, seemed to strike a nerve she didn't know she had. Her scan of the adventurers coming in, at least the ranks she had seen so far, were showing levels between 1 and 20, the one platinum being barely 17. She had no idea if the Artinian special forces, the ones that Bronze Team had taken out at a few points, were the oddity or adventurers were just bad.

The bandit army she had fought might have only been filled with level 1 to 15 at maximum, with Volgo maybe being one or two levels above. The scout commander that Deacon had shot had a level of 30, which might have meant he was the head of the reconnaissance branch of their military. The fact he went down with one shot from her sniper said a lot about how strong people were around here. The citizens walking around outside were levels 1 to 10, with the rare 11 showing up. Even the mercenaries seemed to fall in this range. Suddenly, she felt very awkward as her level was hidden at 25, but it seemed like that might even be too high.

That did remind the empress that she hadn't yet crafted a new scanner. It would have to wait until after the trip was finished it seemed. She thanked Tilly and walked up the stairs to the left, then sat down at a table and pulled out a history book from the small satchel she was still carrying. The backpacks were still being carried by them, now empty, in case they wanted to buy some more stuff. They still had yet to pick up any magical items yet, though they hadn't gone into the armor or weapon shops.

As she looked around, eyeing everyone, she secretly slipped the book into her inventory just under her cloak then pulled it right back out to translate it. That was all she needed as the first page was flipped open and she got to work figuring out the noble houses, their lineage and what they owned. It didn't say where they lived or the newest additions to their families, but it did provide a basis to start with. The map Tilly handed her did tell the woman where the upper districts were, the rich and famous living in small mansions or even entire city blocks.

Adventurers were talking to each other, moving from table to table as they picked their teams, joining up for different quests. Some were long time friends, others seemed to just want the pay and didn't care who they were with. It almost looked like they were picking who was going to play first string for sports teams. There were a few odd ones out that sat away from each other, waiting for someone to come up and talk to them. Hrist came back and sat down across from her, eyeing everyone on the second floor. It extended along the courtyard as well, so that onlookers could see just who the best in swordsmanship was, defending against attacks or hitting the bullseye. The small arena was there just to show off and prove they were the ones to group up with.

As teams seemed to move downstairs to pick their quests, there were still what seemed like fifty people left over. Some of them were even looking Selene and Hrist over, with their Professional armor and weaponry. It didn't hurt that they were pretty either, despite not wearing makeup. Hrist was by far and away better looking than Selene, as she was only a mortal being compared to a Valkyrja. The empress, however, wasn't really noticing them watching the table, as she was very interested in the noble houses written in the book. There were twelve houses, Folsen, Ardenis, Treeyul, Valgon, Edemus, Bachus, Reysor, Daldas, Everthorn, Windal, Yumerin and Rikter.

Two male adventurers got up and walked over to their table, sitting down. "Hey there" one of them said, a scruffy brown beard wrapping his face with his hair slicked back in a dropping ponytail. His armor seemed to be roughly Uncommon quality, maybe a little better. Selene looked up from the book at him. His friend sat with the chair flipped around, the back leaned on by his arms.

"Hi." She was calm as she eyed both of them up. Their levels were 14 and 15, though they were wearing platinum tags. The adventurer's guide she was given explained that platinum tended to be around Class B, or 40-50 in difficulty level for quests. 100 was supposed to be the strongest any human could ever fight on the difficulty range, which seemed to the empress to be maybe around the upper tier of Adamantite rank, probably level 30 or a little higher.

"So, we were thinking, two lovely young ladies such as yourself with that armor of yours, what do you say we team up and head somewhere? You both look like you might be able to handle yourselves in more than one way" the adventurer chuckled out, trying to entice her. Hrist was about to speak up, maybe even hit one of them, but Selene interrupted quickly.

"We aren't adventurers. We're simply observing talent for the noble houses, contracted if you were." The man tapped his finger three times on the table and pursed his lips for a second, before smiling.

"You uh, you like anything you see?" he asked. She could already tell he was attempting to peel her armor off with his eyes.

"So far, not impressed. Your cloak is dirty, you haven't washed in a while, your friend there seems a little drunk and I could easily break your sword at the cross guard from what little maintenance there seems to be. In any real fight, you're cannon fodder. I'd suggest getting your equipment tended to." His eyes widened, then he became angry. There was a sign on the wall that Selene couldn't read but Hrist did, which said no fighting inside the building. The man stood up and was poking at her right pauldron and snapping at her. Blue was sitting under the table growling at him.

"Bah! What do you know? You really think you can take on the same things I do? I'd like to see you try!" he shouted at her with others watching. Hrist was about to grab her sword and cut him in two at the waist, but a quick glance from her empress stopped her. There was nothing this man could do to her, no weapon he could use right now that would harm her body below Rare quality tier. It was almost certain that these people had access to magical equipment, but that magic was in fact a lower quality tier, equivalent to Professional or Elite or even lower, nowhere near Blessed raid gear even. Even if he had access to something strong, it would hit her Biomimetic Barrier or Class 2 shields wrapping around her body, and that was if he could even hit her. Hrist had nothing to worry about, these adventurers were no threat, she was just pissed that this man was dirtying her armor with his finger.

"I don't think, I know. Go bother someone else sir, I can see we aren't getting along. We're simply here to observe." Blue growled louder at him, but kept his spot, waiting for his alpha to decide how to engage. As much as she would have loved nothing more than to slam his head against the table and launch his friend into the great unknown, they had to keep their skills and abilities hidden as much as possible. Even if they did get into a fight, they'd have to slow down and not hit nearly as hard. There would be no craters, no shattering weapons or moving at hypersonic speed to reach an enemy. She wouldn't be dicing up some monster like a blender. The restrictions would have to be conscious though, holding back would require them to pull their punches a lot.

"Oh, fuck you bitch. So high and mighty! You see this? This is a platinum plate! That means I can take some of the toughest monsters out there! What do you have? Not even a copper! What a joke! Damned merc captains think they're so much better than us, fucking bitch…" he snapped with a gesture of his hand in the air, then trailed off into a mumble as they both left. There was no need to fight, though her General was just itching to go after them and turn their bodies into fine pink mists, her wolf ready to crush their ankles or rip out a throat. However, both of them were just waiting for Selene to give the go ahead. The empress shook her head slightly, telling Hrist to let it go. Insulting her was just words, there was no physical altercation, despite the man poking at her armor. Had he done further, she was already thinking of grabbing his finger and breaking it to teach him a lesson.

As the hour went by, with Hrist eating some taffy and putting her feet up on another chair, Selene just kept reading the book and watching alongside the Valkyrja. The two men somehow managed to get a group ready and headed downstairs, eyeing the two women and muttering something, probably insulting again. Other teams filtered out, with a few stragglers still sitting. There was one boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, sitting in the corner with his eyes on the table in front of him and his hands placed in his lap. He was wearing what looked to be a priest's white robe with an ornate staff next to him. No gold could be seen, but there was a little silver and crystal in the head of the staff. He had blonde long hair and for the most part, could be misconstrued as a pretty girl. The only reason she knew the priest was a he was a simple fact her scanner in her Hud told her the gender. The whole look and robes screamed female, however.

Selene looked at him for a minute, noticing his level was 5. He was a copper rank it seemed, with no one picking him or talking to him for a team placement. Finally, even the stragglers finished grouping up, the coppers and irons heading out to find something they could do. He was the last one sitting there, no one even headed in his direction.

"I would think a group would want a healer or priest with them, does this seem odd to you?" she asked as quietly as she could, almost a whisper. Hrist looked at him and nodded.

"It does seem odd. Perhaps he is ostracized due to something he has done? Potentially shameful?" Hrist replied. The dev glanced between her General and the boy.

"I dunno, it could be he isn't an adventurer, just like us." A few minutes went by as the Valkyrja watched him while Selene kept reading her book. The priest pulled out a small pouch and emptied it onto the table, showing a few silver and some measly copper coins. He poked at them in disappointment, a small groan escaping his lips as he frowned. Any team that didn't have a priest or healer would have snatched him up in a heartbeat, but somehow they either were ignoring him or didn't notice.

"Look." The empress glanced up and saw he was counting the money he had available. The women both shared a glance then watched him as he put the coins back in the purse and slowly got up. He picked up his staff and slowly walked downstairs to the reception desk, as it reached past 4 pm. Selene slipped out of her chair and pushed it in, with Hrist picking up her pack and following. They walked down halfway and saw him asking if there were any requests for healing.

"I'm sorry Ezra, but we don't have requests for the church of Elesia. Most of the city prays to Gigsen, the god of mercantilism, and the temples here already have healers" Tilly said sadly as he looked down.

"Is there anything I can do by myself? I need this money to save my abbey" he asked quietly. His voice seemed to be caught by an unknown wind, being very soft and timid.

"I don't have anything for a copper adventurer to do alone beyond the odd jobs that most adventurers wouldn't touch. Maybe tomorrow?" Tilly asked as she felt bad for him. There was a girl to the left being helped by another receptionist, turning in a notice of reconnaissance… the notice was apparently a skull kept in a large pouch and a hastily written map. A bow was held by the string on her shoulder, with a small pack and quiver on her back. She was wearing leather armor and green clothes underneath, her dark brown hair weaved in a large braid. Her face had two patches of freckles on her cheeks, with dark green eyes.

"The others?" the receptionist asked. The girl shook her head in sadness. Her team was wiped out by something it seemed. The young ranger dropped her head and looked at the floor, seeming to be fighting back tears as the woman behind the counter sighed and tried to console her. The reward was pulled from underneath, a small bag of silver. Selene walked further down the stairwell and stood behind the priest and ranger, looking at Tilly.

"Well… thank you…" Ezra finally said as he started to turn around. He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into the empress, falling to the floor. She stood staring at him and he looked up into her eyes.

"What did you mean by saving your abbey?" she asked. He blinked at her in surprise. The ranger was softly crying as the receptionist behind the counter came out and hugged her. Not everyone made it home from the quests, friends were lost on many occasions. The world was harsh. The ranger seemed to be not much older than Ezra, with a level of 6. Her hand was gripping white knuckled the remains of her friend's rank plates, all silver. Selene's eyes roamed Ezra's copper plate, noticing the last name etched on it. She had gotten a glance from across the second floor but wanted to make sure this time, especially since the last name was pretty scratched up in what looked to be an attempt to hide it. A plan was forming in her head, albeit hastily made.

Ezra got up and dusted himself off, picking up his staff and looked back up at the dev. She was easily a head taller than him, making him avert his gaze constantly. "I… I'm just trying to make some money to… to…" he started to say. Hrist came down the stairs and stood next to the auburn-haired woman and crossed her arms. "Maybe… maybe if I could make some money or… or get a group of adventurers, we could drive off what's attacking our abbey…" he finished.

"The church of… what, Elesia?" she asked. He nodded. The empress had no idea who this goddess was, but it seemed her followers were in danger.

"Goddess of beauty, kindness and nature…" he mumbled out, still trying to not look into her eyes.

 _Wait, is he a priest or a druid? He's wearing white, so I'm thinking priest… but nature?... could two different classes worship the same god for different spells or abilities?_

"So, what is the problem? What's attacking the abbey? You need to give details." He looked up at her, extremely nervous. She sighed as he seemed to stammer, but nothing came out. Finally, he spoke again.

"We… uh… don't know, but… but some sort of, uh, fog or mist comes in every week… it, uh, erm, it drags away one or two of the nuns and priests away… they… they come back eventually… changed… like… like…" his mouth was moving but he couldn't speak anymore to explain it.

"Zombies? Undead?"

"Twisted… like, yeah, zombies. I… I don't want that to happen to me… I thought that if I could, c-could reach Sil… Silvinholm and maybe get some adventurers to help, we could banish whatever is causing this. But… but they cost money, and… and I didn't have much, so I decided to join…" he finally got out as he kept looking down.

 _Fog monsters. Something changes the bodies into zombies… no not zombies, he just agreed with me, close though. Could just be some necromancer hiding due to not being that powerful, maybe not. Probably could be taken out with a recon… er… hmm. Should I send in an automaton force to clear the abbey of whatever the hell this is, or should I hold off and maybe help him out… wait, why the hell am I even thinking this, do I get anything out of it? I'm not an adventurer, these people are meat heads wanting to strike it rich!_

He seemed to be squirming as she stood in front of him. The ranger pulled back a little and nodded at the receptionist, who handed her the pouch of silver. The girl hefted it in her hand, pushing down on the coins inside and remembering the times she had with her friends. "Oh, for fucks sake…" Selene muttered under her breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

 _Am I really gonna do this? I'm supposed to just get intel, and now I have this weird plan… fuck… whoever the hell you are Elesia, you should have smited whoever the fuck was killing your followers before this kid had to come and do your job! Now he had to meet me!_

There was silence for a minute as Ezra decided to finally leave with the dev not stopping him. He walked past the empress and headed outside, but the woman had put a marker on him via her Hud and **{Always Got My Eye on You}**. She'd be able to catch up and get him to join them once she played off some information from the quest board. The ability she just used didn't have a cooldown, so she used it on the ranger as well. The most interesting thing about the marker was it seemed to add both of them as if they were in her party, friendlies. The dev had no idea if it would target someone who was hostile or if it would do the same, which would be very weird. Their faces were showing in the upper right-hand corner, with their stats and hp showing. This intrigued her very much. A quick third use of the ability and Hrist was in the party too, showing a massive jump in her stats.

Hopefully no one else could see the party list, as it wasn't a videogame. If they could, Selene and Hrist were royally screwed with the god like hp and mana in plain sight. Selene's resource bars would make anyone freak out if they saw them, with rage and stamina just under the hp and mana along with psionics, the food and water bars and maybe even the enchanting essence bars. Her Biomimetic Barrier would probably make Ezra faint or soil himself, not knowing how the hell to heal that.

The ranger slowly walked out the door, clutching the purse and sniffling. Maybe she'd go drown her sorrows, but it could be possible to help her in some capacity. The duo walked up to the board and checked it over. Goblin Horde, multiple ogres, Undead in cellar, hundreds of others… undead horde in Old District.

"Where is this?" Selene asked. Tilly walked around the counter and looked at what she was pointing at.

"Oh, miss, you don't want to go there. That requires an Adamantite adventurer group and… we currently don't have one registered here. The noble houses are working on figuring out a way to end the threat once and for all, but until then it's walled off."

 _Whoa, wait, this district is walled off? As in this has been going on for some time? What the fuck? How long has this quest been sitting here? Adamantite… that's supposedly the top rank of adventurer, so maybe level 18-22… huh… and none of those live around here…_

"Oh, I wasn't going to head there, just wondering so I don't get lost. What happened to cause this? Also, wow, ten thousand gold as a reward, surprised no Adamantite adventurers have come to take the quest." Selene was lying her head off, already with plans to end the undead horde herself. It involved a priest and a ranger.

"You won't have to worry about wandering in there, the only entrance is heavily guarded. But just in case you're worried about hearing the moaning from inside, it's right here" Tilly said as she pointed at a map to the right of the board. It was to the east of the city, still within the main walls. "It was caused supposedly by some ancient magical item hidden in the catacombs. It raised the whole city graveyard. Now we have a smaller one made just outside the walls in the event this ever happens again."

 _YOU THINK THIS CAN HAPPEN AGAIN?! HOW MANY OF THOSE MAGICAL ITEMS ARE THERE THAT CAN DO THIS?! ALSO, WHO THE HELL TURNED IT ON?! Fucking delvers playing with shit they weren't supposed to probably…_

"Alright, thank you very much, you've been very helpful." Tilly bowed to both of them and they walked outside. "Let's find Ezra, I have a feeling we might need to meet a goddess in the future." The gears were turning in her head as she built up her plan. Somehow, she figured communication with this being might help in the future, at least give her an idea of what the hell the pantheon was doing. Letting their followers meet an untimely demise and then turned into corrupt undead wasn't a great way of staying gods for long. She could see why pantheons started to fade after two hundred years.

"Why do you want to meet her? If you wanted to, a new pantheon could be-" Selene looked over her shoulder at Hrist as she raised an eyebrow.

"The reason is I want to know things that I can't get inside a book. Receiving intel from the horse's mouth is the best way I can see to knowing what exactly happens on this planet. The books tell me how many gods and goddesses there are; what they don't tell me, however, is their following, how far their following reaches on this world, and who the hell-" she cut herself off as she thought for a moment. The dev was just about to say who brought her to this world. With everything she had available, there was still no information on what had done that. Did a god do this? Or something beyond? Could it have been some sort of magic that caused the whole thing? Answers could be gotten, at least if she got on the right side of this deity. Summons could happen if just for a quick chat, maybe as a reward for helping her fervent followers.

The group headed down the street, following the young priest towards the tavern. Once they knew he was eating inside, a bowl of simple stew, the group headed past and got back inside the inn. This building had to be where he was staying, unless there were multiple inns throughout the city, which could be entirely possible. Traveling across Silvinholm just to sleep, especially with so many people trading and visiting, didn't seem like the best choice, so there might be another, lower priced and less furnished, inn further away.

"We're not going to keep an eye on him?" Hrist asked. Selene chuckled at that, given the name of her ability.

"We'll eat just like he is, then talk to Ezra and offer a deal. Hopefully he isn't too scared once he figures out where we take him. Besides, we didn't have lunch and I'm starving. Jeeves probably made a big dinner for us." The Valkyrja nodded a little with a facial shrug.

"We'll be going to the catacombs, yes? Something not mind-numbing like that goblin horde." The empress thought about that for a split second. A month or so ago she would have thought a goblin horde was something to be feared, now the dev would have to agree. The whole battle would be a slaughter today, completely one sided. The undead would be roughly the same as well, excluding special types showing up. The only thing they'd need to do would be to slow down and not slay thousands of skeletons and zombies in single sweeping strikes. Hundreds… maybe. Tens… entirely doable without anyone thinking it wasn't possible by a human.

"That's the whole idea. Don't let on to Ezra that's where we're headed, I'm pretty sure he'd flip out." Hrist nodded in agreement. Telling a copper rank adventurer priest with no experience that he was walking into an Adamantite quest would make him run immediately. Both women entered one bedroom and pushed the door spike in, then closed the windows and slipped inside the pocket dimension a second time. Dinner was being served via an inventory hopper that the maids pulled out from, with Jeeves and the kitchen crew making sure they were well fed. Unsurprisingly, Hrist didn't have a single drop in her appetite, despite ingesting so many sweets.

Three steaks, one rare, were prepared for them along with a salad and side of potatoes. Dessert was simply chocolate ice cream. Blue had a chance, once finished with his meal, to sit outside and relieve himself, then head inside. The small mess he created seemed to get absorbed into the black nothing that made up the ground just past the front door. It made cleaning up any sort of dirt or snow tracked in from boots and shoes very easy. It also made it look a little weird with the plumbing emptying into the void if they took a bath or used a toilet.

The two women had a chance to sit for a little bit and relax, with Selene checking in with Bronze Team who had entered on the opposite side of the city and started their stealth reconnaissance of the mansions and large estates. It wasn't going to be immediate, despite having X-ray capabilities. While they could see people inside with weapons, they couldn't tell who they were exactly. It would take almost the same amount of time, maybe a little less, than she was going to need to find the princess and verify if she was healthy and safe. Then once she got the report, they'd leave. The problem was they had to check all the mansions, and there were quite a few of them, with homes for the grandparents and some just used as luxury barracks for the captains and commanders.

An hour passed by before they decided to head back out. They exited the small portal and could see the sun was almost gone at just 5:30 pm, with lights being lit in windows, streets and inside hallways.

 _It could be entirely possible this place might be close to New York or Tokyo, a city that never really sleeps. People might be out at all times of the day... oh, they might be out because of some red-light district, oy…_

Hrist opened the front door of the inn and allowed Selene to walk out first, who thanked her for the action. There was a slight blush that appeared on her face before disappearing. Ezra was no longer in the tavern, but almost a mile away, inside a new building.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Ezra sat down on his bed and put his small purse on the night table. That was the only spot he could put it in his small room at the Pig Belly Inn. The bedroom only had a chest, a night table and a rough bed with a pillow, a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. A window was half closed due to one of the shutters broken off the hinges. He looked at the small number of coins he had left and winced. His goal seemed to be getting further and further away, with almost no chance of earning enough to hire a group of decent ranked adventurers to come with him to the abbey just north east of the city, a day's journey at most.

His thoughts ran through the faces of the sisters and monks of the massive monastery, the orphan children that were always hidden in the cellar when they knew the time of the week had come. How many were still alive there? How long had he been in Silvinholm?

An hour went by as he just sat there, thinking. Maybe he could take some of the small quests to find lost pets? That could keep him going for a few more days. He slid off the bed and proceeded to pull out his prayer beads, begging for a miracle from his goddess. Hopefully something would happen, she would hear his call and do something to help him…

A knock on his door brought him to look at it and blink a few times. No one came to visit him, at least none that were asking for help. There were times when the ladies of the evening would make their rounds, checking to see who wanted to spend a night with them. He had to remain chaste, it was his duty to Elesia… wasn't it? For a priest to think those thoughts, was it wrong? His goddess wasn't against marriage or women indulging in the physical pleasures, but he had no experience in that regard.

The teenager stood up and slowly stutter stepped to the door, another knock ringing out. "Who… who is it?" he asked. Another knock. He unlocked the door and peeked out. A red-headed woman in high quality armor stood there, her blue eyes staring at him. He couldn't see anyone else, but slowly opened the door wider until he saw the elbow of another woman leaning against the wall to his bedroom.

"You're… the woman who asked about Elesia at the guild, weren't you?" he asked.

"Yup. I have a proposition for you. It might make the amount you need to save your… church? Monastery? Mosque?" she said, asking about what it was he was trying to protect as she had tried to make it seem like she wasn't truly interested in what it was called. Selene already knew it was an abbey, a large monastery.

"The abbey, yes. Um… what… you… do you need healing for someone? I'm… I'm not sure I can do much, but maybe if it was a sickness or some minor wounds… I could…" He wasn't wrong. His level was horridly low for what they had planned, but if they kept well behind and followed up after, nothing would happen to them. Blue was higher in level than this boy.

"That's not why we're here. So, we decided to build a small team and go finish a little quest, just a small one. It's totally safe, I promise." Ezra looked between the two women as he thought. He had no experience in a battle, but if she was sure it was alright, it might get him enough money to stay a week or two more.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, his voice soft and timid. He looked down at her chest a little, though he wasn't staring at her bosom. His eyes roamed for a rank plate somewhere. There was none. Why would she want to do a quest if she wasn't part of the guild? There would be no reward for her, as the requirement was, she had to be a member. Anyone who entered to receive payment and wasn't already one of the ranks would receive no compensation, as it would have just been considered donating their time to protecting the citizens free of charge. If there was no contract, there was no money. It was possible they were employed by the noble houses, doing their part to protect the city.

"Don't worry, it isn't illegal if that's what you're thinking. Just a quick jaunt, we'll be still inside the city." Ezra finally noticed a pair of eyes hiding behind the woman staring at him, then slowly saw the form of a black wolf. He fidgeted a little. No one else had asked him to join their group. There was no way he'd gain experience in adventuring or get the money to save his abbey if he didn't at least try.

"Well… I… very well. If you're sure" he finally said.

"Good! We just have to pick up another team member. I'm Ilana by the way." They shook hands before Ezra ran to his bed and picked up his staff, then headed out the door and closed it. They headed downstairs and out to a nearby tavern with cheap ale. The ranger was inside as Selene expected, sitting by herself and drinking away her life. Her head was lying on the table, passed out. Selene dropped her pack on the table, waking the young girl up with a resounding thump on the wood. She looked up through bleary eyes and glanced between the three people. Ezra seemed to attempt to make himself smaller by scrunching his head down into his robe and averting his gaze. He was just behind the black armored woman who dropped her backpack down.

"Hi there, sorry for the wake up. I'd like to ask you some questions if you'd be willing." The two women sat down and looked at her, with Ezra not knowing what to do. The ranger looked around and took a deep breath.

"Please… I don't want any trouble…"

"We're not here to cause trouble. So, I take it you lost your team in a quest? That's why you're here? What's your name hon?" the empress asked quietly. A tavern wench came over and asked them what they wanted, in which she just asked for some water. The wench cocked her head and scoffed, then left to get a mug for her. The young girl didn't know what to say.

"… Dina… and yeah… I just want to be left alone right now alright? I… I'm not in a good mood…" the girl said as she looked away and tried to breathe, the alcohol still in her system. Her vision was a little fuzzy as she tried to focus on the ground.

"I think I can fix that mood. Where did you have the quest?" Dina looked up at the auburn-haired woman and scanned her face. She seemed to be just genuinely interested, not trying to be malicious. Her head was a little cloudy still, though it was clearing up a bit. That made her reach for the ale mug still near her. Selene moved it.

"Look, I really don't want this. I'm just trying to forget, so please, leave me alone." Selene put her hands up in surrender.

"Alright, but I figured you might want a chance to maybe bring them back from the dead, that's all I'm saying." The woman got up and started to walk away, with Ezra following and Hrist came up behind.

"Wait." They stopped and turned around. "What do you mean?" There were groups of low-level adventurers all drinking and talking, making it easy to speak in private.

"I believe there is a magical item that can be gained that can bring your friends back from that ill-fated quest you had. I want it. In exchange, we'll get your team back to ship shape, plus a little extra for your time." The empress leaned down on the table in front of her. She could smell the alcohol on the teenager's breath. Dina thought as best she could at that moment, wondering if this was a joke or not. Was she making fun of her? No, she didn't know her. There were no rank plates she could see. Maybe the magical item was wanted by nobles and they worked for them? She had heard of wands, extremely rare and all but imaginary, that could raise a person from the dead. Maybe this was what Ilana wanted?

"Are… are you sure? That seems like… like it would be tough to get to…"

"On the contrary, quite easy with us. No harm to speak of, I assure you. Just need some details that's all, and if you're interested, you could come along with our team." The girl blinked as the wench brought over a mug of water. Selene touched the mug and cleaned the water inside with a quick spell, then moved it to her. She had never seen a warrior casting anything, was that some sort of survival martial art? Was she a paladin?

"Ok…" she finally said as Selene smiled and sat down again. Dina explained their quest, how they were sent for reconnaissance of the Old District. They weren't supposed to enter it directly, but the floor of the building they were in collapsed and dropped them into a tunnel. They had to escape, barely saving Dina's life at the cost of the others, a swarm of undead shambling around below. A rope arrow was fired allowing the teenage girl to get out, but the rope pulled out from the beam before the last member of her team could climb, the undead attempting to go up after him. She could remember it vividly and shut her eyes tightly closed, a tear escaping.

Selene raised an eyebrow at the turn of events. She had thought that they would have to travel some distance to find the bodies, but they were in fact right there in the Old District. They might have been undead now, but it might be possible to save them if it was early enough. Resurrection magic could bring them back if enough time hadn't past, the corpses not completely enveloped by the unholy magic that got them back on their feet, with her team arriving about the same time she was turning in the proof of completion; this meant less than twenty-four hours, maybe even less than twelve. A Lazarus System was a sure-fire way of letting everyone know who she was, so that was out of the question. She'd just need to play it cool and continue with her plan.

"Interesting. So, the nobles were already going to do something very soon."

"Uh… yes, but… aren't you working for them?" The dev smirked.

"Unofficially, we have to keep identities secret. People might ask questions, like why the nobles had taken so long to fix this problem, or what was the cause of it. We're trying to keep things calm, collected. You understand." Dina nodded slowly. "So, here's the deal. You seem to have knowledge of that area; did you see anything weird when you fell? The cause of the undead infestation?"

The girl thought carefully as she sipped some of the water. It was a lot cleaner than normal, with the spell the woman across from her cast making it seem almost like the water the rich would drink. The water of the city wasn't bad by any means, but the wealthy tended to have distilled or at least filtered plumbing to their homes. It wasn't that incredible, a few layers of enchanting on the pipes to clean things up, though it was expensive.

"I… I did… some sort of orb in a box held by iron, or some black metal. It was reddish orange, with a green glow. The ambush wasn't in the tunnel… it was in the big room down some stairs…"

"Alright, well, you might not know this, but that could resurrect your friends too." Dina was shocked as her eyes widened in surprise. Selene was clearly lying her pants off, but it was all part of the plan. "So maybe you might want to come with us? We can protect you, promise. Just point us in the right direction, we'll clear the path."

"What are you, Adamantite?" the ranger asked, looking her up and down as she sat in her chair.

"Uh… something like that. Again, we can't say much, trying to stay confidential. You said you understood, right?" The girl nodded. They might have been trying to keep a riot from happening, or maybe people might try to rush the Old District if they knew it was clear, trying to find their lost loved ones and potentially get themselves hurt. If her team had fallen through one floor of a building, it was possible the whole district was unstable from no one living in it to provide repair and maintenance.

Dina took a deep breath and looked at Ezra. He clearly was a priest, though to her he was a she. She then looked at Hrist who just sat there with her arms crossed. Surprisingly, Ezra had not heard much of what was being talked about, as conversations all around them were keeping words from reaching his ears. The only reason Selene and Hrist could easily hear her was due to their absurd Perception stats. The two women could have listened to every conversation in the whole tavern without any issue.

"I… I'll do it. If I can get my friends back, I'll… I'll go." The empress thumped her fist against the table and smiled at her.

"Good. We have a team then. My name is Ilana, this is Brynya, to the right of her is Blue and behind me is Ezra" Selene replied as they got up, with Dina slowly standing and blinking. The dev cast **[Cleanse Poison]** on her, hopefully working. Alcohol poisoning was a thing after all. It performed what she was expecting, interestingly, as the ranger blinked and felt sober very quickly. Who was this Ilana? Was that even her real name?

They headed outside, with Blue trotting along next to his alpha. The ranger had never seen a wolf that didn't either run away or come with its pack to go after some game. This one was following Ilana like it was normal. As they headed towards the old district, slipping through alleys and roads to reach the walls, Ezra seemed to be repeating things under his breath, the holy spells he had available. This was his first team, he had no idea how well he would do. He didn't even know where they were going either. Dina knew, but had no idea what the two women who built the group were planning.

It took some time to reach the walled off section of the city with two slow people following them. Selene had completely forgotten how languid her movement used to be, now easily moving as fast if not faster than most jet fighters if she wanted to. The priest and ranger were panting at the spot they stopped, with the dev and Valkyrja standing there sharing a glance and smirking a little.

"They are only human" Selene said via coms into Hrist's earpiece. The battle maiden scoffed at that but did share the smirk. Ezra sat down for a second and as the empress walked up to him and handed her canteen of water to him. It didn't have any symbols on it, thankfully, but the build of it wasn't something the priest had seen. He was used to waterskins and cups, not a metal container for water. At least he didn't know that the canteen was enchanted with **[Unending Flow]** , practically never running out. Dina thanked Hrist who did the same as the two women kept their eyes on any patrols of the private police force.

"So, uh… where… where are we going?" Ezra finally asked.

"Where she shows us to enter this place. Should be easy enough to do the job once inside, no worries" Selene replied as her eyes roamed the area. To the two normal humans in the group, it was somewhat difficult to see with lamps in the street and torches on the walls, but to the Valkyrja and developer, it was almost like day with their night vision. The teenagers recuperated and stood back up, waiting for Selene to follow. Dina had them follow her to a run-down storage building, up to the third floor, and across a hidden catwalk made of broken roof boards and some ladders.

"Careful, these things were rickety even before today, one at a time should-" Dina tried to say as she walked across the unstable makeshift bridge, but she lost her footing and nearly tumbled off. Selene caught her and moved quickly across the wooden planks, easily making it to the other side without issue, dancing from spot to spot. "Be ok…" the teenager somewhat finished as the empress put her down.

"Why would your team build that? Or even walk across it?" she asked as she put her pack down and pulled out a zip line and small crossbow, hiding her hands inside the bag the entire time she pulled from her inventory. Once they were out, she shot the zipline anchor on the other side and latched the crossbow to a stone pillar sitting on top of the wall. There were a few of them, seeming to be the structural support of the fortification that had sunken with disrepair. Hrist and Ezra crawled over the rope, or in Ezra's case, was held in one arm covering his eyes as the battle maiden carried him across with one arm holding the rope. Dina was surprised at the capability of both women, but then of course she had seen once in the past an Adamantite adventurer do something similar. Blue had run ahead of Selene before, having his weight distributed over four paws and far more agile than the priest and ranger.

They continued down through the collapsed hallway on the top, with the stairs blocked behind them. They were going to need to use the zipline to get back after. Another stairway headed down to the next floor, slowly moving them closer and closer to the ground, inside the old district. As they reached the bottom, Dina held her finger up to her mouth to tell them to be silent as she slowly opened the barricaded door to peek outside. There wasn't anything moving, but there also wasn't any light beyond the moon. The team slipped out and headed to a small alleyway, slipping from shadow to shadow towards the graveyard.

"Why are we here? This is… this is… the Old District…" Ezra started saying, looking around and almost about to panic. Selene grabbed him and he looked as if he was going to run, slapping her hand over his mouth.

"Quiet! Don't you dare run! You don't know the way back to the zipline and will be killed if you go alone! This is the quest. We go in, grab the artifact, resurrect her friends, back in time for a late night to sleep in your bed." She spoke in a very hushed tone, but he was still scared out of his mind.

"The undead here are legion! They'll kill us all!" he whispered back. She shook her head.

"No, they won't if they don't see you! Their senses are dumbed down so much if they can't look directly at you then they'll just shamble off! Now come on! If you hope to get back, you'll keep following us!" He was about to hyperventilate but tried to breathe carefully and calm down. They ran from cover to cover, seeing the buildings around them collapsed in on themselves. Eventually, they reached the building Dina and her team had hidden in, the second floor. The ground had fallen out, with the second floor collapsed down due to rot. Down below, there was a tunnel lined in stone, with the odd skeleton walking by.

The team stopped and watched with interest, though Dina and Ezra wondered why the two ladies who created this group were tracking the movement so intently. "Five… six… staggered patrol…" Selene whispered out. Hrist nodded as she looked up at her.

"Someone is controlling them inside, this isn't just rampant undead" the battle maiden replied. The dev nodded in agreement, then looked at the other two.

"You aren't seriously thinking of going down there are you?" Dina asked, gawking at her in disbelief.

"You can stay up here if you want, but we're going to find that artifact." Selene pulled out a grappling hook and latched it to a jagged stone. She then tested it to make sure it wouldn't pull away. Both of the women could easily just jump down, but that would raise eyebrows from the remainder of their team, and Blue couldn't follow. The young girl grabbed her arm and pulled at it as their eyes met.

"You'll be killed! Don't go down there! This isn't worth it! There are tens of thousands of those things!"

"I highly doubt tens of thousands. A few thousand, maybe, but the graveyard can't be that large for more than that." Dina seemed dumbfounded, as the auburn-haired woman was either incredibly confident in her abilities or incredibly stupid. Selene pulled away and started to lower herself down, with Hrist lowering Blue right after into her waiting arms. Once they were down, Dina decided to follow, but Ezra wasn't about to enter. All she did was knock him in, with his body falling into Selene's waiting arms. Once the entire team was down, the next patrol showed up.

"No no no… not again… please no…" Dina muttered as Hrist took position and struck the skeleton down quickly, with its partner blocked without much issue. She was faster than her friends, far more proficient with the sword and shield, and didn't bat an eye when the rotting flesh of the hands tried to grab at her from the zombie in the patrol.

"That wasn't one of your friends, was it?" Selene asked as her sword lopped the head off. Dina closed her mouth and shook her head. "Good. Let's keep going. Where did you see this orb thing?" The team quickly ran down the tunnel, seeing open caskets in the walls. They were inside the catacombs, there was no need to attempt to enter via the graveyard. That was probably where most of the undead were roaming anyways, and the tunnels were far easier to fight inside, making numerical superiority pointless.

"Brynya, can you walk behind? Just in case" Selene said quietly as her bodyguard nodded. They could be flanked at any moment.

"It was further up ahead, there was a… stairwell… it spiraled down to an ossuary…" Dina replied. The group slowly moved down the pitch-black tunnel, with a small light orb finally cast off as Ezra bumped into Selene and Dina tripped and fell. A rat scurried past the ranger and she nearly screamed, but Hrist wrapped her hand over her mouth quickly to muffle the sound. "I don't wanna be here, I changed my mind, please can we go back, I'm begging you…" she really was about to hyperventilate, with Ezra about to follow suit. They were surprised by the light orb as well hovering nearby, but Selene showed a scroll in her hand… that didn't actually have anything written on it. There wasn't much point to throwaway magical scrolls other than selling them now, with the empress's mana pool being so huge.

"Easy, easy… this is a lot simpler than you think it is. Hey, look at me. I said we'll protect you, don't worry." Selene helped her up and put her hand on both of their shoulders, shaking them reassuringly. "Just do what you know you can do, that's all there is to it. These undead are very low strength, the only way your friends could have died would have been you were surrounded, right?" Dina nodded quickly and closed her eyes, trying to calm down. "Then that won't happen. Brynya is taking up the rear, they can't do that when we're in this tunnel. Stairway, same thing. Only open areas, which we can easily get our backs to the wall and slide left or right, no breaking forward needed."

The young girl seemed to tremble, but she understood what was being told, trying her best to calm down. They were safe, these professionals were here, they couldn't possibly be silver rank. Their armor was too high tier, this must have been easy for them. There was nothing to fear.

The stairway showed up, with a damaged portcullis to the entrance. As they headed down, their steps seemed to echo a little. Hrist came up next to Selene as they reached a small middle platform between stairways, waiting for the two humans to take a breather. "Can you not cast invisibility on us?" she whispered into her ear.

"I can, but that could give away how strong we are. Look at it this way, we look like amazons to them. That means I can't cast any spells. Another scroll, maybe, but that's camouflage, not real invisibility. There tends to be a little glow from spells usually. I'll figure out how to hide that later" Selene whispered back. Camouflage was a tier 1 spell in Yggdrasil, with Perfect Unknowable being tier 9. Moira, Abby and Giles all said the highest magic they had ever heard of was tier 6 for the most powerful wizards. There was Indomitability and Invisibility as spells, but she forgot what tier those were in. Casting something higher than tier 3 might tip them off she wasn't just a swordswoman. Hrist nodded in acceptance, it just meant they would need to guard against attacks even more.

Selene understood the request and used an envelopment module in her armor to expand invisibility field around the team, letting the two low ranked adventurers she had cast camouflage via a scroll. It was complete bullshit; however, it would at least act as if they were hidden. That seemed to calm them down immensely, as they figured if the undead couldn't see them, they couldn't attack.

The group made it down the last of the steps and stopped at the large opening into the main ossuary. Skulls were piled in alcoves with large stone coffins strewn around the area, all open. Multiple chandeliers where candles could be seen already lit hung from the ceiling. Someone was definitely here running things, commanding the undead.

"Dina, was there a story behind how the undead rose up? Was there another adventurer group that delved into the catacombs?" the empress asked in barely a whisper to the ranger's ear. The girl quickly cupped the auburn-haired woman's ear and tried to explain the fable.

"Supposedly, at least what I know of, there was an adventurer party that went into the place to bury a friend. They found someone that was attempting to raise the dead and fought him. Unfortunately, most of the party died, but succeeded in defeating the necromancer. One of them sealed off the catacombs from the inside to keep the undead from continuing up to the surface though, as they didn't stop moving."

 _That group got played by someone on the inside or the artifact corrupts. The whole thing might have been planned, with the necromancer being a member of the party. Either an asshole tricking his friends or that thing needs to be crushed after I use it…_

"There is the orb" Hrist commented as she pointed across the ossuary. The whole place was massive, a giant dome that seemed easily a mile in diameter. Unfortunately, there were what looked like a few hundred skeletons, zombies strewn about… with what looked like death knights guarding the orb. They showed up as level 35s in Selene's Hud, cannon fodder in her eyes. A massive threat to Ezra and Dina, probably to Blue even. He came up as a level 20, but he was faster. The problem was teeth wouldn't work well against the bone or metal plate they had. He was at best a defense for the two behind them.

"Keep along the wall, we'll slide quietly over and pick it up…" the dev ordered as they did as they were told. The group moved as quietly as they could, even with **[Silence]** cast on them. They would just think it was part of the camouflage spell scroll.

"I SENSE THE LIVING IN THIS PLACE! FIND THEM!" they heard echo throughout the area. Sitting in the back in his own little alcove was a necromancer sifting through scrolls and tomes. He had a very worn plush chair he was sitting in with a cape flowing over one of the arms. His voice seemed to sound as if he was enacting some play.

"That would be the idiot who did this. Don't let him rattle you, he can't see us…" Selene informed them as they continued around the edge of the ossuary. "… yet…" she muttered to herself. The chair moved as the necromancer stood up, looking like the very definition of an actor. His clothing was frilly with fluffed pants and boots, makeup caking his face. He must have been a bard in the adventurer's party that had first gone in here, but he didn't look undead or diseased, which meant he left at times to resupply. There had to be food, hence the rats. His level barely reached 21, but it didn't make sense that he was controlling death knights. It might have been possible those were the actual guardians of the orb, with the moronic necromancer as the master of the artifact. It could also mean those were the bodies of his team, previously equal in level if that was possible for them.

"I DISPEL WHATEVER ILLUSORY SPELLS HAVE BEEN CAST, REVEAL YOURSELVES!" An odd blast wave erupted through the area, doing nothing but make the light orb flicker ever so slightly that was also being hidden by the invisibility field. The dispel was fighting against Selene's willpower, as that was how Arcanic's Wizardry spells worked. Considering she was much stronger in willpower as well as level and psionics, the little orb simply didn't give a fuck.

 _Well shit! Now I have to turn the damn thing off… fuck you asshole… fuck you…_

Unfortunately, to keep the illusion it was a spell and not some technology, she turned the field off, dousing the light orb, and showing exactly where they were. "Ah! There you are! Come to steal my precious toy? You'll never get your hands on it!" the man cackled out.

"Oh, for fuck's sake… this feels like a cliché villain…" Selene muttered under her breath. The empress was half expecting him to make action poses like some old super sentai cartoon. "Who are you?! What are you doing here?! Did you cause this horde of restless souls to erupt from their final resting place?!" she shouted out, playing along like it was some heroic Saturday tv show. It would at least give her some info on the artifact, at least until she threw it in research. No one was going to get their hands on something like this again.

"Oh ho ho! You wish to know my secret agenda, do you? Well what say I make you a part of my undead army! Then you'll know all about it! HAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled out.

 _Ok, guess not. These usually have some sort of monologue from the villain explaining why they did what they did. Huh, oh well. Things just changed from listen to him bitch and moan about his life and his plans for world domination to push this guy's shit in. Suits me just fine. I'll have that thing ripped up and researched in a day or two anyways._

"Brynya, remember how we sparred against… er… your sisters? Tag team, right?" she asked as the undead slowly moved towards them. Ezra clutched his staff. He never should have come here with them, now he was going to die. Dina dropped to her knees as her legs gave out, seeing in the very back her friends shambling around.

"Yes, I already thought we were going to do that" Hrist replied.

"Good, try not to scare the little ones behind us. You two! Get ready! It's fight or die! Get up Dina! We aren't dead yet!" Selene said as she turned to the rest of the team and snapped at them. The young girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes and tried to get up, Blue taking a defensive position in front of them.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Zayde Wølf – Army)**_

Both women pulled their shields and swords, stepping forward and a few feet from each other. They seemed to be moving in different directions, waiting for just the right moment for something. As they walked forward, their movement started to get faster as they broke into a jog, then into a dead sprint. The first few skeletons attacked, but Selene backed up allowing Hrist to sweep in from the side and shatter them in one sweep. They moved in tandem, attacking once and swapping, with the one who attacked switching to defense and allowing the second to leap over their shoulder. They were acting in a leap frog maneuver, switching off each time to counter the next group.

Selene broke off from Hrist and foot swept two zombies, knocking them off their feet and slicing their heads off quickly. Ezra and Dina were in awe at how efficient they were. They had no idea that the ladies were holding back every step of the way. Dina had seen martial arts used before, but each time one was used, it was usually said out loud whatever action they were performing. These women were just moving through the army of undead as if they were nothing. One zombie had enough muscles not decayed to run and leap at Selene.

"Look out!" Dina yelled as she notched an arrow in her bow and aimed. The dev didn't miss a beat, slamming her shield in an arc with **{Shield Bash}** used, flinging it ten feet up in the air. For her, it was nothing but a love tap, to the ranger, she was a legend with that kind of strength. The undead started to surround them as Ezra regained his composure and tried to cast **[Cure Light Wounds** **]** and other holy spells to harm the unholy horrors. He cast **[Blessed Armor]** on Hrist and Selene, adding an extra defense rating to the plate they wore… all of three percent if that. Regardless, Selene thanked him as she carved up four more zombies and plowed through two skeletons, the Valkyrja coming up behind her. Arrows flew past where possible, hitting skulls surprisingly well. Despite being a silver rank, Dina wasn't that bad at hitting her target, she just needed to aim carefully.

A death knight moved forward and struck down, with Selene dodging quickly out of the way, Hrist coming up and blocking with her shield. The dev shot backwards and leapt over the battle maiden's shoulder in a swinging arc, bringing her sword down in an overhead strike and carving through the shield it brought up, including the skull hiding behind it. That show of force threw Ezra and Dina off completely, the armor was pointless against the two lady's attacks, though it was mostly due to the Carbyne material versus Steel or Adamantite even. They were a lot stronger than they let on. Two skeletons headed towards Dina, but Blue got a chance to show he wasn't just there for barking.

As one tried to attack, he slipped sideways and went for the leg, knocked it out from under and saw the skeleton drop to the ground, the second one turning to fight this new smaller threat. The wolf went for the neck, ripping away the spinal disks and causing the skeleton to go limp with no skull attached. The second attempted to slice at the black animal, but it was more of a shooing swing that didn't do much. He wasn't strong, but he was definitely fast, dodging and going for the arm that swung the sword, ripping it away. A quick cast from Ezra and the skeleton fell. They could do this, it wasn't scary with these three helping them.

"Ilana!" Dina shouted as both women were surrounded, their backs to each other. Almost every undead in the area saw the two warriors as the main threat, mostly ignoring the three near the wall of the dome.

"Now this is a fight I can enjoy" Hrist chuckled out as Selene smirked.

"Now now, keep yourself under control, we do have an audience after all" she replied as another death knight came at her. They seemed to brace off each other's backs, pushing in opposite directions and swinging around in wide sweeps of their swords, deflecting attacks and countering easily. Bones were shattering in all directions, zombies fell apart and the death knights fell one by one. The empress rolled over the shoulder of one skeleton to fight another, swinging her shield to block another from attacking her as she fought a fourth. The entire move seemed choreographed to the step, seeming like a dance.

Hrist pulled something from her pack and extended it, a metal spear that extended on a cord hidden inside. Ezra didn't see how that could be all that strong, but what he didn't know was a compression device on the bottom pressurized the inside. Her attacks were close to lightning speed as she struck at multiple skulls, shattering each one and blocking swords, throwing a few skeletons at the necromancer who was panicking at the moves.

"I need everything down here now! Everything! Stop them!" he screamed in terror as the two women waded through the onslaught… heading right for him slowly but surely. His death knight guardians were defeated and the remains of the force in the ossuary were dwindling now. He started to cast all sorts of spells, **[Bone Spear]** , **[Decay]** , even **[Acid Arrow]** to name a few. Somehow the orb was giving him some spells, as he had to have been a bard with the getup he had on. Selene could even see the psaltery leaning against the side of the ossuary. The spells had no effect on the woman coming towards him, seemingly hitting some invisible force before it reached her skin and armor. Her resistances and armor immunity were ignoring the magic, her barrier wasn't even being touched, let alone her shields. No one would know just how powerful she really was in that room.

"Damn you! Damn you! My plan is ruined because of you! You'll-" that was all he could say as Selene shot forward and sliced his head off in a side attack motion. She was already changing direction as his body fell to the ground, running straight for the orb and laying her gauntleted hand on it. Undead were starting to pour down the tunnel towards them, then collapsed on the ground as the orb glowed. The auburn-haired woman had silently ordered them to rest in peace.

Dina fell to the ground, her legs giving out again as she sighed in relief, a little chuckled escaping her lips after. The threat was ended, the undead horde was stopped. The dev walked up, hefting the cube container that held the orb and tossed it to Ezra. He nearly dropped it in surprise as it bounced around in the air, juggling between his hands for a second. "Why are you giving me this?" he asked.

"One, it technically caused all of this, and was cast by someone who shouldn't know much magic. Two, it could potentially bring those three over there back to life." She pointed to the adventurers lying on the ground in the far back on slabs. Dina was staring at the bodies as if they were still alive. It wasn't as if Hrist and the dev had fought them, they weren't even animated just yet. That might have given her a clue of just how strong that artifact was, it needed time to work its magic. "Go on, try using it."

Ezra stepped forward hesitantly, looking at Dina as he clasped the orbt in his hands. His staff was dropped on the ground after he caught it, but it wasn't needed. "I'm a priest, not a necromancer!"

"And we're warriors! Besides, life and death, two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways. Look, that thing raised the dead, it's possible with some holy coercion it could amplify your power to get them up, without corrupting you as you're a priest. It's worth a try Ezra, you won't know until you attempt it." He stood there looking over the remains of the fallen, staring and wondering. Dina was helped up as Selene walked over to Blue and gave him a scratch. "Good boy, you did good." He was silent as he received the attention.

The young man, unsure what he should do, started to cast his strongest heal spell, as he didn't know **[Raise Dead],** and **[Resurrection]** was beyond any wizard's abilities. He silently begged for help, to bring these people back to life, hoping there was something out there or within himself that could help. Secretly, Selene cast **[Mass Resurrection]** , hoping somehow that it wouldn't turn the bodies into dust. The abomination had been created with a mixture of a summoning ritual and necromantic spells, while this was just an artifact doing the work and with less time from animating the corpses. Now that it was "off" it could be possible to bring them back. She just had to make sure they didn't see the Ferryman float in.

As the mist built up, she cast **[Blinding Flash]** in the area to keep Dina and Ezra from seeing, just long enough for the souls to walk through the mist and out to their bodies. It would cost three percent of her treasury, which was a hefty amount, however it was the only way to keep things secret. The entire time, Ezra and Dina couldn't see anything. The mist faded away with the Ferryman disappearing, the spell finished. Gasps could be heard from the adventurers on the slab as they looked around.

"Marv! Dylan! Pops!" Dina yelled as she rushed to hug each of them. Pops sat up, his horned helmet half broken and looking around at the area. He had a pot belly with banded armor covering him from head to toe, with some damage to different parts caused by the undead. Marv hugged Dina back as he seemed a little confused.

"Where are we? I thought for sure we were dead…" he said to her as she just cried tears of joy.

"I… I did it… I have no idea how…" Ezra muttered to himself.

"I think I know how. Did you see that Brynya? Just above his head?" Selene asked, motioning with her eyes for her to play along.

"Uh… yes, I did, that was… very… amazing… what was that?" Hrist replied, confused as to how she should respond.

"It looked like a woman with wings! Was that Elesia, answering his call? Wow. Pretty impressive." Ezra looked at Selene and blinked. His goddess had listened to his pleas for help. Now it might be possible to pay for an adventurer party to help his abbey. It might even be possible to pay Ilana and Brynya to come with him.

"Wha… really?!" he asked astonished. Dina was looking up above him, wondering what the blinding light was.

"Maybe… maybe it was that bright light?" she commented as the rest of her team slowly got up, the magician of the group realizing his robes were a little torn and did his best to cover himself quite embarrassed. The priest was almost jumping for joy at that thought. That was, of course, until Selene grabbed the head of the necromancer and put it in a sack to hand to him. He nearly had a heart attack and cringed.

"The orb please in exchange for this." She made a give me motion with her hand with the sack in the other.

"What? Why? That's a head!" he asked shocked.

"This is the requirement for your reward! I said I was taking that artifact so no one could abuse it when we started! You need the head as proof the horde threat is gone!" she snapped as she reached for the artifact. He looked down as she swapped items quickly but shivered in revulsion as the sack plopped into his arms. The empress then quickly shoved it in her backpack and got ready to leave. "Time to go, we got what we came for and finished this quest."

The much larger group headed out of the ossuary and up the stairs, heading down the tunnel and past the hole to climb out. They were just going to head the long way through the now silent graveyard with no undead threat anywhere near the city now. As they walked, Ezra came up next to Selene with her hands holding the straps to her pack. "Um… miss… miss Ilana… why, w-why are you giving me the… um… the head? Shouldn't you turn it in?" he asked.

"I can't, remember? I'm not a member of the guild. No reward. You could share it with the people behind you if you'd prefer, but Brynya and myself get paid fairly well all things considered. Besides, it will look interesting with a copper and silver rank handling an Adamantite rank quest and surviving." She was lying her pretty little head off to sell the story of them working for a noble house somewhere.

"Oh… yes… um… what was the payment? I… I never really looked at the higher quests…"

"10,000 gold coins I believe." The young teenager gasped and nearly had another heart attack as he fell back a little, trying to wrap his head around that. It could easily pay for a hundred adventurer teams to come protect the abbey. Dina made her way to the front of the group just as they saw the entrance tunnel heading up at an incline and started walking out into the graveyard.

"Did you really see Elesia above him?" she asked.

"I don't know what I saw, but it seemed like a figure trying to touch his hands. You should be thanking him, he has talent if he puts his mind to it." The ranger thought about that. Ilana couldn't have possibly cast that spell, right? She was a warrior, not a priestess. The young girl glanced back at Ezra, who was being talked to by her friends. They didn't have a priest in their group, it was just Pops the old knight, Dylan the thief and Marv the magician with her being the ranger. Marv could heal to a limited extent, but nothing compared to a real holy priest. She fell back to talk to Pops as Ezra had his hair ruffled by Marv. They laughed as he seemed a little squeamish.

Hrist finally moved up next to her as they headed for the wall, leaving the same way they had come. There were so many ways the three could have just up and left, jumping over the fortifications with their strength or using her amulet. She knew teleportation and could create a hole in the wall with Molecular Reformation. The show had to still go on for a little longer while she was inside Silvinholm. Hopefully their little display of fighting prowess didn't tip the group off too much. They should have just looked like very competent, less than Adamantite, adventurers that didn't want to be noticed, or elite captains working for the noble houses on contract.

"You need to tell me this plan of yours, I'm wondering why we are doing this Sel… er… Ilana…" she was still talking barely at a whisper, but the Valkyrja couldn't be sure they weren't being watched by the team behind them.

"I'll explain once we're back at the inn." The new adventurers that had come back to life had a little issue moving across the zipline, Marv constantly trying to decide which was more important, his grip on the rope or his dignity as a man while he nearly flashed his friends a few times. Pops almost couldn't breathe as he laughed at his actions. Hrist was getting annoyed and started to shake the rope, with the magician slowly sliding down it to the end then dropping down, having minor rope burns on his hands. Marv was luckily enough to cast **[Floating Board]** for Blue to get across without being carried but winced after from the slight wounds on his hands. Ezra quickly healed those as they got down from the building and walked into the street.

"Well, I think we've had enough for one night. You won't be able to turn the head in until morning anyways" Selene said as she put her hands on her back and pushed while trying to bend back a little. Ezra walked up and glanced back at Dina with her friends.

"I… I don't know what to say… we're alive because of you… you aren't getting a reward and I feel bad about that… is… is there any way I can repay you? I mean, once we turn in this… thing… the reward I can share…"

"No need. You can pay me back in some other way." The young boy seemed confused as he gazed at her.

"What? How?" The empress stretched her right arm and rotated her shoulder.

 _I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse._

"Possible to get me in touch with your Mother or Father Superior at the abbey?" she asked. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Uh, wha… why? I don't know if the abbey or Mother Superior Francine would have the same reward to provide you as the money I'm going to get soon."

"Again, we get paid well. I just want to have a chat with her, see if she might be able to answer some questions for us, that's all. She might be able to give a reward you don't know about." His face lit up as he realized what this meant. They would come with him to the abbey. With these two backing them up, along with the extra adventurers paid for, they could save his home once and for all. He nodded in agreement, small tears appearing in his eyes. "By the way… why didn't you ask for help from your family?" His face had a sudden flash of fear envelope it instead of the joy he was previously feeling. His name plate had been intentionally damaged to hide the last name after all, how did she read through the scratches and dents?

"How… how did you…"

"I'm just curious that's all, I'd think they'd want to help their son protect his religion, that's all." Dina looked between them in complete confusion.

"What? What do you mean? Ezra?" she asked. He fidgeted, putting him on the spot.

"It's ok, I've heard of families sending the second son away to learn and be productive outside of the family name, not make them feel as if they are living in their brother's shadow; just seems odd they wouldn't help you. You are the second son of the Rikter family, right?" Ezra seemed to let out a little groan as he was found out. The silver ranks behind him came up nearby and looked at his name plate, barely able to make out an R. He looked down at her legs and looked like he was trying to shrink into his robes. "Hey, sorry for putting you on the spot, wasn't intentional. I'm just curious." He closed his eyes.

"I didn't get help because they don't know I'm here. I didn't want to cause trouble with my family" he blurted out.

"Hey, I understand, it's fine. The secret is safe, right fellas?" she asked as she put her hands up in surrender, looking at the rest of the group.

"Yeah, we're all friends here. Wow, House Rikter. Your father is the head of the noble house council, isn't he? Oh, sorry. My lips are sealed" Marv said as he covered his mouth. The others nodded, including Dina who just gazed at him.

"Wait, she's a he?" Pops asked as Dylan bonked him on the helmet. The boy looked around at everyone then back at Selene. She smiled and nodded. Her plan was still in motion. He didn't realize it, but the empress didn't just pick him to help because he needed it. Ezra was going to be her ticket to meeting all the noble houses quickly. They all agreed to meet at the guild tomorrow morning as they separated for the night and headed back to their rooms. Along the way, Selene was checking through the new maps she received from Tilly and noted the estates ownership… including the Rikter household. Instead of meeting them through obtrusive means, using Ezra to at least talk with his parents was a viable alternative.

"Now will you tell me what this plan is?" Hrist asked as Blue ran up the steps of the inn and waited for the pocket dimension to be opened again. Once more, the door was sealed as they entered and headed to the house entrance.

"Ok, so obviously the whole seeing Elesia was a giant lie. However, if this Mother Superior Francine is in charge of the abbey, and gods can send down their physical avatars, I have reason to believe that she can attempt a summon for us. I want to meet Elesia, not just fake the entire thing." Hrist blinked at her as they got inside and took their armor off.

"Why do you want to meet her?" The battle maiden asked as she took her boots off.

"Because she can give me a sense of what the pantheon is doing and how many gods are royal dicks to their followers. She's supposed to be kindness and nature, so I figure she should be nice and friendly. Any intel I can get on who or what is out there is a win. Knowledge is power obviously, and I need to know what else the idiot king of Artinia can try and summon. Xaxara might have a waning following like Antoine said, but there is no guarantee the others are the same. Knowing if I could have a giant fight on my hands with some smiting god or goddess is a big deal."

Hrist now understood why she was doing what she was doing. Ezra was a way to help the abbey and get what she wanted, even without using her army to simply sweep the area free. It would have been a few minutes of tanks rolling around and annihilating the twisted corpses that supposedly are walking around. Ezra didn't give a lot of information as to what exactly was plaguing the abbey, though. Selene was the one who brought up zombies, he just went along with it. Was it undead? The fog surrounding the abbey didn't sound like something they'd need normally, and they didn't usually drag living beings away to be turned into more.

"So, we go to the abbey. Very smart."

"That's only part of it. Hold that thought." The dev shot up to her bedroom and changed into a black ninja outfit just for shits and giggles. She was going to be turning on her invisibility field the entire time, but it was just for enjoyment. Once she came back down, she scribbled a note on a piece of paper. "I'm going to quickly deliver this to the Rikter family household. It's going to tell them to show up at the adventurer's guild or something terrible could happen to their family. Technically, it's just so they can see their son, which is in a way bad if they don't do that. Then we talk to them."

"You want to meet with them and see about getting the council to align with your empire, brilliant!" Hrist said as she pumped her fist and flexed. Selene blinked at her.

 _Sort of? I mean, I first need to get on their good side by showing we're keeping their second son alive… that's if they care about him. If they are decent nobility, then this shouldn't be a problem. If they aren't… mark them on my shit list…_

"Well, that's only the beginning. They won't just join up, even with negotiations. I promised Antoine I'd try and do this peacefully, but I never said I wasn't going to play dirty. Hearts and minds work both ways, I have to make them hate Artinia and love the idea of seceding from the kingdom. How are they going to survive without protection? That's where I come in." She was going to be playing psychological warfare on the city, working with propaganda and showing everyone just how evil the government really was. The Clockwork Empire would sweep in and look positively holy. That would be the opening to come out of the shadows. By that time, Brynhildr would have taken the southern towns and cities, including Paldos City which was the main slave trade. It would take a few trips to Silvinholm, as she didn't want to stay here for more than a week or two.

This was Selene playing the long game, although there were far easier methods with less than friendly actions on her part. She wasn't here to play superhero and do action poses like some Adamantite legend. She certainly wasn't going to join the adventurer's guild to get one of those rank plates.

The empress left quickly and hid in plain sight, dashing over rooftops quietly without anyone noticing. Once she reached the estate, the mercenary guards patrolling without seeing her even once, she dropped off the note in a simple envelope at the front door. She then quickly dashed back to the inn, not using her amulet as she was honestly worried there might be a residual sound or light effect due to the teleportation, with not knowing if her invisibility field would cover that, given she was already leaving the area. Hrist would have to help her see if that was an issue. Everything was now set up for phase one of her plan to be finished, now it just needed to move into the early stage of phase two.

 _ **Morning**_

Ezra stood just outside the doors to the guild, still locked. He was excited about what had happened last night, despite the fear he felt when he realized where he was taken by the two women. Everything worked out well though, with the money practically already in his hand. He wouldn't need to try and do odd jobs for the guild just to try and build up the little coin a copper plate adventurer could make.

Dina walked up with Pops and Dylan, both wearing regular clothes. Their armor was with a blacksmith trying to get rid of the damage. Marv was nowhere to be seen, probably getting his robe tailored so he wouldn't moon people. Apparently, he died from blood loss due to a wound… lower… than normal. That attack had ripped his underwear up in the process.

"Ready to go in and get your reward?" the ranger asked with a small smile. He looked down at the sack hanging from the bottom of his very slim backpack. It felt disgusting keeping the head stashed in his bedroom, with nightmares waking him up at least twice. Nothing happened, just his mind playing tricks on him due to the incredible sight of the undead in the ossuary.

"I am. Um, once I get it… would… could I… um, hire your group… for a quest?" he asked. Dina walked up and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Why would you need to hire us? I thought you were a member of the team already." He looked shocked as his eyes shot to Pops and Dylan who smirked at him. "I mean, we don't have a priest in the group yet, it would be nice if you accepted." He didn't know what to say.

"I'm… I… I don't know. I'm a… a priest of Elesia, to leave the abbey… can I… can I think on it for a little bit? Please?" Pops laughed and came up behind him, putting his arm around his shoulder and patting it.

"Plenty of priests go about their business in an adventuring party and still manage to pray to their gods, boy. It's normal. We'll understand if you say no, but you'd be missing out on seeing the world. You could do a lot of good if you accept. Think about it, your goddess is one of kindness, right? Well, helping others out along the way could bring you closer to her ideals! Being cooped up in a monastery-"

"Abbey."

"Whatever, it isn't going to make the world a better place. People are getting hurt out there, adventurers with good intentions are getting hurt out there. A priest would go a long way of evening it out, allowing them to come back home."

"I… I understand… but can I still think about it?" The old man patted him on the shoulder again and nodded. The doors unlocked as Tilly opened them up, blinking at Ezra as she unlatched the second from the doorframe.

"Oh, Ezra, early as always. Huh, you… found a party?" she asked as she looked at each person in confusion, a small smile on her face.

"Actually, these are my friends I… I lost… but… his goddess resurrected them!" Dina explained. Tilly was surprised, wondering how that was even possible. She ushered them inside as they told her the story about what they did last night. The performance Dina and Ezra explained of the two women who came with them, Ilana and Brynya, was news to the silver ranked members in her group. What they told was like a fairy tale, with two legendary Adamantite warrior maidens coming in and annihilating the undead, leading them to victory.

"Sheesh girl, we missed out on seeing that. I wonder where they are right now? Didn't they say they would meet up here?" Dylan asked as he brushed his long blue hair back with his fingers. Having more than the normal color range in the hair of the populace might have been due to the proliferation of magic around them, with some mana altering the gene that dictated what color it would be, potentially becoming one of the tints of a rainbow. The diversity in hair color, skin color and body shape made humans incredibly different from other species now.

As if on cue, Selene and Hrist walked through the doors wearing just boring blouses and leather pants. The empress stretched and yawned as the others looked at her. "Oh, already here. I was sure we'd be early" she commented as her eyes roamed across the different faces. Ezra smiled and bowed to her. "So, you turn in the sack yet?"

"Oh, right… um… this is… uh… proof… that… we uh… we did… that quest over there…" he squeaked out, pointing to the quest board. Tilly blinked for a second as he held out the sack, then looked up at the board. What they had just told her sounded like they were making it up, but he pointed to the undead horde quest.

"But that was… it was going to be completed by the city council's combined army. How the… you couldn't have… I mean… you're a copper rank and they're…" She slowly took the bag from Ezra and peeked inside, then dropped it on the ground. That was proof alright.

"Well… we, we sort of didn't do all of it. Most of the work was done by these two" Dina chimed in as Blue sat down next to his alpha. She kneeled down and gave him a pat. Tilly's mouth fell open, but she didn't know what to say.

"Uh… ahem… wha… all… alright… I guess… the reward is… is yours…" she seemed to be having trouble finding the words, but a quest was a quest. "I can't pay this to them though, but you… oh wow…" she turned around, still reaming from the evidence. Her feet carried her over to the guild bank where a man sat behind the bars and checked the lockboxes after exclaiming "HOLY SHIT!" loudly, getting a good look through his window at the priest. Ten thousand gold coins was counted out as more adventurers walked into the building to check the quest board. The blonde receptionist walked back with the large sack of coin in her hands, her titian curls bouncing all the way.

As she handed it to Ezra, he nearly fell on his butt due to the weight of the sack. "Oof!" he grunted out as he tried to regain his balance and not drop the thing.

"I… we can't pay you two for this I'm afraid. If you had joined, we-"

"We're fine as is. It helped fix a problem the city was in gross need of an answer to" Selene interrupted. The receptionist blinked at her donation of her time to protect the city.

"I don't know which noble house hired you, but please thank them in our stead" Dylan commented as he thumbed his nose and moved it out in a thumbs up motion, winking one of his eyes closed. Ezra opened the bag and looked at the glimmering gold coins. He could barely reach into it without losing his balance but was finally able to pull out a few to hand to Dina.

"What's this?" she asked.

"For… for helping with all of this…" he replied bashfully. She looked up at him and smiled. Her hand quickly dove into the bag again and dropped the coins.

"If you join our party, that won't be necessary."

"Unless of course we head to a nice tavern! Then he's buying!" Pops laughed out as the thief chuckled next to him. The priest blushed as other adventurers took notice of what had happened, teams entering through the front door and walking halfway up the stairs. Tilly walked to the board, moved a ladder over and climbed up. Her hand reached out as everyone watched, ripping the quest away and climbing back down. A quick stamp at the reception desk stating it was done and people started whispering. A copper rank adventurer, a priest no less, had completed it. Of course, the rumor went around about Selene and Hrist doing most of the work, getting the young boy what he needed to get the reward.

"Good job kiddo!"

"Nice one girl!"

"Is she going to get raised in rank? Maybe platinum immediately?"

"She is a he!" Pops yelled out. The building was silent for a moment, embarrassing the hell out of Ezra. He nearly had a heart attack right then and there. Dylan bonked him on the head again. "Ow! Why do you keep doing that?" he asked as he held his head and glared at the thief. Dylan just shook his head.

"He's cute" they heard from a few of the women on the stairs. His face went beet red.

"Maybe we should ask if he wants to group up, there are a few quests we can do together." Everyone started talking about getting him to join their parties, but Dina snapped at them.

"He's our priest! You want him, you've gotta join up with us first!" she shouted as her arm went around his shoulder. Selene didn't know a human being could get any redder, though she did notice the small nosebleed he just had that was quickly wiped away. The ranger's chest was about at eye level with him due to her pulling his head down a bit in the half hug. She also could have sworn she could hear him praying under his breath.

"Yeah, he's got a quest he needs to ask to be put up!" Pops added in, pointing at the teenager. Tilly looked at Ezra who was finally let go of by Dina. He took off his backpack and pulled out a scroll, the writing careful and composed, completely professional. As he gave it to her, she quickly opened it up, reading through the whole thing. The building was silent as they waited for her to put it up on the board.

"How much are you willing to pay each adventurer who signs up?" she asked. He fidgeted as he looked around, his eyes locking onto Selene. She crossed her arms and glanced at the receptionist.

"How much do Adamantite adventurers normally get paid for quests?" she asked.

"It depends, the minimum is ten gold for light work, but the best of them get one thousand gold for difficult jobs For everyone below that, um… one hundred gold is the highest I've seen so far for orichalcum, mithril I think half that, I might be wrong… hmm, platinum was ten gold? No, twenty. Sorry! I just know Adamantite got a lot." Tilly looked like she was embarrassed and putting her hands together in asking for forgiveness.

"And you don't have any Adamantite adventurers signed up with the guild correct?" Tilly nodded. "Well then how many of the lower ranks can we pay for?" Ezra's eyes widened. "I did say I was going with you to meet your Mother Superior, I need to have a little chat with her about things." The rest of the adventurers talked about joining, what it would entail. Tilly started explaining what the quest involved, heading north east to the abbey and defeating whatever creatures were attacking it. Some of them wondered why two unregistered warriors were joining the group, now apparently turning into a raid.

Dylan seemed to be talking with some of the other teams, letting them know these two were the reason the priest even got into the catacombs in Old District. That made quite a few people wonder if they were secretly Adamantite rank. "You resurrected those members of Dina's team?" one woman asked.

"Nope, that was Ezra begging his goddess for a miracle and using an artifact to amplify his abilities. It was all him." Warriors, wizards and archers from all over the building started talking with the priest as he did his best to have a conversation. For the first time since she met him, Selene saw him laugh a little as one person told him a joke involving a previous quest they did. Within ten minutes, he had a good one hundred adventurers signed up, totaling almost half of the gold he had. That left the other half to help the abbey later. At least fifty percent of them were gold and below, with the remainder being a mixture of mainly platinum rank and some mithril. Four were orichalcum, eyeing Selene and Hrist up in a positive way. They had talked amongst themselves about learning just what an Adamantite adventurer could do, trying to move up the rank finally.

"They seem pretty strong, I can see why they handled most of the horde" was heard in the background and the crowd got a little larger. For the dev, that meant the circlet was working as it should, not scaring the hell out of them. "Thank you" Ezra stated as he looked at the empress. She simply nodded slowly and smiled at him.

"Ezra?" a woman asked at the door. People turned around to see a woman in rich noble clothing standing there next to a man with similar look, a mustache that looked to be waxed. Both were clearly nobility in every regard. The woman looked almost elated at seeing him, the man smiling.

"Mother?" he asked in shock.


	24. Ch 23 The Faith Eater

Ezra's mother ran to hug him, with a look of surprise erupting on his face as her arms wrapped around his shoulders. His father walked forward with a few whispers coming from the crowd. "What… what are you doing here?"

"We received some cryptic letter telling us to come here, that some harm would befall someone of the family if we didn't. We weren't expecting you to be here, my son, why aren't you at the abbey?" his father asked as he stood there with a cane stamped against the carpet. His mother pulled away and moved his hair a little, wondering why it was so long. Apparently, he didn't always look like this, though his slender face still did look feminine.

"But… who…" he looked amongst the silver ranked group who had been with him last night, all looked confused. His eyes fell finally on Selene, who put her hands up in defense.

"Whoa there, we were asleep right after. I don't have a reason to meddle in your internal affairs, I'm just doing my job" she told him. That seemed to ease his worry a little, though she already knew she was lying to everyone except Hrist. Ezra's mind slowly moved to someone who might have figured out his last name was Rikter and purposely got in touch with his family, to either to get a reward somehow, or maybe out of the goodness of their heart to help him and his abbey.

"You haven't answered why you are here Ezra, you weren't supposed to come for a holiday until a few months down the road" his mother said as she gave him a side hug, her arm around his shoulders. The sign of affection his parents gave him told Selene they cared, they weren't one of the evil nobles that worked their people to the bone or beat their children. They were worried about him.

"Yes, Ezra, what is this about? Is something the matter?" his father asked. He was a good head taller to his son, an inch taller than Selene. That could change in the future, as Ezra was only fourteen. Selene could also become as tall as Hrist or larger with the stat she hadn't put one point into, Stature. If she wanted, her height could be that of a giant or even a mountain.

Ezra looked like he was about to faint. "I think you three should talk this through in private, there is no sense in everyone hearing, despite he already putting up a quest for the adventurer's guild" the empress said as she looked at Tilly.

"Um, there's a small set of meeting rooms available, they can use one of those" she replied. Ezra's mother thanked them as they walked to one of the rooms as directed and closed the door. The conversation seemed to last a good half hour as the adventurers in the guild went about their business. They had a quest to prepare for. Tilly went behind the reception desk and got a new name plate set up for Ezra, with Selene watching.

"Take a look. She's making a silver rank plate for him." Hrist eyed the metal, wondering why it was such a low tier metal.

"Should he not get an Adamantite rank for performing such a quest with us?" she whispered in her ear.

"We technically did most of the work. It's simply because he performed so well that he jumps two tiers higher. He's at least equal to the rest of the team now." Pops was beaming as some younger women were talking to Dylan for a minute, then found out they weren't the ones that took out the undead horde. The old man was a little perverted, attempting to get on the good side of some of the ladies in hopes of bringing them back to the inn. Most tended to slap him when he offered something lecherous, but it didn't seem to faze him much as they left for other groups.

Entire teams were taking notice of the two women sitting near the reception desk, the real MVPs of the entire quest. Quite a few of them were trying to gauge how strong they really were, with a couple warriors asking if they might be interested in sparring with them. "Apologies, but we technically are here on business. We're not really here to show off." They seemed disappointed at that, however it was somewhat true. Blue sat next to his alpha and leaned his head on her lap as she talked with Tilly about the quality of the ranks here.

Apparently, there were Adamantite adventurers that didn't live in the city and were registered to other municipalities. Despite Silvinholm being so huge, it only had four orichalcum adventurers, with roughly thirty mithrils. Platinum ranks seemed to be somewhere floating around double that. Gold there were one hundred fifty, and silver there were close to three hundred. Iron and copper seemed to be well beyond that, though some seemed to do little more than stay within the walls of the city and act as extra guards for certain districts. That Tilly knew of, there were a total of six Adamantite adventurer groups in Artinia, with potentially an unknown number of others by themselves. These, of course, were just what she knew of, there could be others roaming around. Salunbal, at least the city, apparently was rumored to have five Adamantite teams by itself. The kingdom of Tal Salunbal had an unknown number of adventurers.

The two platinum adventurers from yesterday were glaring down at Selene from up above, the second floor providing a view of the front entranceway. While they had performed some measly task meant for their rank, she had done near the impossible for any but the highest rank, with lower ranks following along. While The dev didn't care what they thought of her, she did care if they attempted something against her team or the raid. Any action to inhibit them as they head towards the abbey from those idiots was a guaranteed trip to the morgue, first class, no resurrection allowed. Despite not using death magic, even though she knew a few spells, it was not beyond her abilities to keep anyone from being raised. Yggdrasil tier magic allowed such spells, but Arcanic's Wizardry was careful about them. Not allowing a player to resurrect their character was a great way of losing them to another game, losing the subscription in the process. There were ways to subvert the spell, but it always required a quest from an alt or friends to gather materials to perform a ritual.

Ezra finally walked out with his parents who quietly closed the door to the meeting room, their manners being of the highest caliber. His mother, despite being in her fifties, was still quite beautiful. To most people on Earth, a person in their fifties didn't mean much, but to a person living in the middle ages, even as a noble, fifties was old. This must have been due to good genes.

"I hear you helped our son last night. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you" she heard as they walked up to the empress's chair. She stood up and bowed. This action seemed to make Hrist twitch ever so slightly. _They_ should be bowing to _her_ , not the other way around. Still, they were trying to make sure no one knew that they had the Clockwork Empress standing right in front of them.

"It was nothing, I was just attempting to get more information on the issue in the Old District. We were hired as problem solvers after all, our paths simply crossed at the right time. Your son now has made it clear that his abbey is under assault by something. We happen to be in need of speaking to his Mother Superior Francine as well."

"Then you'll be accompanying him back there? Oh, that's wonderful. A true hero escorting Ezra" his mother said beaming. Selene scratched the back of her head and smiled.

"I wouldn't call myself a hero my lady, just a warrior contracted to take care of special problems." She was starting to get good at the fake identity, making it seem like she didn't know any magic, no psionics, no mechanical assistance from her armor. No one knew of the automatons hiding right in the city, performing surveillance on an unknown member of the royal family. No one knew of the air fleet hiding in plain sight nearby, or the massive standing mechanized armies ready to sweep across the continent at a moment's notice.

"You've gotten our son the money he needed to pay for the adventurers here… though I do not know why he didn't come to us. You took him on a dangerous quest… but you did bring him back safely and with his goal met" his father commented as he looked at the teenager. He looked sheepish as the priest looked away. "You can ask us any time for help, Ezra, why didn't you come to us for aide?"

"I… I… I was worried you would say no… that you would just take me away from the abbey and leave them to their fate… I didn't… I didn't want that…" His father looked perplexed as his eyes met his wife's, blinking.

"Why would you think that? You chose to go there for training. You have raw talent with holy spells and priest… er… abilities, why would we block that?" his mother replied.

"You mean… you'll help?" he asked quietly.

"It's a noble cause to protect that abbey. While we do pray to Gigsen, Elesia is who you chose to follow, so we've accepted it. If something is attacking the followers of the goddess… that does not bode well. We'll see what we can do, but… er… we'll talk more of this later" his father told him. Ezra's mother ran her hand down the side of his hair, picking up a lock hanging near his shoulders.

"Is this what they expect you dress like Ezra? Why?" she asked as quietly as she could.

"It was either that or take a vow of silence as the monks do. I chose to… um… join the…" he looked incredibly embarrassed as he spoke "sisters…"

"Oh" his father simply said as he looked at his wife somewhat knowing what that meant. To them, that did sound a little risqué, however they did provide him his own room there, just like everyone else. Half of the abbey was part of the monk's area, while the other half was for the sisters, the priestesses. Every time Ezra said sister, she thought mainly of nuns; although in some ways nuns and a priestess were similar, nuns remained chaste and virtuous while a priestess did not. The main issue was the empress didn't quite have a "In the life of a priestess" or "In the life of a monk" book in this world. There was no reality tv show sharing how they went about their daily chores or what to expect. For all she knew, nun and priestess were interchangeable, Mother Superior and Abbess were the same thing, and why would she argue? This is their religion after all. While some things could be called the same thing here, others she needed to get used to being altered to suit their speech and languages.

 _The English language gets new words and new meanings to those words added practically every day, it seems logical it would be the same way here._

"Well. We should get you back to our home tonight, you must have wanted to sleep in your old room once more? Before you head out?" His mother asked as she rubbed his back and smiled.

"Yes, and perhaps we should offer a chance to these ladies to stay in the guest rooms as well. What say you?" Ezra's father spoke as he nodded at them. Selene looked at Hrist in surprise.

"Uh… that's… very generous sir… but we don't want to cause any inconvenience…" she replied as different ways to get out of it flew through her head.

"Nonsense! You have helped my son once, with yet another adventure ahead of both of you. The least we could do is provide one night at our home. Those inn beds must be positively rock hard" the head of the household said, refusing to take no for an answer.

 _Well it isn't as if we've been sleeping in the beds so I can't say if it is rock hard at all… I'm pretty sure the beds in the pocket house are a lot more comfortable than anything you have in your mansion… I guess one night wouldn't hurt…_

"I… thank you, your grace." Ezra's mother smiled warmly at hearing that.

"My name is Duchess Melsia, my husband is Duke Donovan. Thank you for taking us up on the offer. Now, Ezra, time to leave, you'll see her and your friends a little later. Oh… Don… maybe we should uh… you know…" she said as her eyes met her husband's. His mouth opened a little as he tried to figure out what she was referring to, then saw her motion towards the silver ranked party their son had grouped with.

"Ah, I see… well… we should offer an invitation of dinner, should we not?" she nodded in understanding. Pops and Dylan happily accepted, though they would need to dress for the occasion. Dina was reaming, as she had no idea that she'd be hobnobbing it with nobility. While they wouldn't be staying at the estate, they would at least be getting a fine meal. Melsia gave Selene the address, though she already knew of the mansion anyways; then the family, the whole family, left. Tilly ran away from the reception desk, realizing she forgot to give him the new rank plate. As she ran out the door, there was the sound of her yelling then suddenly dying off. After a minute, she walked back in without the rank plate and seemed stunned about something.

"That was a very large stage coach…" she muttered to herself.

"Looks like we have some time before we have to head over there, how about we go explore Silvinholm for real this time?" Selene asked Hrist quietly. Dina and Dylan talked about a few things as the ladies excused themselves, Blue was trotting behind them while they headed out and about the city. They obviously had to head to the candy shop one more time to pick up a stash for Hrist, finishing her sample bag. The dev just rolled her eyes as she picked out the sweets she enjoyed, ignoring the ones that didn't hit it off with her, including the spicy peppered candy that seemed to be an acquired taste. "Hey, we can make those machines to create this back home you know" she whispered while putting her hand gently on the Valkyrja's shoulder. Hrist looked at her for a moment and blinked, then looked at the bag slid across the counter and paid for it. A caramel apple was added to the mix.

"I'm just… trying them… can we really?" The empress chuckled and nodded as they left the shop. The battle maiden definitely had one hell of a sweet tooth. They headed from shop to shop, looking at the wares and moving through the marketplace. All sorts of food were on display, some cooks having stalls outside with the smell of breakfast, then eventually lunch, filling the air. A small show had opened up in the central courtyard of the city, with a troop of entertainers dancing and juggling. The city went from quiet with people moving from one place to another for a purpose at night, to loud and open with many slowing down to take in the sights, sounds and smells.

At one point they entered the smith shops, checking out the armor and weapons available. There were a few signs that Hrist translated stating the nearby magician's guild and wizard shop could enchant any equipment for a smaller fee as long as it was bought from these particular buildings. They must have a contract between each other.

The General looked over some swords while Selene checked on some helmets, not really interested in buying them so much as wondering how to see through the faceplates. Studying things she hadn't crafted even once could help her augment any future armor she wore, minimizing any restrictions in movement or field of view issues. There was a discount bin of old swords in a pile, another with throwing weapons. Wooden shields were pinned to the wall next to metal kite shields, a few towers available on the second floor. It was doubtful that anyone excluding the strongest could carry them in the city, with the special exception of the two women checking the place out.

Hrist happened upon the pre enchanted area as her empress continued looking at things on the first floor. The owner of the building watched her with interest as she picked up one sword supposedly enchanted with regeneration. "That sword constantly heals the wielder over time" he explained from behind. She glanced over her shoulder at him and inspected the quality. It was a simple steel sword, unbecoming of a Valkyrja or royalty, but that wasn't the reason she was looking at it. If it could do what it was enchanted with, there might be a way to distill the effect and harness it in another way…

"Are there any others that act in a similar way?" she asked him. He had her follow to another corner where there was an assortment of different armors and weapons that shared likeminded enchants. One axe had life stealing, another was a cudgel that caused no damage, it just healed. In other words, you would beat people back to full health.

While all of the equipment seemed interesting to a normal adventurer, the main reason Hrist wanted them was simply to figure out a way to harness the effect and use them in some way for her ultimate plan for Selene… she just didn't know how. Melt down the metal and merge it all together? She was no blacksmith; the battle maiden wouldn't know where to start. Have a wizard disenchant the weapons? That might destroy the effect, not turn it into random essence to clump together and rub on like makeup.

"Find anything interesting?" Selene asked as she walked up the steps to see her General talking to the shop keep. The Valkyrja didn't really know how to respond.

"I… was just checking on the different enchants already available" she finally replied as the empress looked at a barrel with halberd heads clumped together. The hafts were stored elsewhere. Pikes were sitting in a pile on a tarp, some were a little worse for wear. A few were very good quality, at least for a regular weaponsmith crafting them.

"This isn't the entire selection of magical items available, you should check in with the magician's guild. These are just the most popular, not necessarily for everyone" the shop owner explained. Both women thanked him as they headed for the door and out to the magician's guild. The entire way, Hrist thought about what they might find. Maybe there were rare enchants that could temporarily make someone invincible? That could be taken from an item and somehow turned into limited immortality, right? Or perhaps there were some way of slowing the aging process. It did seem doubtful the more she thought about it for these simple mortals to have something like that available. If they did, these people wouldn't be like they were now. Her goal seemed further away the more she thought about it, but she wasn't going to lose hope. There had to be some way to craft this immortality, at least the tier one or biological version, for her empress. She wasn't giving up.

 _ **Evening**_

Selene, Hrist, Blue and the silver team all walked up to the reinforced gates heading towards the Rikter mansion, the emblem of RF attached to the top of the gate arc in wrought iron. Pops was a little annoyed that they weren't sleeping in the mansion tonight, but Dina calmed him down quickly with reason and logic. Ilana had done most of the work, they were simply providing a small reward, probably hoping she'd take care of their second son on the trip back to his abbey.

"We can take care of him too! It's not like we're useless!" he grumbled out.

"She can take care of him better Pops" Dylan commented. He muttered something under his breath about her taking care of him in more ways than one and surrendered on the subject. Dylan whacked him upside the head as Selene glared daggers at him, with Dina apologizing for the old man. The butler opened the main doors and allowed them entry, showing the two women to their guest rooms while a second butler showed the silver ranked adventurers, the "Undead Destroyers" team, to the dining hall. Once the empress and partner were situated, they changed into simple yet elegant dresses for the dinner.

They both headed to the dining room, with Blue provided a loose collar to wear. He hated it, but it did make him look a bit better than some random wolf. Selene wore a green dress while Hrist wore blue. "Ah, our guests have arrived!" Donovan exclaimed as he walked part ways into the dining hall and gestured at nothing. He walked up and thanked them for coming, with the three women all curtsying and Dylan bowing. Pops had to be elbowed into remembering to do the same. "Welcome to our home, dinner will be ready in a little bit from what I've heard. Is there anything I can have gotten for you before that?"

The empress thanked him but refused, while the others were offered a glass of wine and a few appetizers. They were brought to another room that had multiple musical instruments, including a harpsichord. "You have a fine variation in instruments your grace" Selene commented as he showed some of his collection.

"You think so? Tell me, are you a purveyor of the musical arts, Ilana?" he asked.

"I am to some extent."

"Which is your favorite instrument?" She looked through the room with Hrist worried she didn't know how to respond.

"The violin your grace." He nodded in enjoyment. The head of the household walked over to a case and opened it up, pulling out a violin and checking to see if the bow was well rosined. He played a very small line of notes before stopping, everyone clapping. "Do you play Ilana?"

"I do, at least a little. I don't want to harm your ears your grace." He chuckled and offered her the violin and bow.

"I'm sure you can do better than my daughter." She sighed as her blue eyes glanced at Hrist's green. While she hadn't taken a Music skill at all, she did remember her violin lessons she had to take in high school, and further into college as an arts course. It was something to expand her horizons per her parents. She didn't hate playing it, but it was far more enjoyable to listen to.

Before she could even start, however, Melsia came inside and cleared her throat. "Ah, dinner is ready, this might have to wait then" Don said as she put the weapon made to offend everyone's ears down. While it might have been pleasant to listen to someone playing music, that someone should be anyone other than Selene. The entire time in her courses she played with others, not solo. Her sound was lost among the much better class members, so she was allowed to make at least a few mistakes.

As they headed towards the dining room a second time, Ezra's mother stopped mid step and stared at something. Coming through the front door… was her first son. "Morlan! We thought you were still in Salunbal!" she exclaimed as she rushed to her son. He wore full plate armor, stood a good six foot four inches and seemed to ripple in muscles, his arms uncovered. His hair was slicked back a little even though it was short, a hazel color to match his eyes with a small braid behind his left ear. A clean jawline beard was seen with two scars just under the right side of his jaw, barely hidden by the beard hair. Each plate of his armor was segmented for extra movement, with the pauldrons angled a little backwards. A woman in similar plate armor stood by his side, probably his partner, her helmet held in the crook of her arm, blonde hair tied neatly in a bun. She had long pointed ears, apparently an elf.

"Hah! That city couldn't keep me away from my home that long mother, I'd miss it too much if I stayed for another day. Oh, you have company, am I intruding?" he asked, a deep and strong voice coming from his mouth. While his eyes would have pierced anyone else, Selene just stood there, unaffected by his gaze.

"Ah, yes, but you are most assuredly not intruding! These are Ezra's friends, er… can we consider you his friends?" Melsia asked.

"We're… his… colleagues, madam. I would be remiss if I didn't say we have known each other for barely a day." That was the empress's way of saying 'we work together' and that they might go their separate ways once everything is said and done. While the duchess's younger son was an adventurer now, Selene was not, nor was the dev intending to become one. She didn't need any other rank beyond the one she made for herself.

"Ah, one of the sisters of the abbey perhaps?" Morlanion asked as he looked at his partner. She remained silent and collected as ever.

"No, we aren't, sir. We serve by contract to noble houses, we… troubleshoot issues." He raised an eyebrow and grinned a little.

"Then you are handy to have. Many provide services to our houses, but most tend to work in a straightforward way. Someone who sees outside the box is quite useful to have around for emergencies." Selene simply nodded in agreement.

"Ah, my manners. Ilana, this is our first son, Morlanion. Morlanion, this is Ilana and Brynya, they are assisting in a matter with Ezra and the Abbey" Donovan said as he introduced them to each other.

"A pleasure my lady" the older son replied as he bowed, while she curtsied a little. Hrist did nothing, though she watched his eyes as he studied her. While she was to the side, her vision couldn't tell her what Selene was thinking. That oddly made her… nervous… jealous. Those were bad mixed together, especially with a Valkyrja.

"What's this about the abbey? Something wrong? I thought my younger brother was doing well." Morlanion looked around as if he was going to see his younger brother come out of the shadows. As if on cue, Ezra came down from his room and seemed to turn into a beam of light at seeing his older sibling.

"Morlan!" he exclaimed as he ran down the stairs and hugged him.

"Oy oy, is that any way to treat your big brother after so long?" Morlanion asked as he looked down at him sternly. Ezra pulled back and looked as if he was scolded, then both of them quickly broke into a long special handshake only they knew, then spun around in a little dance. They broke out laughing as the armored warrior ruffled his brother's hair a little. "What's with this style? Are you into this thing? Not that I mind, to each their own, but I thought you were uh… you didn't go down that path and all…" he questioned as he motioned towards the garb.

"Morlanion! This is what is required of a priest of Elesia!" Melsia chided him. The man put his hands up in defense.

"I'm just asking mother, I'm not complaining. If that's how he needs to dress, then so be it. It is not my place to make him feel uncomfortable, I was just wondering."

"Honestly…" she looked annoyed as he didn't know what else to say. The whole family cared quite a bit about each other, with Morlanion being the next head of the house eventually. "Elsei, it is good to see you again." The woman that was standing next to the giant warrior nodded in acknowledgement.

"It is good to see you as well, your grace." Melsia nodded and then sighed as she looked at everyone. The Undead Destroyer party stood in the back, wondering why they weren't introduced. Pops licked his hand and ran it over his small amount of hair, his eyes staring at Elsei. She had on a stone mask of a face the entire time they were there.

"Ahem" Donovan cleared his throat as his wife understood that as a need to continue introductions. The silver ranked adventurers were named, with each nodding to another. "Now, I hope you don't mean to wear that armor to dinner my boy. Go get changed immediately. Elsei, we still have some of your dresses waiting."

"Uh, in my old room?" Morlanion asked as he glanced at his partner. "I'm surprised you didn't turn it into storage already mother." Melsia walked up and rapped her knuckles against his chest armor, annoyed that he was playing with her.

"You two go upstairs and change this instant. Dinner is ready, I expect my son and his partner to be well fed if they show up unannounced." He chuckled and agreed, surrendering to the demands of his mother. Despite having arms the equivalent of small tree trunks, he was a gentle man. He respected his parents and his elders. They both headed upstairs to change into something more suitable for the occasion.

"So Elsei and Morlanion work together outside the city?" Selene asked Melsia as they headed for the dining hall.

"Yes, she's his partner. From what he told us, he saved her from being sold into slavery after being captured up north. She's had his back ever since. They are very good working together, he treats her as his equal, as he should" she replied as the doors opened and the dining table came into view. It looked roughly half the size Selene had at the castle, though she did have four of them along with the half crescent one that she ate at.

"Did he buy any contract that states she is free?" the dev asked.

"Yes, had the entire thing notarized. Normally, it is odd to see elves moving around in Artinia. They… don't get along with our kingdom well, and for good reason. Our government has treated them quite poorly. Relations have been… violent… but it always seems to end the same way…"

"I take it Artinia tends to win?" The wife looked at the empress and nodded.

"We have the masses, the production, the land, the power. They have… a few forests at best, now slowly being cut down. If we treated them better, I'm sure we would get far more working together instead of apart. Their mithril is stronger than our steel, but we have far more of it to spare." The chairs were moved back by maids, allowing them to sit. Hrist, annoyed, had to sit on the opposite side of the table across from her empress. Ezra sat just next to her, close to his father. His mother sat at the other end. Morlanion was going to sit next to Selene, with Elsei sitting next to him. Dina and her crew would sit closer to Melsia.

After a few minutes, Morlanion came down wearing a blue elegant tunic and pants with a black vest covering his muscular chest. As he sat down, Elsei slowly walked down the stairs and gave Hrist a run for her money. She was wearing a silver dress that seemed to be made of gossamer or spider silk. She made Selene looked practically ordinary in comparison as just a human, but surprisingly seemed about on par with the Valkyrja in a simple dress. One could not understate the beauty of a battle maiden, there was a reason why there were romance stories with them being with some heroes. This was all without makeup, however. If Selene had put some on, she might have been able to compete. Hrist just didn't need it at all.

The elf moved to the dining table and sat next to Morlanion. "Ah, Elsei, your beauty lights any room as always" Donovan said.

"Now now, husband, are you thinking of running away with her and leaving me?" Melsia asked coyly.

"I would never think of doing that to the one who has my heart, dearest. Besides, I doubt she would even allow it. They are two intertwined for me to even have the slightest chance." They both shared a cute smirk. That was the right thing to say. Elsei held Morlanion's hand under the table. Her green eyes gazed at him for a moment as they started to eat the soup that was placed in front of them. They started to talk about different subjects, what was happening in Salunbal with Morlanion heading there before, and the abbey.

"So, you are heading to the abbey to help my little brother?" Morlan asked the dev. She looked up at him and nodded. "Hmmm… what's the problem there? Ezra?" His younger brother was beaming that he could see his older sibling.

"There's something that is attacking the abbey. A fog shows up once every week, with something… some sort of… we don't know. It drags people away, at least the ones who can't get to safety quick enough. At first, it was a few people missing, but later… they… they come back, changed somehow."

"Changed? How so?" his brother asked, a raised eyebrow. Selene had a good look at his stats. He was a level 35, with Elsei surprisingly being the same. They had to be heroes of Artinia at that point, five levels above even the highest Bronze Team have taken on. There was no rank plate on his armor when he came in, so he wasn't an adventurer. The highest level she had verified from any human was level 30. They just raised the bar, but by how much?

 _This might be bad… is he a soldier of the Artinian kingdom? Fuck… if the fucked-up king sends soldiers to fight me again… damn it… Ezra, I'll do my best not to hurt him if he's sent as a hero, but no guarantees… also, how the hell is this yoked man a level 35? Did he hunt a bear naked? Go toe to toe with a small dragon? Is it in the genes? This complicates things a little in the future…_

The last question rolling around in her head seemed to already be answered as false, given that his mother and father were level 10s. While they might have quite a bit of intelligence and skill in running a city amongst the rest of the noble council, they probably had no experience in fighting. Ezra, amusingly, had reached level 6, more than likely from party xp that had been given to him by Selene defeating the undead horde.

"Ilana?" Selene shook her head a little as she came back to reality.

"Sorry, what?" she asked, completely out of the conversation and feeling a little embarrassed. Morlanion looked at her and smiled.

"You're heading with my brother to help him end this threat? A noble goal. What do you hope to get out of this? Which house do you serve for this contract?" he asked.

"I… I'm sorry, but I need to remain confidential in my dealings with my client, I hope you understand. Helping Ezra at the abbey benefits us in ending a potentially serious threat that could move on to towns and cities. Figuring out the cause could stop it before it can become too difficult."

"Didn't you say you wanted to speak to Mother Superior Francine as well?" Ezra asked.

"That, that is true, yes. I need to collect some information from her."

"What sort of information? This is intriguing, almost like hearing about the Ghost's Ashes and their dealings with the world" Morlanion chuckled out.

 _Fuck… buddy, if only you knew, we kicked the crap out of those guys…_

"We… uh… there's word of some ruins to the south that might have symbols of Elesia on it. We… we wanted to cross reference with her in hopes that this might have been a lost splinter temple connected. It's…" she didn't know what else to say "anthropology?"

"Mmm, learning from history is a good way to not repeat its failures, understandable" Donovan commented. "It could help the following."

"Agreed" Morlanion chimed in right after. "Hmm, if this is a threat to my brother… perhaps… I should go?" he questioned himself as Elsei leaned in a little and looked at his face.

"Morlan, you don't have to, don't you… need to be somewhere else more important? The kingdom asks so much of you" Ezra responded.

"Nonsense. I have a little free time once in a while, I've done enough for the kingdom to allow me these times to help my family. We can come as well. Who is heading the force? How many?" Dina piped up and explained the situation, with one hundred adventurers, not including Ilana and Brynya. "Well then, since this is a contract that has two requirements be completed, maybe… you should be in charge?" the older sibling said to Selene.

"This is Ezra's quest, I'm simply going along with him as added support and to complete my duties." She sipped her wine carefully, trying to take eyes away from her and attempting to be cool, collected, boring.

"B-but… I've seen you fight! You could easily take out… whatever those things… are…" the priest seemed to get excited for a moment, then calmed down quickly. Morlanion raised an eyebrow. The redhead wasn't just very easy on the eyes, for a human, but could also fight too. He couldn't gauge how strong she was, or if she was a warrior or ranger or even a wizard.

"Do you excel in the sword and shield or bow and arrow?" Elsei asked to his side.

"I dabble in both, it helps to be adaptive on the field." She wasn't lying either. Her skill with all manner of weapons, even ones they had absolutely no idea existed, was well beyond anything they could reach. Her two hundred percent Ranged Weapon Skill along with Melee Weapons, Martial Arts and even the Dancing seemed to allow her unprecedented control of the battlefield. What they didn't know could hurt them dearly if ever they became enemies. She actually prayed that wouldn't happen. Morlanion was growing on her, though not in the way Hrist was worried about.

"A proper well-trained warrior practices in all manner of arms. They may not always have access to the weapon of choice" Morlanion said, providing sage advice to the few here who weren't well versed in high end combat. "Well then, we'll follow your lead then, Ilana. I look forward to working with you." Hrist seemed to nod in acknowledgement of that, as it should be. Her empress should be in control of this entire excursion. Blue sat under the table and received scraps from everyone, Ezra especially.

"Ma'am, this is Jorge, how copy?" she heard via her coms. She smiled as they changed the subject to other things, setting it in place she would lead the raid to the abbey.

"Solid copy Jorge, you have a report?" she asked. Hrist was asked a few questions from Melsia, asking how she kept her skin so blemish free. She did her best to tell it was just good… genes. This was her time to expand her experience in communication as the empress talked with her special forces.

"Not quite just yet. We think we've found the estate the princess is living in, at least the three we're sure she might have taken up residence."

"You narrowed it down to three?" she asked.

"You would be surprised at how many people carry swords and look like nobility ma'am. You were right to send us in." She did her best to listen to the conversations breaking into small groups, with Dylan and Dina talking to Melsia while Morlanion spoke with Elsei and his father. Ezra seemed to be talking to Hrist, surprisingly. Both seemed extremely awkward in communicating, but somehow got their points across. She was pretty sure the sky was falling outside with this turn of events, or hell was freezing over. The dev was actually proud of her being able to hold her own about religion with the priest.

"So how long do you think it'll be before you can verify if she's alright?"

"Potentially tomorrow, we've holed up in a vacant house just outside the noble district. Do you have a plan for after we provide the report?" Jorge asked.

"She's no threat to us in any way, but letting Antoine know she's alright is the only thing we're doing right now. Unless some stupid threat pops up, we'll leave her alone. I'm sure she's fine, this city is pretty well protected. I doubt they wouldn't be able to get away if an Artinian army showed up, and Falksworthy's best men were protecting her."

"Understood ma'am. We'll finish up probably tomorrow."

"Just a heads up, I'm not going to be in the city tomorrow, a little change of plans. If anything does go wrong, let me know if you need backup."

"Will do ma'am. Jorge out." The coms ended as she got back to the dinner in front of her.

 _ **Morning, 15th, November**_

The raid group was prepared with a little assistance from the Rikter Family, as Donovan wasn't about to not help his sons. The power of a noble house backing them made everyone feel safer, excluding Selene and Hrist. Secretly, she would have felt a lot safer sending in 5th Task Force, the very same that took Sweet Water. The heavy battle tanks would make short of work of whatever was hiding in the fog, her automatons would see through the haze easily and take out whatever was attempting to attack the monks and priestesses of the abbey. A rolling metal hurricane of death felt a lot better than squishy adventurers. At least she had the air fleet still following her, with the smaller helibot carrier airship staying behind in the event Bronze Team needed assistance. _Majesty's Grace_ would be nearby at all times to back her up. There was also a QRF just near Eld Horn that could make it to the abbey in fifteen minutes tops.

There were quite a few stage coaches, courtesy of the Rikter family, all ready to take everyone out in comfort… at least comfort in their eyes. Rigid wheels made every bump felt all the more if you were riding in it. Luckily the empress was going to be in full armor and sitting on a couple of cushions alongside Hrist. Morlanion and Elsei were going to sit with them along with Ezra, with the Undead Destroyers in the coach behind them. The remainder of the raid would be in transport coaches, larger than the first two and designed a little differently to fit more people inside. There were no cushions installed in the seats, so pillows were shoved under people to not feel the rocks and road. Blue sat wedged between Hrist and Selene, his head laying on her lap the entire way.

"A shame we couldn't spar this morning Ilana, I would have liked to see your sword style. Where did you learn to fight? Not Aureos I guess" Morlanion asked, just trying to make light chit chat as they headed out of the city. She was busy setting up a second layer of GPS satellites for construction and deployment, launch date would be tomorrow. A second OKKS was also being readied, this time with light shots to take out groups of tanks or the equivalent from orbit. It was highly doubtful Artinia, or for that matter anyone on this planet, had tanks or some vehicle other than a man pushed armor shell with wheels. While the best might be something out of Leonardo di Vinci's books, she had the full power of an Exo-Atmospheric empire hiding under the guise of Steampunk, leagues better. A fifth construction team was crafted in her inventory for Juliet to use, along with another team for Romeo to start building a prison far north away from the castle. They were still working on the tunnel through Azaltos Mountains after finishing up with Sweet Water.

"Oh, uh… my fighting style is a little adaptable, I go with the flow. You can't have a rigid stance in all circumstances, you lose once the enemy figures out how to get around it" she replied. Hrist had a gleam in her eyes. She knew all too well what she was saying and learned a lot from that. Her martial arts were improving with Selene helping her train to fight unarmed, to use the enemy's body against them beyond wrestling. A weapon was a force multiplier, but learning pressure points made their hands just as deadly now.

"It works well. I tend to be on the defensive myself, I should really open up a little for better movement."

"Only because you keep them from reaching me, while I can reach them" Elsei said as she crossed her arms over her armored chest. She wasn't like the stereotypical elf, she wasn't using a bow and quiver of arrows. Her main weapon was a halberd, and she was deadly with it, being capable of reaching out over Morlanion's shoulder and hitting anyone who was pressing against his shield. They could fight alone, but their style worked better together. They knew how each other moved, how one would flank while the other drew the enemy close… very much like Selene and Hrist. The ladies were just faster and better at it. Elsei tended to move in long sweeps of the halberd, taking on groups of enemies with her reach.

Hrist seemed to have a small conversation with Elsei about food in her homeland, Eil'Ta Forest to the north. It was protected by the Kaldanas Mountain Range, to the east of Sweet Water. The mountains hooked inwards, closing off the ocean from a large dense forest nestled inside the crook. Apparently, they were amiable with the dwarves that lived in the mountains.

 _Ok, verified. Elves and dwarves, I saw dark elves in the indentured servant hut over in the side market. Already killed goblins, wonder if there are orcs too? Minotaurs?_

The coach moved along, bumping a little as it went over a rock, but the cushioning eased it up somewhat. "Your majesty, it's Brynhildr" she heard over coms.

"Go ahead Bryn, how's it going down south?"

"We took Puldoros Orchards, without a single fight. I'm happy to announce they are more than willing to join our empire. The owner has even challenged me to a drinking game to celebrate."

"Check to make sure it isn't poisoned Bryn." She seemed to visibly frown a little, then realized the others were looking at her. "Heh, armor is pinching a little on the leg." The dev adjusted her armor a little, lying the entire way. Her plate armor was highly adaptable, with the segments able to raise and lower for far better movement.

"He's a good guy, he was tired of being pushed around with the Artinian army not paying for produce taken from them. I uh… offered him payment for the shipments to Eld Horn, that's ok right?" she asked, worried she had stepped beyond her rank.

"No no, that's fine. I'm glad you negotiated that. You got the price rate fairly right?"

"Of course. In exchange, we provide a security sweep of the area at least once a month."

"Try once every forty-eight hours Bryn. I'll have a security force come up behind you to set up a temp FOB until Romeo can get something more permanent. Good job."

"Thank you, Selene. Oh, Ash is happy to run through the orchard, she loves going after the squirrels." Selene had to fight back smiling in front of everyone. The thought of Ash enjoying the sun and chasing the critters made her miss the two other wolves of her pack. At least she was being well taken care of.

"Make sure she doesn't eat too many of them, it'll ruin her appetite for what Jeeves and the maids probably make for her." Bryn seemed to chuckle on the other side.

"Yeah, I bet. You know what he sent me last night? A turkey. As in the whole thing, stuffing and potatoes. Look, I'm a big girl, but that was a bit much." Again, the dev had to fight back her eyes widening in surprise.

"I agree. Let him know that you can't eat that much, send the rest back or share it with someone who looks to be hungry. Maybe Ash might like some?"

"Already thought about that, don't want to turn her into a fat blob with table scraps. I'd never hear the end of it with you" she laughed out.

"Well, as long as everything is going well. Glad to hear Puldoros Orchards is ours without any issue. Have the shipments sent up to Eld Horn and head to Werelosil to get your tricked-out ride before it's too late."

"I'll be there. Still, surprised the orchard is still producing fruit. It's the end of the year, eleventh moon. These are very hardy trees."

"I'd have to agree. Talk to you later."

"See ya." The coms ended as she caught up on communications with her close team. Skuld was busy training Antoine on the requirements of the academy, with his experience coming in very handy. Two professors of mathematics and agriculture had joined up, and not a moment too soon for Skuld; her students were expanding a little more, almost up to five hundred. The academy was designed to house at maximum twenty thousand students at any one time, roughly the equivalent of any college.

Asterion was going to be pampered constantly by not only his original owner but the maids taking care of him while everyone was away. Luna was going to be getting so much attention from the students she might become a temporary mascot. The empress could see a white wolf being used as their sports emblem… if they even knew about sports.

 _Olympics! Yes! I have to have the Olympics games in each town or city! That would be awesome!_

The rest of the ride was slightly boring, with Morlanion attempting to play a game of "I Spy." It was only temporary, but Elsei decided to join in. Hrist played along, though her eyes were showing far more than either could ever see. It was like an engineer overcomplicating the matter at times, with Morlanion wondering how she even noticed some flowers out the window. Elsei had good eyesight, an elven vision befitting her lineage, but Hrist was on a whole other level. Elsei's dark cousins had been felled in the thousands before by the Valkyrja. She had earned her title of bringer of the slain many times over.

As they continued on, Selene continued working through her inventory, reviewing logs and reports being provided, and in general being an empress under the secret identity of a contracted commander to the Artinian nobility. Her logistics was top notch right now, with supplies and trade moving throughout her empire, the shipyards expanding her nautical fleets, a second airship fleet being built and customized; 6th Task Force was getting prepared to come up behind 5th, with 4th and 3rd being used by Bryn. This would allow a leap frog for armies to support each other and fall back to reinforcement positions if ever needed… which seemed to be never. Most battles looked to be roughly ten minutes at most, ten seconds at least. When her military committed to a fight, they were frighteningly effective.

 _Shit, I forgot! Still no mayor for Sweet Water! Ugh… ok, who were the possible candidates… didn't I say I wanted voting to be done for them or something…_

On foot, the trip would have taken a day. In carriage, it lasted somewhere around seven hours. Once they stopped everyone piled out and took a small break, but they could already see the abbey nearby, a slight haze around it that probably got thicker at night. "Whoa, that's definitely worrying" Dina said as she came up next to Selene and Morlanion.

"No sense in going in there on an empty stomach. Let's eat so we have the strength to fight" Ezra's older brother said as he turned around and headed to a tent being set up, Elsei following. Their armor glinted in the sunlight compared to Selene's and Hrist's matt black armor. While it looked impressive, it was a little bright, informing anyone that was hostile of who he was. This world had no idea just how effective a sniper really could be. Morlanion might as well paint a bullseye on his chest or head. Lucky for him, that concept hadn't yet taken off, as crossbows seemed to be the biggest concern or their bigger brethren, the ballista. At least it was decent quality, High tier by Yggdrasil standards. By her calculations, that could be Professional quality or just a hair shy of Elite, with only a little gold or silver showing on the plating edges.

The raid sat down and ate, courtesy of the Rikter family. They were just outside the rim of the haze, enough to not worry about anything interrupting. Selene on the other hand, was preparing for the unknown. Just because it was a threat to unarmed priests and monks didn't mean it wasn't a threat to the raid group, with fifty percent of them being low ranks. This was pretty much babysitting, she just hoped they didn't get in the way and listened to orders.

"I think I've seen that before. In Eil'Ta Forest…" Elsei quietly said, her voice soft and lilted. Morlanion didn't hear her, as if she was talking to herself, but Hrist and Selene got every word.

"What do you mean?" the empress asked as she came up next to her, her partner filling a plate to sit down.

"The fog. It… did things to a small village… they came back, black eyes and deformed. They acted as ravenous beasts, no longer capable of being called Quendi."

"Were they targeted? Seems kind of odd to go for a small village instead of a town or city. Building an army?" Selene asked.

"We cannot be certain; the village did not survive. The enemy was defeated, how I do not know. It is possible they were drawn by the faith that those who pray provide to their deity. May those who followed Aslein rest in peace…"

"Who was Aslein?"

"An old goddess of nature that was worshipped by my people. She started to go out of style eventually by the new generations. It's not as if the newer gods ever spoke to their followers compared to the old gods." The dev was definitely curious, trying to piece together why this seemed so similar.

"So new gods don't communicate with their followers anymore?"

"Real gods seemed to listen, as the people's faith in them was their power. The problem is what we call gods may or may not be a true deity. There are many… tiers… that we considered close to godhood. Many of your kind have deified mortals due to their strength and capability in magic."

"Would you be willing to tell me what they are?"

"They can be found in a history book, it's not as if… oh… my mistake, apologies, it would be written in elvish. I have one if you wish to have it. I can sell it to you. You'd have to get it translated of course." Selene didn't have a problem with buying it, the cost would be absolutely nothing in her eyes, and it wasn't as if the elf really knew her to give it as a gift. Elsei took her to her backpack and pulled out a large book with elvish inscriptions on the front. It looked infinitely better tended to and much higher quality than a human book. It was made to last far longer than something a human library would keep, with the pages well-kept and waterproofed somehow. The cost was a paltry five gold, with others gawking at the cost as the money changed hands for a book. That was pocket change to her, though it might have been odd to see her giving away that amount without a care.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Why are you so interested in learning this if I may ask?" Elsei asked. Her golden locks swayed a little as she shifted on her hips.

"Knowledge is power with what I do, learning about your people's history might fix some problems in the future. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it after all." The elf halberdier nodded in agreement.

"Wise words. If only Artinia would learn as you try to. Sadly, it seems my people will be at war with them until the end of time." The empress cocked her head slightly to the right and crossed her arms.

"Why is it that Artinia and your people are fighting anyways? I would think with so many other things trying to kill everyone, you'd join forces somehow."

"That answer has been lost to time for your people? Short lifespans tend to make that knowledge disappear to the wind it seems. Artinia has always had a very expansionist view, with everything needing to belong to them. If it did not, they would fight until it surrendered, if it didn't, well… you've seen what that provides."

"Slaves it seems. I'm sorry to hear that." Elsei sighed and looked off at Morlanion eating as other adventurers asked about his journeys.

"Yes, well… I was rescued from that fate. Elves are not true warriors, despite how we fight. One of our swordsmen can equal five of yours without issue. The problem is numbers do not always stay like that. You simply have more available, a quantity that exceeds our quality."

"Quantity has a quality of its own." Elsei nodded in agreement. Selene remembered her history courses involving World War II, with Tiger Tanks being superior to Shermans. The problem was simply the US could field far more tanks than the Germans could, even if the supposed quality was better. Two Tigers vs ten Shermans, the Tigers are still outnumbered and outgunned, even if those guns are smaller and less armored.

"Yes, well… regardless, we do not wish to fight. We fight because the kingdom won't let us do anything else to protect our homes. You humans are too war like, always trying to prove you are stronger, taking from others." Selene seemed to smirk at that.

"And elves constantly try to prove they are better, more sophisticated. Shouldn't it be about time to stop with the racist bullshit and try and to listen to each other? Culture tends to rub off if given the chance, in both directions. There are benefits to both sides, if they'd sit down and talk for once." Elsei smiled at her.

"You have hope for something that looks as if it will never happen. Still, it is nice to dream, isn't it? I have seen some… good humans…" the elf's eyes watched Morlanion, remembering times already passed. She excused herself and went to sit by Ezra's sibling, listening in and correcting him when he exaggerated something in his stories. The empress slipped the book into her inventory for later reading. A slight thought was sitting in the back of her mind, concerning her about what they just talked about. The old gods used to communicate to their followers, with the new ones being nothing but useless idols, a faith that was being given to a being that didn't exist. That brought up the question though, if enough prayer and worship was offered, could that make a new god? Or did there need to be someone, something, that reached a deity tier?

There were old stories she read the cliff notes on for research to use in development, most of them seemed to go completely off the rails when it came to explaining gods in D&D. The problem was the way to become a god or create a god was wholly up to the Dungeon Master, or DM for short. If the players role played well, the DM could allow them to reach divinity if it was offered. Other options could have been some sort of artifact, another deity sponsoring them, or getting enough people to believe they were in fact gods, provided they had enough worshipers.

This brought her back to square one. She had no idea how a god was made on this planet. That answer may come at a later time, but until then, she could only know that some people were considered gods just because they were powerful, others might be complete fakes, and a rare few might be the real deal. Amusingly, she fell into both the fake category and powerful. The dev had no idea how many worshipers were now praying to her, but it may not even do anything at all. There would have to be some research done on faith, to see what it amounted to and if it could be quantified or used in certain ways.

Once lunch had been finished, the raid group packed up and got ready to head into the haze around the abbey. It wasn't a full fog, but Ezra explained this wasn't what it looked like when whatever it was showed up to take people away. The fog was supposed to be as thick as soup, usually happening during the day. That seemed a little odd to the empress, as in her eyes coming during the night would be the most optimal way to get at the worshipers.

"Ezra, were the followers dragged out of the buildings in the abbey?" Selene asked as they headed past the edge of the light mist. There was no turning back now.

"Now that I think about it… they were always taken while… outside…" he replied as his brother walked right beside him.

"Hmm…" That made a little sense now, with Elesia's worshipers being active during daytime. Why it didn't enter buildings at night was a wonder to her. There was a restriction that was thought up for vampires to not enter a building without being invited, however she didn't know if that was what was assaulting the abbey.

The raid party moved through the mist and reached the gates of the abbey after a half hour, with no one to greet them. "Seems pretty eerie" one adventurer said as both Selene and Morlanion pushed the doors open. The size of the abbey was massive, easily a square mile, however it seemed quite… dead. There didn't seem to be any movement to speak of.

"Where is everyone?" Dina asked.

"I'm… not sure…" Ezra was very worried as he looked to Selene for guidance. She sighed and looked at the main building, the temple as it was, right in the middle of the place.

"The doors lock and can be barricaded, right?" she asked. He nodded and had them follow him. Just in front of the temple was a large area for the abbey to store supplies for the winter when they couldn't grow anything, covered in wooden flooring to act as a giant cellar. The main entrance to the cellar didn't exist, the plates would simply be lifted and the goods taken out. As the empress knocked on the doors of the temple, then finally opened one, a pitchfork shot out and tried to stab at her. She dodged quickly and grabbed the haft, pulling it away. "Give me that!" There was screaming from inside as some of the priestesses and monks panicked, then calmed down. The door locks were already damaged… before Selene had even opened them.

"Ezra!" one woman yelled out from deep inside. She stepped closer as they slowly came out, the rest of the adventurers sort of milling about, not sure what to do. They weren't trained guards, so their eyes weren't looking for things out of place.

"Mother Superior Francine" he said as she put her hands on his shoulders. She seemed to be looking him over, her headdress moving from one direction to another as the priestess checked him over.

"You came back. It… it looks like with help too" she commented, looking at the people nearby, as well as sizing up Morlanion and Selene. Hrist kept an eye out for if the haze would start to thicken up. "Elesia has answered our prayers."

"Elesia has nothing to do with the adventurers coming here Abbess, your priest here was the one that did all the work to get us here" Selene retorted as she looked over the people climbing out.

"Everything is in her plan, I know it."

"This was in her plan? You talked to her directly?" The empress cocked an eyebrow at her, annoyed. No goddess would wish this on her own followers. She was getting a little confrontational, but only due to the fact this woman was so stuck in her faith. Something was wrong here, and her goddess couldn't help them, wouldn't help them, even in their desperate hour of need. Mother Superior Francine glanced at Ezra as she glared at Selene.

"She doesn't speak to me directly unless there is a true need to do so. Her words are in my dreams, her signs are in the wind and in the soil we till to feed ourselves."

"Uh huh. Do you have something a little more… direct in communication?" The abbess furrowed her eyebrows at her as Morlanion wondered what she was up to. Hrist stayed silent the entire time, watching.

"What do you mean?" Francine asked.

"Mother Superior, I have been authorized to lead this raid party to protect this abbey from whatever it is that is attacking your followers. In order to do so, I need as much information as possible. Do you have an office we can speak in private?" Francine looked at Ezra, wondering why he wasn't in control of the people he paid for. He stayed silent and averted his gaze. The leader of the priests and monks sighed and nodded. Selene motioned for Hrist to stay with the party until they were finished, to keep an eye on everyone.

The Mother Superior motioned for the empress to follow her, heading towards a second square building next to the temple. The whole place seemed to be made out of adobe with a mixture of cobblestone, the walls of the abbey being little more than large thin hills with a curve at the top. As they passed by a fountain, she noticed there were fish bones at the bottom, with nothing alive swimming inside. "Did whatever is attacking you do this?" The dev asked. Francine looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Life in the abbey doesn't matter to these things. If it is outside at the time of the week, tomorrow being another event, then it is dragged away or slain right then and there." She opened the doors and headed inside, a long hallway lit with candles and torches. Stain glass windows were everywhere, depicting scenes of saints for the goddess Elesia. They stopped at a door as she opened it with a crude key, then both entered into her office. Selene sat down and looked at her as the priestess sat behind the desk.

"I have multiple questions, not all of them are for your follower's safety. First and foremost, how many used to live here before the events took place?" the auburn-haired woman asked calmly.

"We had a number of aspiring acolytes over the years, I do not know the exact-"

"I don't need a history lesson just yet, I'm just asking for a guess on numbers. Two hundred? Three hundred?" Selene interrupted the long-winded dancing around her question. Francine exhaled loudly from her nose in annoyance from being cut off.

"Roughly three hundred."

"How many are left?"

"Less than fifty." That meant that fully eight-five percent of the abbey population has been taken out.

"When did this start?"

"Two months ago." That surprised Selene. Her eyebrows raised for a second as she thought about how quickly two hundred fifty people were dragged off to some horrible fate. "They, or it, caught close to fifty in just the first week."

"And what exactly is it we are here to fight against? I've been told by Ezra there is something that comes in the fog, artificially created by it. It drags people off supposedly? Turns them into some sort of zombie or undead?"

"Ezra doesn't have all the information yet. Whatever it is, I've only ever caught a slight glimpse of it. It seemed to have a disfigured body, grotesque in shape, but I didn't get a good look at it. The creature, whatever it is, comes in with the fog, grabs whoever it can, then drags them off kicking and screaming."

"It hasn't killed them on the spot?" the empress questioned. It was performing some sort of ritual then, or some sort of magic that took time. Why didn't it just slaughter the people in the abbey and take its time without issue?

"I don't know. We've never found blood once someone was captured. The next week, those same people… they… they come back… wrong…" Mother Superior Francine took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, a candle flickering next to them. A deep sigh came out, trembling. "They had black seepage coming from around their eyes, mouth and nose, some coming out of their ears as well. They made such horrible sounds and moved unnaturally, jerking motions. They acted as extra arms to capture others that weren't lucky enough to make it inside the temple to hide." She seemed visibly shaken as the candles in the office continued to burn and flicker.

"So, they only attack during the day? Not at night?"

"I don't know, they've only come during the day as if to openly mock our goddess. During the night, regardless of the fog, nothing happens, at least nothing has happened so far." The dev leaned back in the padded chair and brought her hand under her chin, thinking carefully.

"The temple is some sort of protected zone? They never enter it? Can they enter other buildings?" she asked.

"They… at first… couldn't go very far into the abbey… just through the walls… then as more and more people were caught… we resorted to hiding in the temple every week, it seems to be one of the few places that is safe… at least for now…"

"Few places? Are there others?" she asked. Francine raised an eyebrow at her then looked away.

"I would like to say my personal quarters, just through that door behind you" the priestess replied, pointing at an entrance just behind the chair.

"Did Elesia bless it somehow?"

"Well, I am in charge of this abbey. I would hope she would at least try and protect one of her most devoted." The woman scoffed a little.

"Why were you hiding in the cellar of the temple then if it was safe?"

"Because… because I… I'm worried it no longer is safe… the last time…" Francine thought carefully on the words she was going to say. One of the candles went out. "The last time… I could see rattling at my door while the others hid. I prayed as hard as I could, fearful that it would blow open at any moment and that would be the end of me. Then… nightfall, for some reason, made it stop." It felt almost like a horror movie come to life, some creature was transforming these people into something… maybe undead. Her office door had a functional lock, so they had to have repaired it recently.

"The followers that were taken… let's… can we call them taken?" Francine nodded. "These taken then, do you believe they were undead?" The Mother Superior shook her head.

"I don't believe they were alive or undead… more… I don't know… puppets? A manipulation of the bodies to break our morale? Our faith?" That answer brought up even more questions. Was it targeting their faith? A faith eater? This was a new monster. She hadn't heard of this in Yggdrasil or in the game it was based on.

"Wait, faith. How many followers are there for Elesia? Are there many abbeys out there? Monasteries? Temples?" Selene questioned her, wondering if the deity was involved in a widespread religion. Francine sighed, not really knowing what to say. She calmly looked into the empress's blue eyes and looked tired.

"I've tried my hardest to spread the word, do what I can Miss…" she stopped for a second as Selene told her the fake name. "Ilana. Before this, in all my life, I've seen a few temples crop up, there was another monastery down south. They supposedly had a piece of a holy relic made by Elesia. I don't know where it is now, the monastery was abandoned from what I have been told of weary travelers. We may be the last of her followers." Fifty followers left for this goddess. That wasn't much faith energy going to her.

"Can you summon her?" Selene was abrupt and quick to ask, cutting to the chase after that.

"W-what? Summon her? She is no demon, child! She is a goddess!" Francine almost snapped at her.

"A goddess with a dying following, being attacked by whatever the hell is out there. If we can get a little more intel from the horse's mouth, I say we do it. Now, can you do it? I've heard of avatars of gods being requested by their most faithful, to ask a question. Is it possible?" Francine glared at her for a moment, then closed her eyes and thought carefully.

"I don't know if she will answer. I have only ever had it happen once, and I had help long ago. A god answers by their will, not by our demand."

 _Should have told that to Xaxara, though there was a sacrifice to bring her to this world… Oh don't tell me there needs to be a sacrifice for Elesia too, if that's the case let the religion die off then…_

The office was fairly large, with a dais already inside just for the head priestess to pray by herself if need be. There were a few mementos here and there, some small paintings on the walls. The whole place was fairly sparse, with only two chairs in the room and a couch, the main desk and two-night tables with candles all packed together to provide light. "I can try, but it may not work."

Francine stood up from her chair and went to the dais, her old body showing she had good genes, still capable of moving about quickly and efficiently compared to anyone else of her age. As she kneeled in front of the dais, Selene stood up and watched carefully. The abbess prayed her heart out, the entire ritual lasting a good hour as the empress finally sat down again and waited. Once the hour was up, Francine had opened her eyes and looked frightened. "I have always received some sort of whisper from her… but this… I received only silence…" she was afraid, very afraid. "I don't think we'll be-"

She was cut off as what looked to be a rip in reality opened up above the dais, flashing lights and changing the background as if they were seeing through oil and water mixed with a rainbow… doused in shadows. The priestess jumped up and backed behind Selene, who pulled her sword and shield and got ready for a fight. Instead, what came out, or as it was, fell out, was a glowing woman that slowly returned to a regular human appearance… excluding her platinum blonde hair. It seemed to be waving and moving without any motion, as if there was a wind blowing through the room that no one could feel.

The woman was unconscious, gasping for air and finding it hard to breathe. "Elesia!" Francine yelped out as the empress put her weapon away and watched in awe. She was laying her eyes on a goddess, a real goddess. The woman was completely naked, not that it mattered in a room with two other women, one of which was her most fervent follower. "What's wrong? She can barely breathe."

"Let's get her into your bedroom, hurry." The priestess nodded, her mind not really understanding that she needed to actually move right now. Selene picked up Elesia and carried her to the door, with Francine fumbling with the keys. The empress was getting frustrated and finally kicked it open, jogging in and setting the woman down on the small bed.

"What's happening? Why can't she breathe?" Francine asked.

"You're asking me? You summoned her. If I had to guess, she's a goddess with a dying following. Gods… they die if they don't have enough faith, right?" The priestess's eyes widened at that thought. Fifty people were left that were praying to her. If they died, she died. That was why she was fighting so hard to keep air in her lungs. The problem was they could store that energy, it wasn't as if it was food. This goddess had been expending everything she had for some reason.

"How… how do we help her? Elesia? How do we help you? Give me a sign Elesia, give me a sign!" Francine seemed to be panicking now, begging her goddess to help her when she couldn't even help herself. Selene got up and slapped her across the face as softly as she could.

"Get a hold of yourself! Look, she isn't dead yet, and gods don't really die in the sense we mortals think they do. It's… not the same really. Stay calm, pray to her. Get your following to pray to her. That might give her a chance to… I don't know, get some rest? Something? It's an idea, the only one I have right now." The priestess nodded.

"I'll tell them Elesia is here and needs our help" As she turned around to leave, the dev grabbed her arm.

"Absolutely not! Do not do that or your following will collapse! Think about it. If they know she's in danger right now, that they have no protection from whatever it is that is coming tomorrow, they'll abandon this place as fast as they can, and she dies. If they lose faith in their deity, you can kiss everything goodbye. Keep this a secret." The abbess blinked at her in confusion.

"You… you want me to lie to my… flock?"

"Do you have a choice?" The woman thought for a moment as her eyes darted around the floor, hoping there was another option. Selene on the other hand was wondering if this was more than just an avatar… if it was really the goddess Elesia. The only way she'd know would be once she woke up. There was no guarantee that would happen.

 _The only reason she would fall out of that weird portal could be she was escaping something… her own realm? Gods have realms, right? What was she escaping, if anything at all? Was she just trying to answer the call from Francine?_

"What do I tell them then?" The Mother Superior asked.

"Just… tell them now is the time to prove their faith to her once and for all, how much conviction they have of staying in this abbey. The adventurers need her blessing to fight off this… evil… whatever the hell it is. We'll set up and get ready for the oncoming battle… as for your old colleagues that have already been taken… I'm sorry to say we're going to be defiling the corpses to make sure they can't get up again… if they can get up again…" The empress was calm but stern as she explained what was going to happen.

The old woman nodded slowly as she realized what was being asked of her. They needed to be careful if it meant the survival of Elesia, if it meant the survival of the last of the following. Francine left quickly to tell the remaining monks and sisters of the faith to pray carefully, to have a night sermon for this special occasion of the raiders here to once and for all save them, a holy crusade against this evil assaulting the abbey.

As Selene is about to leave, Elesia shot her hand up and grabbed hers. She weakly wheezed and tried to breathe as her eyes shot open, staring at the warrior. "Easy, you're safe. Your following is here, they'll be praying to you to help your breathing."

"They're coming… I can't hold them back much more… tell the others… I've tried so hard…" she whispered out it seemed in delirium, falling into unconsciousness once again. Her hand slipped from the empress's arm as she went limp. Sweat started to build up on her as the dev pulled the blanket over her body in confusion. Who was coming? The creature attacking the abbey? _Creatures_? Pleural? She didn't know yet how many there were. Maybe, due to her religion slowly dying out, she couldn't protect those who worship her from outside threats.

 _What did I get myself into? This is one hell of a deviation in the plan…_

New information was now making her have to alter her strategy. She was expecting to have a conversation with this goddess about the pantheon, the make-up of the deities, how far their following expanded. What she got instead was a half dead woman lying in a bed, with a freaked-out abbess now struggling with fifty worshipers attempting to pray to her via one giant lie. The dev still didn't know what the hell she was really fighting either. They weren't undead, more a manipulation of the bodies of those taken, walking puppets for this creature. Did they still have memories? Trapped souls?

Selene shook her head a little to get those thoughts out of her mind for the time being. "Charlie team, how copy?" she asked via coms. Special Forces Charlie team was stationed just outside of Sweet Water at the moment, with the other secondary teams positioned at Glass Dale and Eld Horn. New teams would be created within the next week or so. The QRF was a separate company of automatons.

"Solid copy your majesty, what do you need?" Charlie One asked.

"I need your team to head to my position, but I need you to stay hidden. There is going to be a fight on our hands, only assist once we are sure visual can't be kept on our actions." As much as it seemed the QRF would be needed, they were there to be loud and dangerous. The last thing she needed right now was the raid party to know about her armies. They were backup.

"Copy that ma'am, we'll be there." The coms call ended as she thought ahead. Having an SF auto team ready to fight as soon as the fog got thick enough so no one could see how Selene and Hrist would combat this 'faith eater' and his or her taken would help quite a bit. Bronze Team wasn't the only ones out there doing jobs for her. Bravo Team was providing mostly forward defense against scouts from Artinia in Eld Horn while Alpha Team was on call if Brynhildr, through some unholy curse, needed assistance. Charlie was open to move about.

She had no idea what to expect, however it wasn't as if she could rely on controlling every little detail. "No plan survives contact with the enemy" she muttered to herself under her breath. As she stood up one more time and looked down at Elesia, knowing that this being probably didn't need to eat or drink beyond enjoying the taste of food, left and closed the door. It was damaged at the lock due to her kick, but hopefully the main door to the office would stop anyone from rummaging around. These people respected their abbess, it was doubtful they'd go looking in her things.

The day started to fall to night as dusk hit, chanting was heard in the temple as the adventurers set up tents strewn throughout the area. There wasn't enough space inside the buildings for everyone to sleep, so Hrist and Selene propped up their tent and got ready to sleep there. Staying in the pocket house would be nicer, however if anything happened during the night while they were disconnected from the world… it could be disastrous. Campfires were popping up as she listened to the prayers in the temple, Morlanion watching his brother as he went through the hymns, pouring everything he had into them as he worshipped his goddess, unbeknownst to him lying in a bed unconscious.

"Did he really choose to come here?" Selene asked him as Ezra's older brother watched the four-hour event.

"He did. You might think our family is stuck in tradition, Miss Ilana, but some of these traditions help our family grow. I chose the martial studies, I had a knack for them. I joined the Artinian military and rose up the ranks, eventually becoming one of their heroes. My brother, Ezra, seemed to have a talent for the faith, healing and saving of one's soul."

"So, your father allowed him to be sent here? Why not this Gigsen, god of trade and commerce?" she questioned further, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the doorframe. The large male warrior sat on a stone pillar shaped like a squat chess pawn.

"As I said, he chose it. I don't claim to know what my brother was thinking; maybe it was to do some good here or help spread the word of this dying religion. It's odd, isn't it? We've come here to save their lives only to have their faith shattered with so few still around. I can't remember in all my travels seeing much more than an idol or two involving Elesia, but they could have been hiding it" Morlanion said quietly, his deep voice grinding out the words.

The hymns stopped as Francine ended the prayer for what seemed almost like the final time. Tomorrow would see whether the religion that Ezra had joined would survive or not. The young priest stood up from kneeling in the pews and bowed to the Mother Superior, chatting with her about something. Francine looked as if she was putting on a show, desperately trying to keep a straight face instead of one of fear and depression. She needed to keep up appearances for her sisters and brothers in the abbey.

The night winded down as dinner was eaten and the adventuring teams conversed with each other, telling wild stories of where they had gone and quests they had completed. Tomorrow it was assured that some of them would fall, probably a good portion of the copper ranked. Selene couldn't resurrect them openly, as that would give away what she was. Giving the orb one more time to Ezra might work to help renew the faith of the people here, potentially causing a few adventurers to convert even if they saw the spell go off. The problem was if the taken could even be resurrected. They would need to wake up very early to make sure they weren't caught off guard, to prepare the area.

Both the empress and Hrist retired early to the tent with others following suit to their own, with one large mat available between the two. There was no plan on ever actually using the thing, instead sneaking off to the pocket house. "Are you sure I should not sleep on the floor?" Hrist asked. Selene looked at her quizzically with a weird smile on her mouth.

"Oh, come on, it's one night and you aren't a dog. We'll wake up in the morning and get ready earlier than the others. You take the left side, I'll take the right." The Valkyrja was blushing profusely as she climbed into bed in her tunic top and underwear. Selene did the same and turned out the lamp, both of them trying to fall asleep with Blue lying at their feet. Unfortunately, there were a few adventurers nearby that snored incredibly loudly, keeping quite a few other tents awake. "Son of a…" the dev muttered and cast **[Silence]** on the general location of that tent. The snoring stopped. Her accuracy had gotten pretty high without needing to see the target these days.

 _ **Morning, 16th, November**_

Hrist woke up first and stared up at the top of the tent, rubbing her eyes in the process. Her left arm seemed to be held down for some reason, which didn't really register as to what could be causing it. Her right arm lifted the sheets to find Selene held on as if she was a spare pillow, still completely in dreamland.

The Valkyrja went beet red and stiffened up. The empress looked majestic holding onto her, not a care in the world on her shoulders at that moment. The battle maiden felt like this was a best day in history as the auburn-haired woman laid her head against Hrist's shoulder. For the next few minutes she just lay there, unwilling to move a muscle in fear she'd disturb this mortal goddess. She finally worked up the courage to move her right hand slowly to try and brush her fingers against the dev's cheek, but it was not meant to be.

Selene woke up slowly as her eyes fluttered open, rolling off the raven-haired woman's arm and sliding to the side of the bed. "Mmm… what time is it…" she mumbled out as her hand reached into her backpack right at the side of the bed. A small watch was pulled out as she peered carefully at it, the entire time Hrist cursed her luck, both the bad and the good. It was roughly 4 am, dawn a good hour away at least before breaking at that point. There were no odd noises that had happened in the night, no sounds of combat to wake them up. That was a good sign.

"Charlie Team, you there?" she asked via coms in a slightly groggy tone, rubbing her eyes and slowly getting up. A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched.

"We're here ma'am, just outside the fog." That woke her up a bit more as she realized it was already there.

"How far has it encroached?"

"It's already inside the abbey ma'am." That made her quickly look out the tent flaps to see Ezra and other priests walking around, not rushing quite just yet.

"Hey, Ezra, psst." The young teenager looked at her peeking out of the tent flaps, holding them closed as if she was naked behind them. That wasn't case, but all the same, he was uncomfortable. Hrist on the other hand had a full view of her rear in underwear and immediately turned around.

"W-what… what do you need?" he asked, averting his eyes as fast as he could.

"When do the… the things, you know, those things, when do they show up usually? Is there a time frame or is it just day?"

"Um… normally… uh… about, 7 am?" he seemed to guess out the answer. That gave them roughly three hours to get prepared.

"Alright, thanks." Her head disappeared back into the tent, clipping the inside shut. Both women slipped into the pocket house for a quick breakfast and a fast shower. Once they were prepared, they quietly slipped out of their tent and packed everything up. The rest of the raid was just waking up by now, not really prepared for what was coming. As soon as their eyes landed on Selene and Hrist in full armor, they realized things needed to get going fast. Some of the warriors were juggling their gear and trying to get everything back in their bags, others tried to get their armor strapped on correctly without it coming completely off in one strike.

"Do you believe these adventurers will be of much help?" Hrist whispered to her as they walked towards the temple and saw the followers all inside, ready to seal the doors shut and pray.

"We don't know how strong what we're facing is. Only once we get eyes on will we know what to do and what will happen." Charlie Team reported their sniping position and were tracking slow haphazard movement in the far distance. The empress requested they take some long shots to whittle down the number to roughly one hundred fifty, to even out the opposing force compared to what they had available. Fighting fifty of them at a time might not be much of a problem, fighting them in the fog… that would cause some issues with vision. Both women could very easily see at a range of fifty feet, much further than anyone else around them in the white soup.

Markers in the distance started to get removed as two hundred fifty was dropped to one hundred fifty over the course of a half hour, with shots silenced and going easy on the enemy, obliterating the bodies with the acid rounds. During that time, Selene checked on Elesia in the abbess's office. She was soundly sleeping, no longer fighting for air after last night's sermon. Her life was still being held by a fine thread, however. She needed whatever the hell the energy that the faithful gave to her. For the time being, she was just going to call it faith energy, because no one else seemed to have a name for it in the books she had read, and there had been no information in any game back on Earth, so it would have to stick.

"Ma'am, uh… Miss Ilana!" Dylan called out as they stopped and barely saw through the fog as they left the office and out the front door.

"I'm over here follow my voice" she yelled as the Undead Destroyers walked carefully towards the sound, eventually reaching them.

"The temple is almost ready to be sealed up and ready for what is to come. I'll admit, I've never fought in fog like this before" he said with a little chuckle, scratching his head.

"Keep your backs to each other, stay inside the building, don't move away or you'll get flanked. If you find yourself separated, get against a wall, barricade around you, light torches to heat the room up to try and get rid of the fog." He nodded as he tried to take in what she was saying, pulling a small parchment from his pocket and a quill. A little bottle of ink was opened soon after, with him jotting down what she was telling him. Morlanion walked through the fog towards them, somehow able to see better than the others. Elsei was just behind him with a small glowing orb in her hand dispersing the fog around their bodies.

"That looks nifty" Selene commented as the elf looked down at her hand and smiled. It wasn't even close to the brightness of a light orb, but it was dispersing the fog within a limited distance around it.

"An old spell that is taught to elven children to find our way home if we ever get lost. Surprisingly, I cannot seem to get rid of the fog beyond this."

"You have clear weather spells?" the empress asked, curious as to if she was a warrior or a caster. Her main weapon was a halberd, though there was such a thing as dual class in D&D.

"I have… one, which didn't work at all. This isn't normal fog, it won't go away."

 _Not normal fog… hmmm… so created… temperature doesn't have an effect then… torches won't help if someone barricades themselves in a building… crap, I gave bad advice…_

Dylan ran to the other teams to warn them about what they should do to fight as efficiently as possible. They seemed almost cheerful, expecting to win this without issue with four warriors the equivalent of Adamantite rank and four orichalcum rank helping. "We should team up for this fight, stand side by side" Morlanion said.

"I… that…" Selene didn't know how to tell him she didn't want him watching her back. Her odds drastically increased if he wasn't near Hrist and herself, with Charlie Team tracking anything that came near her. Ornithopters were flying above, acting as mini AWACS alongside the air fleet. If things got too hairy, she'd drop the façade and tell Hrist to simply 'go loud.' Losing their lives wasn't worth playing delver with the kids. Hopefully they could do it without anyone seeing them show the true power of a Valkyrja and a Clockwork Empress.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell - Unforgiven)**_

"Hey, what's that?" Morlanion pointed in the distance. There was a very faint figure moving towards them, then more showed up. No adventurers were in that area. "Ready your weapons. Get inside the main building" Elsei unlatched her halberd and swung it in a slight arc to get ready, with Morlanion pulling his two swords. They seemed to glow, with what enchant Selene didn't have time to ask. Hrist readied her shield and sword, her spear ready to extend just in case as Selene followed suit. They ran to the temple and started closing the doors, with Blue inside as a last line of defense. Though he was a level 20, she didn't want him swarmed in this. Ezra stared between Morlanion's eyes and Selene's as the doors sealed shut.

An unholy sound came from the figures in the distance, as if the body was inhaling and trying to speak at the same time. The others followed with the same noise, seeming to fan out slowly without being aggressive just yet.

"Huh, this might be easier than we thought…" one adventurer said in the distance, right at the door of the main administration building. The figures all stopped and in unison turned their heads in his direction. They broke into a dead run. The sounds they were making was the equivalent of radar. She caught a glimpse of the face of one of the taken, black goop smearing down from its eyes and pouring from its nose and mouth. The goop seemed to be moving, almost trying to smear across the face and neck.

"What the… they're here!" she heard as more of the taken came out of the fog and charged them. That was when something came warping out of the fog right behind Elsei. The group was outside while the rest of the raid party were inside. It at least allowed the orichalcum ranks and lower to fight a stream of the taken single file entering through the doors.

"Look out!" Hrist yelled as the elf dodged just barely and flipped, her back coming up to Morlanion's as he fought two taken at the same time. Hrist shield bashed another two and slammed them into a wall ten feet away. Selene caught a full view of what had attempted to attack the elf partner of Ezra's brother. The Faith Eater looked almost like some crazed mixture of a mummy, the abomination made up of the Valkyrja bodies and the Swamp Thing, all wrapped up in the same black goop writhing and moving over the body. It promptly disappeared as if it wasn't even there once Elsei struck back.

The battle continued as some of the copper ranks were dragged away from their groups while inside, screaming and the feeling of terror causing panic for some of them. These were not trained soldiers, just people with a few skills to survive out in the field, to explore and fight the occasional enemy. "Keep your backs to each other!" Pops yelled out as three more of the taken came at him from the sound of his voice. Dylan attacked from behind and cut at the legs, disabling it as the other two fought Marv and Dina.

Selene struck at one outside, carving through its collar bone with the tip of her sword, but it kept trying to fight and claw at her head. A quick twist of her sword and slice, and the head was cut off, the body still attacking. The only way to stop them would be to carve the bodies up. They really were puppets.

"Remove the limbs! Carve them up! Focus on the arms and legs! Attacking the head or chest doesn't work!" the empress shouted as a quick foot sweep dropped two more on the ground. The Faith Eater appeared again just as she got up and sliced off two arms, just behind her. The two taken on the ground were still trying to get up just as she was turning around, but four long range shots blasted the remaining limbs off. Her head slowly turned around as the creature was bringing down its arm, three massive claws heading towards her.

Hrist leapt in front and brought her shield up, the claws striking… and completely bypassing her energy shields. The hit kept her pinned as the dev jumped forward to attack, but the Faith Eater disappeared before the tip of her sword could even meet its flesh. "Fuck!" she snapped out as the Valkyrja shook her arm as if it was numb. The empress looked at her in worry. While the attack wasn't fast, about the same speed as a human, the unknown power of the creature had caused even Hrist to feel it. Selene's scanner couldn't tell her the level, it just came up as question marks. There was no red outline or glitching, it just didn't know. Even Hrist showed some level, Elesia had a glitched level as well. This thing didn't even move that quick to show its stats.

"Jonah? Jonah? Where are you?! OH GOD!" they heard with a following scream from one of the female adventurers inside, searching for her teammate before she was caught herself. The high tier group finished their fight in their area, moving towards the remainder of teams hiding in the building as they pressed their backs to each other and moved near the walls

"We're coming! Just hang on!" Morlanion roared out as the remainder of the raid party fought against the majority of taken inside, Elsei keeping some taken away from the front doors. The limbs of the taken were still moving, not even connected to the bodies of the people that they had once been. It was a little difficult to work their way through the entrance with the puppets somewhat blocking the path.

 _Definitely like something out of a horror movie… if we could just hit the fucking Faith Eater… he keeps teleporting around!... wait…_

"Can anyone sense magic here?!" Selene yelled out.

"I can" Elsei said to her right, swinging wildly into the fog, striking three taken and launching one up in the air with an angled uppercut of her halberd. Elsei's orb was providing some vision around them, further increasing the range at which the empress and battle maiden could see to around seventy-five feet. The others might as well have been trying to see five feet in front of them while inside the building.

"Are there any teleportation spells being used?" the dev asked.

"No, I can't sense… I mean… there isn't anything other than the wizards and priests in our parties. What do you mean?"

"That answered my question, don't worry about it."

 _Worry about it. That thing is somehow teleporting around without magic. Its ambushing people then disappearing._

That got her thinking. She couldn't disperse the fog with **[Manipulate Weather]** , she couldn't hit it without the creature disappearing. The fog…

Selene saw it show up just behind one of the orichalcum adventurers just inside over the head of one taken, with them just barely dodging. One of the claws clipped her armor, slicing it clean off as if it wasn't even there… including a chunk of her shoulder. She screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, the rest of her team trying to fight back without luck.

"That thing is gonna pick us off without a problem. To hell with playing nice, we need to lead that thing to us and drop the pleasantries. Show what you can do" Selene whispered to Hrist. The raven-haired woman nodded with a smirk on her face, she needed a better workout than the undead they had fought two days before. Both of them broke away from Morlanion and Elsei, at their surprise, and headed to an open area. Most of the taken were cut to pieces inside, with a few still roaming around and heading for other buildings with no one there. That was when the Faith Eater showed up one more time.

"Keep it blocked. I'll handle the rest" Hrist brought up her shield, protecting against the downward strike as the empress focused on using **{Molecular Reformation}** on the water the fog was made of… or at least she hoped it was made of. All of it condensed into a large block and changed color from white to a greyish black, pulsating and undulating as it tried to expand out again. The Faith Eater turned and looked as Hrist struck at its arm, chopping it off with ease this time.

Selene simply bolted for it at maximum speed, an after image showing where she used to be. The creature was absolutely not ready for them unleashing on it, with no fog to teleport around in or their speed. It was matched against humans… Selene might not be able to call herself that anymore. A forearm was cut off, followed by parts of its body being dissected into sectional pieces with the last being the head. As soon as it fell, an odd pulse erupted from the pieces, dispersing the effect on the taken and having the bodies collapse on the floor. The battle was over, with no one getting a chance to see Hrist and the empress engage it.

"Whose still alive?" Morlanion yelled out as they tried to locate the rest of the raid party, Elsei checking on adventurers while Morlanion was outside looking for stragglers who tried to make a run for it. Selene turned around and was about to yell and wave at him, but her eyes quickly latched onto Hrist's shield. Three massive grooves were seen, puncturing the first layer of Carbyne material and showing the secondary defensive features hidden within. Circuits sparked, wires were frayed, electricity was shorting out mechanical parts inside. If anyone saw that shield, it would open up a slew of questions she really didn't want to answer.

"Psst, give me your shield!" she hissed out to the Valkyrja. Hrist took the thing off her arm and handed it to her, with the empress shoving it into her inventory as quickly as she could. Morlanion's eyes barely looked in her direction as he realized they were alright.

"Ilana! Brynya!" he yelled. Selene gulped and stiffened up, barely dodging that proverbial bullet. He jogged up to them and looked at the corpse of the Faith Eater. "You ended him."

"Yeah. Go check on the others, we need a head count quickly." The large warrior nodded and ran back to Elsei, lightly tending to the wounded. The empress quickly grabbed the body parts of the Faith Eater and shoved the pieces into her inventory for research later. A quick theft of some taken corpses and there was plenty to experiment on.

 _Psionics? No, couldn't sense that kind of mind from that thing… I've never seen a monster in any bestiary that functioned like that…_

Once the head count was completed, both women found Morlanion and asked for the grisly news. "Of the one hundred adventurers that were brought… sixty are still standing. They fought well, but the fog clearly had an effect on what they could see" Ezra's brother explained solemnly. The temple was opened up with the priests coming out to tend to the wounded. They weren't outside during the battle due to none of them having combat experience beyond Ezra, and his brother absolutely would not allow it for the young boy to have to fight his own dead brethren now coming for him. Blue was used to bring anyone back to the raid party to regroup.

"Ezra, can you come here for a second?" Selene asked quietly as she stood next to his brother. Elsei checked each taken corpse to make sure they were truly dead and couldn't get back up.

"Is… is it over?" he timidly questioned, worried that one of the bodies would stand up at any point as he stepped between them. His brother nodded and motioned for him to come stand next to them. The dev brought her arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"Do you believe you have it in you to ask Elesia to help bring these valiant warriors back from the dead one more time?" she asked. He looked up at her and blinked. She was referring to the necromantic orb from the previous quest.

"I… i-if Elesia is with me… I-I think so…" he stuttered out. She nodded and gave him a reassuring shoulder hug.

"Good. I'll get the orb from my pack, we'll get the others to collect the bodies of the fallen."

"Can… can we bring back the… the taken?" he asked. She stood there in silence. They weren't undead it seemed, mere puppets of the Faith Eater. Every part of them was held onto by some unseen string, immediately severed once he was defeated.

"I… I don't know. It's up to Elesia to try and attempt that, you just do what you did last time." He nodded in agreement and ran off to go talk with the abbess. Dina helped Dylan to limp over to a chair and sit down, his leg getting bandaged until a priest could heal him.

"I wonder if holy spells would have worked on that thing" Morlanion commented as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I haven't a clue, though I'd rather they not attempt that. The religion is almost dead, losing even one more could have ended it." The man looked around at the limbs lying on the ground, some of them from the taken, others from adventurers. "Shouldn't these things have not attacked the way they did?"

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"You said they dragged people off right? These things just threw themselves into the fight. The creature we fought seemed to do the same. That seem odd?" Everyone looked around in silence, remembering what had happened during the battle.

 _Did the Faith Eater know the following was close to being destroyed, with one final push ending the religion? It was going in for the kill… for the juicy center…_

The entire battle had taken place with all of the members of the religion inside the temple while Elesia was barricaded in the abbess's quarters. It gave Selene a chance to slip away and open her inventory to pull out the necromantic orb that clearly wasn't in her backpack. As she carried it with her to the office and checked in on the barricade, it had held without anything trying to rip away the furniture pushed against the door. Inside Elesia was lying still, breathing softly, her eyes closed. Unfortunately for the main office door, she twisted it a little too hard and broke the lock. A slight curse had erupted from her mouth as she hadn't controlled her strength enough.

 _Gonna have to make this place safe for them behind the scenes. If another one of those Faith Eaters shows up, might have to get built some automatons with microwave weapons to sweep the area in the future._

The empress placed crafting requests for a new platoon of automatons with the specialized weaponry to be built in the 3D printers; she'd release them before they left for Silvinholm. In the meantime, handing over the orb temporarily and pulling another 'Elesia bringeth thee to life' show for the believers was the next immediate priority.

As she turned around, Francine walked into her office and looked at her, perplexed that she had made it through the door. "Your lock is busted. I was worried something had gotten inside." The abbess sat down in her chair and sighed.

"Is it really over? Our goddess… she just lies there… how… how do I continue to keep this a secret?" she asked, the wear of the issue weighing heavily on her shoulders.

"You can start by rebuilding your flock. Ezra is going to attempt to bring back to life those who have lost to this creature." Francine gawked at her in disbelief.

"You can't be… you can't be serious? Ezra is a boy, he can't possibly-"

"He will with help from this and from some help from your goddess. She answered his call to bring back a team of adventurers in the quest to earn the money for the raid party. He's stronger than you think." The dev showed her the orb, held in a wrought iron lattice block.

"That thing reeks of undeath."

"Yet it is capable of amplifying his request, with help from his goddess, to raise those people from beyond. I've seen it." Lying to these people was becoming commonplace now, as there was no way they could really understand what she was capable of. Even Hrist, her General, didn't know about her stats, her levels, her abilities. There was so much she just couldn't share with everyone. Creating this dream world for them to live in, only ever seeing steampunk from her empire while there was much more advanced technology hidden away, was the only way to make sure things were kept peaceful and prosperous.

She could see why some governments used to hide away documents of potential alien visits, supernatural creatures or magic, even actions that other countries had done to nearly bring everyone to the brink of extinction. If they knew even a small ounce of that, it could cause riots, chaos, destruction. It _did_ cause destruction with some governments collapsing from the citizens wanting to lynch them, the corporations sweeping in an taking over some countries. Playing dumb on occasion to keep her subjects safe seemed prudent.

The old woman stood up and stared at the artifact, glancing up at Selene every few seconds. "I should be the one to-"

"She's answered his call before, I trust him with the orb."

"You do not trust me to use it effectively?" the old woman questioned in annoyance.

"I really don't care. What I'm worried about is this thing has something hidden in it that can do more damage in your hands than his. Less experience in this case is better than more. Besides, it's my artifact, I don't see why we're even arguing about this." Francine stared at her for a few moments and sighed, nodding in agreement. What she does with her tools is entirely up to her. They did just save the abbey from total destruction.

The dev walked out of the room and headed outside, straight for the temple. The bodies were being lined up, including the remains of the taken. Now that the fog had dissipated, they could get a good look of what had happened to them. The cornea of the eyes was pure black, as if someone had poured ink into them. A black ooze had once been pouring from the sockets down the faces, but now that they were inanimate, it had dried up and looked like running mascara or ash. The rest of the face followed a similar look, as if they had shoved their heads in the remains of a campfire and eaten the charcoal.

Adventurers were weeping over their friends who had lost their lives in the battle, though Ezra was preparing to resurrect them, or so he thought. The whole process took an hour as she just sat down and watched. Hrist came up and followed suit, her arm tingling still. While no bones were broken, however that Faith Eater had distributed the force in the blow was up for research. Elsei walked up to Morlanion and reported something, which caused him to come over and talk to her. "The body of the creature is gone."

"Must have dissolved. I've seen it before from other monsters." Hrist looked at her, curious if she meant her sister's corpses. The raven-haired woman cast that thought from her mind, her empress would never call them monsters. The abomination they had become was a monster, her sisters were people. Selene received a notice in her Hud that another GPS satellite had launched into LEO, setting up position as she sat. They had been gone for three days, though she didn't miss the castle as much as she felt she should. Ash and Luna were being taken care of, Blue got to travel with them, Jeeves kept the castle maintained.

 _How much longer… we expected a week at most. We just need to travel back to Silvinholm..._

"I see. Brynya, your shield is missing" Elsei commented.

"Must have been knocked away in battle, we couldn't find it" Hrist replied, trying her best to lie as she glanced at Selene.

"I have a spare back at the family home, I'd like you to have it as a gift" the warrior said smiling. Hrist opened her mouth to say something, even though she had no clue how to respond.

"While we appreciate the offering, our armor and equipment is provided by a special supplier. We have a contract that states we cannot use any other items that aren't crafted by them. They have a reputation to keep, we would rather not insult them" Selene jumped in. Morlanion shrugged, it was just going to be a gift after all. The shield he was going to give her would have probably been made of steel, even if it was magically enchanted. He didn't know she was already crafting a new one in her inventory. The old damaged shield wasn't going to be repaired with a spell, she needed to run some tests on it. That thing had somehow damaged Carbyne, at least the first layer, and she wanted to know how. The research lab back at the castle was going to be busy when they got back.

Ezra walked forward and looked at the empress. She stood up and handed him the artifact sitting next to her, then walked with him to the front of the temple. Everyone started to gather and sit in the pews, with the young boy kneeling just behind the podium and gripping the necromantic orb close. He started to chant, begging for Elesia to guide him and help bring the dead back to life. Multiple spells were cast over the entire temple as the dev did her best to make sure no one could see what was happening, just bright lights everywhere blinding them until the entire event was finished. She winced as a full forty percent of the royal treasury worth of coin disappeared to pay for the resurrections. She'd make that back soon, just needed the mines to step up a little from light duty work. This couldn't happen often, the Ferryman was going to be rich if it did. No more resurrections without being the one showing she could do it, and giving others two gold coins.

The adventurers that had fallen rose up, looking around and confused. The taken, on the other hand, were still just limbs and corpses on the ground. Though they weren't undead, something was restricting them from being raised.

"Elesia has brought back your friends everyone… at least… some of them…" Ezra told the people sitting as they rushed to talk to the newly risen. The teenager sighed, perplexed that his goddess had not been able to bring back those who were corrupted by that creature. The empress walked up to him and slowly took the artifact away as he stared at the bodies still lying on the ground. The raid party was back up to over one hundred, with not one single copper rank lost.

"Praise Elesia for doing this for us…" they heard from a few of the adventurers. That was what Selene was hoping for. More were praying, roughly half were converted just from that event. The remainder were stalwart Gigsen followers, however.

 _That should help, I hope._

As the followers prayed while the guild members checked their friends over, the auburn-haired woman left silently to head back to the office. Francine followed her into her bedroom to see Elesia was struggling to get up. The new additions to her religion had helped, even if it was minor. The abbess looked so saddened at seeing her goddess weak and barely even able to move. Selene sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her.

"Hello. So, you're Elesia, goddess of beauty, kindness and nature huh?" she quietly asked. The platinum blonde woman looked up at her, her eyes seemed to alter between a swirling iris of gold and sparkling diamonds within. She was almost difficult to look at, her beauty was almost painful to Francine's eyes.

"I… I need to… I need to get back… they… they cannot stand without… without help…"

"Who? Who can't stand?"

"Mortal… this summon… I did not come to answer questions you should not ask… the answers… would frighten you to death…" she weakly said.

"You'd be surprised what I've had to deal with, I doubt it would surprise me." The empress helped her sit up and looked at her face. "Why did you answer the summons then if not to listen to us?"

Elesia slowly got her legs swung out with help from the dev as she sat down next to the warrior. "A respite… from… so much… even if it was so short…" the goddess looked up at Francine. "Rebuild the following… your life… your soul… depends on it…" Francine was startled by what she had just said as the blonde glowed brightly, almost blinding both of them as she slowly dissipated into golden dust, heading back to her realm.

 _Did she just threaten her own Mother Superior?! She's the goddess of kindness! Wait… she didn't threaten her… she was warning her…_

"Why… why would she say that?" the abbess asked in horror.

"Calm down. I doubt she was angry at you… it sounded as if she needs you to rebuild the religion. You have a goal now. Spread the word as far as you can." Francine gave out a dry laugh and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds.

"How am I do that? We have no money, we allow those who look for salvation and believe in her aspects. Random travelers don't convert to a dying religion with no value to them… they pray to Gigsen… or Solon… or Xaxara… or any of the others I think have mostly died off…" the old woman looked defeated as her gaze fell to the ground. She had barely fifty in her flock now, even with the converts of adventurers. They would head back to Silvinholm, pray to Elesia from afar and hopefully bring a few more to the religion.

 _Most of them have died off? Hmm… on this continent maybe… time to do some research on if gods have pantheon wars…_

"Solon?" Selene asked confused.

"God of war, battle and strength… he is the brother to Xaxara." That information made the dev raise an eyebrow.

"So… is he like his sister?" Francine looked up at her. She exhaled loudly from her nose and closed her eyes for a second.

"No… despite what some might think, he is not a god of death and want the annihilation of armies. War happens constantly, though battle does not necessarily mean to fight to take another life. Tournament champions for the Artinian kingdom sometimes pray to him to move their arm true and swift. He has no care for snuffing out life, it is just sometimes an end result from what he is the aspect of."

"Hmm." Selene got up and walked out of the room, no longer needing to sit on that bed as the goddess had left. "Tell me, what would happen if you had a sponsor?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips and looked at the wedged closed door. Francine turned around and looked at her oddly.

"What… do you mean?" she questioned slowly as she walked out of her quarters.

"I'm saying what would happen if you could be funded and supplied, to help rebuild your flocks and spread the word of Elesia? A benefactor?"

"Are you speaking on behalf of a noble house? We've tried to get some of them to donate in any capacity, none seem to care."

"Not Artinia." The abbess seemed shocked. She was speaking about another kingdom or empire.

"Each religion is not connected to any one government. We cannot be politically swayed with gifts, donations from nobility are without any strings attached. Blessings from Elesia aren't given to just the rich or famous, a god is to look out for all of their worshipers."

"So, here's your problem. You have no money. You have fifty followers, with around fifty other people who believe in your goddess and might pray to her somewhere else… on occasion. Your goddess is weak right now. At this very moment, you are in a very desperate position. You can either hold to your ideals and have everything collapse around you, throwing the priests and monks that are standing outside to the wolves, or you can set aside your own stereotype of every government and see that some of them are trying to help rather than hinder." Francine sat down on her couch and thought long and hard for a few minutes, total silence in her office as Selene just stood there, waiting.

"What kingdom are you from that offers this?" she finally said.

"The Clockwork Empire, not kingdom, we control the entire west of this continent." That made the abbess's eyes widen. She had heard Artinia had lost contact with a few towns, though how she did not know. Travelers would give bits of information as they stayed in the abbey, only to continue on the next morning.

"And who would I speak to, to gain this… sponsorship?" the old woman said through gritted teeth.

"You're speaking to her right now." The abbess looked up at her and gawked. "I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. Gold Pine, Glass Dale, Eld Horn, Sweet Water, Puldoros Orchards, soon to be Paldos City and Werelosil Town."

"You… you are at war with Artinia?" she asked.

"They declared war on us, the pathetic government is corrupt beyond belief. Towns are left to fend for themselves when bandits attack, taxes are sky high and barely affords anyone a chance to survive. Have the abbey join my empire, and you can rest assured, you will be taken care of, with almost no interference to the religion."

"See? This is why we do not wish to be connected to any one government! The church of Artinia, full of false gods, they are a disease to the people! The wealthy are supposedly saved by no real deity, while their coffers grow large." Selene cocked her head to the side.

"Well that was a wild tangent you went off on. I meant rules and requirements for how the religion operates. No violence towards other religions, no attempting forced conversion, all are equal in the eyes of your god. That sort of thing." Francine looked at the dais sitting in her office, of all the times she had prayed at it.

"How would I tell my flock we would belong to an empire…"

"You don't, at least not yet. I can't have this get out that you just met an empress." The old woman looked up at her in confusion. "We're at war with the assholes who ignore you in exchange for the all mighty power of greed. I can't have it be known you are connected to us, it would put you in danger and I cannot guarantee your safety quite just yet if you blab to everyone. Also, I'm currently hiding in plain sight to get information. You tell people, I wipe your mind along with everyone else and leave you to fend for a dying religion." The Mother Superior gawked at her threat. She somehow knew the empress could easily do it too.

"So, you want me to hide the fact I am receiving donations from an unknown benefactor?"

"Until we come out of the shadows at least. Once Artinia realizes they messed with the wrong empire and we come out in the open, you can shout it to the heavens that we support you. Until then, you have a job to do. Elesia needs more followers. She's… she's doing something, I'm not sure what, and she needs your help."

 _Some sort of war going on? Maybe with another pantheon? Do gods from different continents go to war with each other? Huh… "my religion is better than your religion and all that!" could be a main theme… or there's something I don't have enough information on…_

Francine nodded. "I have a task given to me by my goddess, I will not falter. But… I… we… are now part of your empire?"

"I'm asking you if you want to join us, I need to hear from you that you agree. I'm not going to force you at all. But if you don't accept my offer, all of this with die. Your goddess will die. My empire will take care of you with some laws and restrictions to keep things civil. Do you agree?"

"Yes… I agree… by Elesia, what am I doing…"

"You're saving your flock and your goddess, that's what your doing. We're not Artinia, you'll soon see that." A quick opening of her inventory to have crafted one thousand gold coins completely unmarked from the original gold in her treasury and it was poured into a satchel. With one gesture, her hand slipped into her inventory and pull it out. The abbess stared in awe at what she had just done, reaching into seemingly nothing and handing her a bag full of coin. The currency in her hands had no face on either side, no symbols of the Clockwork Empire.

"Remember, no one will know, understand? At least not just yet. I'll let you know once it is fine to tell others. By the way, I know what your thinking. You think you just made a deal with the devil. You'll see very quickly it's the opposite."

 _Why does this feel kind of like the mafia with protection money, except in reverse?_

"This money will go a long way in helping my flock, thank you. We may need to… send some of our priests to spread the word soon…"

"Send them westward if needed, I'll have my military leave your priests alone, you have my word. They'll be safe heading anywhere in my empire. It's a good start at least." This would hit two birds with one stone for her. It would whittle down the false religion surrounding her as well as build up the following for Elesia.

The Mother Superior nodded and hefted the bag. She somehow knew more would be coming. "Very well." Selene walked out of the room and headed down the hall as the woman just sat there, thinking, her boots causing a slight echo as she moved. The raid party was getting ready to head back to Silvinholm, back to the guild and report the quest as being completed. They wanted to get paid after all.

"Ready to head back?" Morlanion asked as the empress walked out of the front door to the building and checked on stagecoaches. A quick nod from her and the adventurers piled in, with Blue jumping into the first coach. Ezra hugged her, not sure what else to do as he was staying behind and wanted to thank the woman who got him here. As the Rikter family convoy headed back, she received a coms request from Jorge.

"Ma'am, we've found the princess's estate. There's a little bit of a problem though."

"Is she alright?" she asked.

"At the moment, yes. However… there seems to be more activity outside the gates than normal. There are unmarked coaches waiting outside, with mercenaries tripling in the area." Jorge was kneeling near Deacon who was watching through his scope.

"So, no symbols of Artinia yet?"

"None ma'am."

"It could be a resupply of some sort, maybe extra hired guards. Did I say we were going to protect her?"

"You did not ma'am, no. If something does happen, do you want us to head in?" Selene sat on her cushion as the coach continued towards Silvinholm, with Morlanion and Elsei drifting off to sleep after the battle. Hrist was petting Blue as he just sat and enjoyed the attention.

"Antoine would be upset if we just let something happen…" she sighed over the coms, hiding it from the others. "Alright, if any hostilities do arise… just… keep an eye on things until they get really bad ok? They do have personal bodyguards in that estate, the General's best he said, it's not like we have to jump in thinking everyone is incapable of defending themselves."

"Understood ma'am, we'll hold back until things escalate to a… less than controllable event for the bodyguards." The coms ended as she just sat there, looking out the window of the stagecoach. Ezra watched the convoy leave behind the abbey, finally able to move about without worrying for his safety. She tasked a company of military units to roam the area and keep an eye on things, make sure no more of those Faith Eaters show up. If unidentifiable fog appears, their first priority is to contain it with evaporators, probably harming the eater hiding inside it. Second priority, obviously, is to neutralize the threat, aka 'blow it to hell.' Microwaving it into burnt mush was going to be very effective.

The road to Silvinholm would be uneventful, especially with a convoy of adventurers riding around. Selene would need to learn a little more about the trade, government and religions in the vicinity for the next day or so, then they would finally head back to the castle. A quick check of Hrist's armor, especially the logs from it in her Hud, told her something she wasn't expecting. Her shields hadn't failed during the fight with the Faith Eater, the attack bypassed it.

 _Son of a…_

A verification of the attack told her just from preliminary analysis that the claws, if they could be called that, somehow acted in the same frequency of the energy shields. She had forgotten entirely that the field wasn't oscillating just yet. That feature hadn't been researched.

 _So, if someone finds out my frequencies, they bypass all shields… wonderful… let's get that in research right now shall we… did I learn nothing from sci fi shows that have energy shields?_

Multiple deflector field emitters were thrown into R&D stations, as it wasn't certain which project would provide that upgrade. She might get something else for enhancing the shields in other ways. Once they got back home, she'd be able to check on what the research provided.

 _ **Evening**_

"Ilana, wake up" she heard as her eyes opened and she stopped leaning against the side of the stagecoach. Selene looked around and saw that Morlanion and Elsei had already gotten out, the adventurers were at the guild and getting paid. There was no need for Ezra to be the one to reward them, as the compensation was held by the guild bank. Hrist was standing there leaning into the stagecoach and shaking her gently.

"Sorry, how long have I been sitting in here?" she asked quietly as the dev rubbed her neck due to the angle she slept. The time was a little past 5 pm. The trip back had taken a little longer than expected it seemed.

"Not long. We took a little detour along the way, an extended path per Morlanion. Apparently, there was a logging camp nearby he needed to speak to for some reason. It did not take long." The empress slowly picked herself out of the stagecoach, noticing the driver was already gone and the horses were disconnected. Not long must have meant Hrist let her sleep for more than should have been allowed. The coach itself was already parked in the garage.

She grabbed her pack and started walking with her partner towards the inn, seeing the lights for the city go on, torches and lamps being lit everywhere. There was still sunlight, Silvinholm just prepared for later.

"Ma'am, it's Jorge again." Hrist walked right alongside her as Morlanion and Elsei could be seen sitting with each other in a restaurant on the second-floor terrace. They noticed the two walking down below as they ate and enter the inn.

"Go ahead Jorge."

"Ornithopters just got visual on Artinian forces just outside the city walls, waiting for something. The mercenary forces collecting outside the estate have again doubled. We put the number at over two hundred men, with a collection of another company not yet here. We have reason to believe something is about to happen." That meant one of two things to her: either they were about to be taken captive, or somehow the princess's bodyguards managed to pay for more security and was going to move out of the city, hopefully somewhere out of the way, a cottage perhaps. Sadly, the second option seemed all but impossible.

"As I said, keep your distance until you are sure they can't win. Once you have verification the odds aren't in their favor, let me know."

"Copy that. Request for transport just in case?"

"It would have to be APCs or HRVs waiting outside the walls away from the Artinian forces, can't afford a helibot waking everything up." That seemed like the most viable option for them to evac the princess if things suddenly went pear shaped.

"Understood ma'am, we'll use those if everything doesn't work out. Jorge out." She quickly tasked two HRVs, Heavy Reconnaissance Vehicles and an APC to hide near the walls for them.

 _Aerial support should be out of the question… but…_

A quick tasking of some Red Tails to run interference if they get tailed by horses or gryphons while they escape would help. Once that was all set, both women entered their inn rooms and sat their packs down. A knock on the door, knocked them out of their thoughts.

As Selene opened the door, Morlanion was waiting there, with Elsei behind him. "Would you have a moment?"


	25. Ch 24 Rescue Operation

"Are you following me Morlan? I thought our business with your brother was done." Selene stood there, the door half open.

"May we come in? I just wanted to offer a proposal, sort of on my part, but the plan is from my father." The empress turned and glanced at Hrist over her shoulder then finally nodded. The door opened completely as both warriors walked in, not wearing armor. They had swords on their belts, though that was normal for anyone that could fight it seemed. Both sat down on the small desk and chair with Selene and Hrist sitting on the bed.

"You didn't get word that the abbey was under siege again, did you?" she asked. He scoffed with a small smile on his face.

"No, not at all. He's perfectly fine. He doesn't need to be an adventurer anymore, can devote everything he has to being a priest. He did mention something about a choice he was given before we headed there, though I am unsure what he meant by that. Regardless, I came here to talk about something, a new job if you are willing."

The dev crossed her arms and leaned back, her legs crossed and a pretzel as her back slowly touched the wall. "I still have a report to turn into the noble house I am working for, the contract isn't quite done yet."

"You have to do paperwork too? Isn't there some clerk to fill out those… parchments? I mean, you did all the physical work, shouldn't they just pay you and let you be on your way?"

"That's not how it works. I like to have receipts in the event they try jipping me." Morlanion nodded with a facial shrug. Ilana seemed to have a very good head on her shoulders, attempting keep accounting of every change of coin between her and an employer. Fortunately, he had no idea the employer was just herself.

"That is smart. Could it mayhap wait a little longer? The job would happen tonight. It should be quick with easy pay, if you're interested." Selene glanced at Hrist, who shrugged as convincingly as possible that she didn't care. In the back of the battle maiden's mind though, she was getting annoyed that her empress was doing chores and not being able to just send her army at her beck and call. Selene should be sitting on her throne, watching over everyone… with her standing at her side to protect at all times.

"It depends on the job… I guess we can hear you out at least." Morlan smiled, feeling at least somewhat relieved she would listen. While his brother and this woman weren't exactly friends, she did look out for him and help his abbey. That was more than most mercenaries would do.

"Good. I hate to admit it, I don't have much to tell you though. My father asked me to join him in a midnight meeting of the noble houses, it happens once a month. I know what you're thinking, why midnight? It makes it easier to reach the city hall and perform their duties without anyone wondering what they are discussing, new laws or rules for citizens to stick to. It also stops any… well, most… assassination attempts as if anyone tries to enter the building without being a guard or a noble, they are quickly caught with wizards magically scrying the entire time."

"So, no one has been assassinated while being in the town hall? I would think… I… I mean…"

"You would think what? That nobles try it all the time?" Morlanion laughed, nodding to that. "That would normally be right, at least anywhere but Silvinholm. There are two houses of the thirteen that handle security, though house Rikter is allowed some autonomy. House Ardenis and house Everthorn keep the protection of the city hall a high priority, though all the same my father would like Elsei and myself to accompany him plus two others. He believes I'll find some well-trained mercenaries, which, I mean, we did work together you and I… I'm sure he would agree." Hrist showed a slight fire in her eyes at being called a mercenary, but it quickly disappeared, not trying to draw notice to herself. It wasn't as if these two mortals could know who they were after all.

"You want us on guard duty? We don't exactly do that line of work." Morlanion started shaking his hands in front of him to stop her train of thought.

"No no no, you misunderstand. It isn't guard duty, we're… overseeing and acting as witnesses to their meeting, observing to make sure no one attempts to strong arm another house. Think of us as more…"

"Bouncers?" Morlanion looked perplexed at that answer from her. "They… when someone gets too rowdy in a tavern or a special event, they grab those people and throw them out."

"Ah, well… uh… not quite. We're there to act as an intimidation factor for my father, because I know the other houses will have similar. Each is allowed to bring four of their best to watch the meeting, which makes each house want the best they can find. Some go for size, others go for skill, while still others go for magic." Selene thought for a second.

 _If they go for magic, I can't stop them very quickly without showing I have magic as well, very powerful spells at that. This might get complicated for such a 'simple job.'_

"And you chose us for…?" she asked.

"Skill. And… uh… size…" he muttered out the second part as he glanced at Hrist and thumbed his nose to feign a scratch. It was true, she was as tall as Morlan. If she showed up, she'd tower over all but the largest, and even then, she was very adept with a sword and shield.

"And we have four warriors, where's your anti magic?"

"I… have an answer to that, it's just not exactly going to work like we expect it to…" Selene sighed as he looked a little annoyed. "Well it's not as if we have many more options alright? I've at least seen how you fight, better than any mercenary here that the other houses could ever hope to come across bar an Adamantite adventurer." He seemed to scowl for a few seconds.

"Your main problem is magic users here. We have none besides scrolls. I have a decent number of them, but most of the magic is one shot use, with more versatility in mind and very little in damage." She was lying of course, with having at least one spell that could rain fire and brimstone down on an entire battlefield, named **[The Heaven's Fall]**. That was only one AOE spell she had available, not including the psionics at her disposal. At the moment, that was considered a low-mid tier spell for Arcanic's Wizardry. It was considered kiloton level damage spread out over a combat zone, and it didn't hit allies, only enemies. Her army could stride through the chaos and continue fighting without fear of anything striking them down from above.

While Selene wasn't worried about anything below tier 6 magic as her armor would be completely immune to it, not even needing her resistances to kick in or her energy shields and Biomimetic Barrier, she was concerned for those around her and Hrist. "So, the main priority is what, be scary? If things go bad, we get your father out of there?" she asked. He nodded.

"No one has ever started a fight inside the meeting room, they have never attempted it even once. If one tried to attack another, everyone would come to their aide."

 _Unless the noble houses band together for some sort of coup…_

"This happens once a month? For how long?" Selene questioned.

"Uh… for… I'm sorry to say… roughly four hours…"

"FOUR?" Both Selene and Hrist said in unison. They'd get out of the city hall at 4 am, be tired and not able to shop. There wasn't much else they needed besides books and supplies they couldn't get back in the empire. Tomorrow would be the fourth day away from the castle. The empress swore the trip wouldn't last beyond a week to herself. Now it seemed she kept getting into trouble inside and couldn't escape. She sighed and closed her eyes, contemplating the choice available. Morlanion sat silent, waiting for her answer.

"Fine, it's not as if it's any more than intimidation, right?" Morlan nodded.

"Good, good! You have my thanks Ilana. It won't be for some time, we can meet up at half past eleven at my family's estate. Does that sound suitable?" Selene nodded and closed her eyes in a nonchalant manner.

"We'll be there."

"I'll have a shield waiting for Brynya to use while we're inside the city hall." Selene was about to object but closed her mouth. A new shield was already crafting, but it wouldn't be ready with all of the modifications until around 1 am. Until then, Morlan had caught them in a catch 22 with giving Hrist the gift. He smirked at them, knowing what he just did. She just grinned and nodded.

Both Elsei and Morlanion left their room, giving them time to get ready. Selene leaned her head back against the wall and bounced the back lightly as if chastising herself. "Stupid… stupid… stupid… we keep getting into trouble here more than we should just be hiding… _I_ get us into more trouble than we should be getting into… sorry…" she said as she rolled her head to the side and gazed at Hrist.

"I go where you go, it simply means this trip will not be boring."

"Thanks." The Valkyrja seemed to give a slight grin at that sign of appreciation from her empress.

Both of them checked the time, which was roughly around 5:30 pm. They had time to get something to eat and take a little nap before they had to head to the mansion. A final call from Jorge popped up right as they entered the pocket dimension and sat down for an early dinner.

"Ma'am. It's happening."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Gilford was helping pack the princess's things while Erilyn pushed her unmentionables into a bag. "They worked quick to get her out of here it seems, who did you contact?" Gil asked her as she stuffed some royal underwear in the side pocket.

"Someone from the underground smuggling ring. I was expecting two weeks, that was what they told me at least. Must have had an opening." Erilyn bent under the bed and started fishing out anything that might have been kicked under while the rest of the bodyguards moved around the house, making sure as much of their things were accounted for.

Ralos stood at the front door, looking out the side window. "Something isn't right, why would there be so many mercenaries making a scene outside. Erilyn!" he muttered to himself before yelling up the stairs. The Admiral sauntered out, almost annoyed at being summoned.

"Yes?" she asked as she leaned over the railing to look down at him.

"Come take a look." She sighed and walked around the railing, her eyes rolling as the woman came downstairs and looked through the window.

"Maybe they just want to make sure they get paid well by us once we get out of here. It's… it's probably nothing… they're just being careful."

"Were they this careful when you were smuggled away?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. She smirked.

"Not exactly, but then I knew someone in the ring to help out. Odd, I don't see him out there… wait…" her eyes squinted as she peered out, looking for anything that would tell who was there. "There's no icon on the side of the stagecoaches…"

"And that's supposed to mean?"

"It means these aren't ours. They usually try and make them boring shipping wagons to make them unassuming and not worth going after. That one almost looks like it was made for…"

"Royalty." Ralos finished her sentence and they both looked at each other. She bolted upstairs to the office of the mansion and checked on the princess who was writing a letter. The rest of the guards got their weapons on and armored as Commander Alfinteim warned them.

"What? What's wrong Erilyn?" Nia asked as she looked up from her scroll she was writing on, the fireplace still going across the room. The sun was almost fully set outside through two windows, with lanterns surrounding the area and a chandelier hanging from the top.

"We need to get you into the cellar. Something is wrong, we have to-" she was cut off as the front doors were being broken open slowly. Guards took positions along the stairway and in front of the door, waiting for them. A cannon had been bought at one point for the magician of the group to fire straight forward. The mercs who were breaking in would have a big surprise.

Time seemed to become haphazard with spurts of slowing down and speeding up as the doors slowly gave way, little by little. Swords were ready along with spears over their shoulders, with Erilyn running to the door of the office only to be met by Ralos. "Stay in here, no matter what, you protect her." The doors finally gave way only to have a loud explosion happen from the cannon going off. Nia was startled and scribbled over her scroll accidentally, scared as to what had just occurred. The battle had already begun.

Ten mercenaries rushed in with swords, but were quickly cut to pieces, their martial training no match for the best General Antoine had to offer. These soldiers were more than a match for ten each, the problem was… there were far more than ten to fight. The windows broke open as more mercenaries poured in from all sides, surrounding the guards and getting in close. The magician was sadly cut down from behind, her back opened up quickly as she fell from the blade. "Close ranks!" Ralos yelled as shields locked together and kept the enemy busy. Gilford ran out of the bedroom with his sword ready, not yet taking part in the fight.

"Sir! Princess!" He yelled as he ran to the office to his commander's side, watching the entire ordeal below. The mercenaries were being taken out without much issue, the problem seemed to be coming up behind. An elite team showed up below, walking through the front door and looked up at Erilyn, smiling.

"Dahlia, you fucking bitch, you sold us out…" the Admiral scowled at her as the woman stood there, almost looking like a dalmatian dog with the poke dot hair and white blouse. Her entire attire was black and white, with her eyes seeming to even match with a heterochromatic look of black tattooing and a white glow from the left. Erilyn always hated that woman, as she was the leader of a smuggling group that brought slaves to the imperial city. She must have tortured the informant that Erilyn had talked to for the whereabouts of the princess.

"Oh, is that any way to treat an old friend?" The merc asked. One of the bodyguards broke too far from the team and turned around only to meet a quick slice from her sword, however it wasn't a normal strike. As it carved through his chest, his body started to disintegrate, stealing the chance of resurrecting any of them with a **[Raise Dead]**. Ralos gritted his teeth as his twenty soldiers were slowly getting whittled down by the mass of mercenaries. Twenty was still outgunned by well over three hundred.

"Get inside the office, now!" Ralos ordered as Erilyn looked at him, with Gilford startled by the event. They both ran inside, with Ralos locking the door. "Move that furniture, over here, bring it" he snapped as everyone started to move things around, with Nia just sitting in the middle on a chair, unsure of how to help.

"Don't worry princess, you'll be safe with us" Gil said comfortingly to her as she looked up at him with worry in her eyes.

"But… why… why would they do this… we… we were paying them handsomely weren't we?" she asked meekly.

"Your brother is probably paying them more. Gods damn them all. Maybe, maybe we can get out of the windows, move along the rooftops?" Erilyn commented. Ralos looked at one window, heading for it before two feet smashed through one and landed inside. "Ralos!" the pink haired woman yelled as the commander fought and ended it quickly, slicing the mercenary's legs of and knocking his head up only to slam against the side of the fireplace, killing him.

"The doors…" Gilford gulped out as they started to wobble. The sounds of fighting outside were dying out, as the last of his men were being killed outside the office entrance, with Ralos saying a small prayer for each of them. As the entrance started to fold and buckled, the furniture being pushed back by some impressive force, he could see through the cracks a massive man, easily seven feet tall with a huge mallet.

"Erilyn, try and get her out of the room through the windows. Gilford, you're with me" Commander Alfinteim said gravely.

"Sir?" he gulped out as he glanced back at the princess. She looked frightened, he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her it was going to be ok.

"We'll hold them off for them to escape. It's been an honor having you with me Gilford, truly." The doors gave way as they prepared to make their last stand while Erilyn grabbed the princess's arm and pulled her to the open window. There was a small ledge they could climb onto and get up to the roof for chimneysweeps to have access to. Unfortunately, the first mercenary breaking in wasn't the last. As the admiral looked outside, there were another ten waiting for them.

She backed away as a sword tried to attack, slamming in the window frame as she kept the princess down. What little glass still holding rained down on them, with the princess screaming. "Princess Nia!" Gil yelled surprised as Ralos tried to get ready for the big guy on the other side to come in. Before either of them could attack though, a spell was cast that slammed them both into the ceiling, pinning them.

"Well well well, I would have expected better from General Falksworthy's best. I'm actually a little disappointed" Dahlia said in almost a purr as she walked inside and stared at the two men pinned on the ceiling. Erilyn backed Nia against the wall, using her body as a shield with her cutlass ready. "Oh, you know, there is a way out of this. Just surrender, let us take you to your brother and no one else has to die."

"Like… hell…" Ralos said through gritted teeth as he tried to move his arms. Whatever spell had been used had reversed gravity on him to the extent it felt like an elephant was sitting on his chest upside down.

"Well that's a shame." A quick stab upwards from Dahlia's sword and it pierced his armor, slamming into his chest as he looked in shock.

"Commander!" Gilford yelled out as his body slowly disintegrated. There was a gasp coming from him as Ralos looked at Gil for a second before his head was gone.

"Enough! Don't do anything else to them!" Nia screamed as she tried to push her way past Erilyn. The young Admiral did everything she could to keep her behind herself, but it was getting difficult with the panic just to save Gilford. "Please! Don't kill anyone else! I'll go!" The dalmatian haired woman chuckled and smiled at her.

"Well that was easy, you all could have just gone with us from the beginning once the door was broken open. You wouldn't have lost a man… at least, not yet. I have no idea what your brother is going to do with them once your back, and frankly, I don't care. The only one we can't kill is you, little princess."

"You fucking… damned… bitch!" Gilford snapped out as he tried to move his right arm, his sword slowly but surely coming down… and tapping her on the shoulder. The smuggler smirked and looked at it, then up at him.

"Please… don't do it… I'll come with you… just leave them alone!" Nia said in a panic as she saw the malicious grin growing on the woman's face.

"Dahlia you really are twisted" Erilyn said while scowling. The smuggler chuckled and just looked at the princess.

"What's your name sir guard." Gilford tried to move his sword again, but the large man behind Dahlia grabbed it and pulled the handle from his hand.

"His name is Gilford Telareign, please… he's a good lieutenant, he was just following orders from me" Nia said in his stead.

"Princess…" he replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh? Because of orders from you? I see… so all these other guards, they were just following orders to protect you? Of course, of course… well, I have one requirement now that I know that. Princess Nia, can you give him one more order then?" Dahlia asked. Nia thought for a second, wondering if she was going to tell him to stand down and stop fighting. Then the last three would be able to get out of here alive, maybe find some way of escaping along the way.

"What… what is it…" she asked.

"Tell him to say goodbye. That's it." Nia was shocked as her eyes widened. She was going to kill him.

"Grrraaaahhhhh…" Gil struggled against the spell, the caster hiding behind the big brute in the doorway.

"If you don't, then your friend in front of you will die too, maybe let the men have some fun with her in front of your eyes as well before she dies." The princess couldn't believe what she was saying. If she didn't sacrifice Gil, then Erilyn was going to have something much worse than death happen to her, then have her life snuffed out.

"Please… don't make me do this… I'll order him to stand down, please, just leave them alone."

"Tell him to say goodbye, Princess. Tell him right now or this deal is off." Dahlia was smiling a sickly-sweet smile, looking far too fake as if she had practiced it hundreds of times to get through guards at checkpoints. Nia broke into tears as she looked up at Gilford.

"Gilford… I'm… sorry… so so sorry…" she cried out as he looked down at her.

"It's ok princess… I'm sorry… I couldn't… I couldn't protect you…" The smuggled sighed in annoyance at the waiting.

"Are you finished yet? Seriously. In five seconds, if you don't say the words, deal is off. Five, four"

"Goodbye, princess. I… I love you…" Gilford said. That caught Nia completely off guard as Dahlia struck upwards with her sword. The tip moved through the air quietly and swiftly, but unfortunately for the enchanted steel… it wasn't swift enough.

A round slammed into just above the cross guard from seemingly nowhere, not even making a hole in the wall as the sword broke in two, the blade spinning in the air. It eventually landed on the ground as the smuggler looked down in confusion and then at her own handle. "What the-" was all she could get out as another shot punched through her head, coming out the other side. A massive arm shot up from the floor and grabbed the leg of the brute with the mallet, pulling him downstairs. A scream followed by a crunch was heard below.

Two metal creatures slammed through the windows and rolled, their rifles coming up and opening fire at the collected throng of mercs at the stairwell and hallway to the office. They quickly moved out of the room and started flanking the downstairs throng of swordsmen, their weapons doing nothing to ranged special forces automatons. Double taps could be lightly heard as they swept the building, with one huge one coming up to the doors and looking in as Gilford fell to the ground practically on his face. The rifles seemed to make quiet noises of a choked off cough each time they were fired.

Nia ran to help him up as Erilyn watched the hulking form look in on them, reach inside, and close the doors. "What the fuck was that…" she said in shock as Gil coughed from dropping, the wind knocked out of him. Another slipped inside through the window and landed on two almost pointed feet, seeming to slightly hover off the ground. It looked female in some of its appearance, however having six arms made them wonder why she had just entered. The creature flew over to Gilford and kneeled.

"Any trauma, broken bones, difficulty breathing? Did she stab you?" the metal woman asked. They all looked at each other. "Answer me please, keep focused."

"Um… no, at least… I don't think so?" Gil said, confused as to why it was worried about his health. A weird beam came out of one of her 'arms' and moved from the top to the bottom of his body, then moved to Nia. Erilyn tried to get in the way, but a quick grappling cord wrapped around her arm from another window. A floating saucer like metal creature came inside angled vertically for his form to fit through and held her back as the scan was complete. "She's alright, a little shaken, but perfectly healthy."

Sounds of battle very quickly died out downstairs as the sounds of the front doors closing shut could be heard. The office doors opened up again as the massive metal hulk walked in, ten feet tall. They stepped over the hole it had created when it reached up through the floor and pulled the brute down to meet his end. He was followed by the other two.

"No wounds, though he nearly met a painful death if it wasn't for Deacon" Turnie commented.

"Alright, I'll get in touch with the empress." Jorge brought two fingers up to his head as he walked to the windows, looking out them as the other two stood at the door, their weapons ready.

"I could have left the bitch there for you Jorge, you could have punched her right in the cunt." The commander turned and looked at him, a disapproving glare that couldn't be noticed by the three humans in the room. "What?"

"I'm going to check on the doors and seal up the openings" Orlo said as he floated to the hole in the ground and sprayed some sealant foam inside, then headed out of the office. Nia sat down in her chair, wondering what these things were.

"Golems… I've… never really seen one before…" she half muttered out as Gilford sat on the couch, with Erilyn wrapping a very thin blanket around the princess and holding her tightly.

"Hey, watch who you call a golem, princess useless" Deacon snapped back as he pointed to himself in annoyance.

"Deacon. Stow it" Jorge replied for her. The metal creature with the many eyes shook its head and gestured to the air, almost making a middle finger then thought better of it. They watched as the metal men stood around, with the woman checking on Erilyn.

"It's going to be alright princess, we've been ordered to come get you out of here."

"Please don't tell me only to take me to my brother" Nia replied.

"Not exactly. Opposite direction actually. Someone has taken an interest in you, and we work for them. We'll be getting you three to safety shortly." Two of the arms gently landed on both Erilyn's and Nia's shoulder, giving them a reassuring squeeze that wasn't painful.

"Who are you?" the princess asked. The metal woman looked up at Jorge, who turned around and nodded at her.

"My name is Turnie. Do you need anything? I'm sorry, we can't let you down to the kitchen, but I can bring up some water to drink, maybe something dried? I'm not cooking, that's out of the question."

"Um… can… is it too much to ask to… um… get some… tea?" Nia squeaked out.

"I can make it for her" Erilyn stepped in, glancing between Turnie and her princess.

"I'm sorry, but I said we can't-" The healer looked up at Jorge, who shrugged and nodded. "I guess… I'll come with you then." Erilyn walked out of the room with Turnie floating majestically behind her with the brand-new legs under a long frilled and well armored skirt. Gilford sat closer to the princess and thought about putting his hand on hers to help calm her down.

"You… uh… you alright? My lady?" he asked. She looked at the two automatons at the door and in the far distance could see Orlo near the windows, sealing them up.

"I… I think… I'm ok… now at least… Gil?" she answered, then looked up at him and said his name.

"Uh… yes?"

"You said you loved me." He went beet red as he averted his gaze.

"I… uh… I… I…" he didn't know what to say.

"Alright, we may have to stay here until midnight, then escort them out of the city, there's still too much traffic out there, can't be certain to move her out right now without being spotted" Jorge spoke up as he walked across the room to talk to the two others. While Bronze Team could disappear and flow through the city, they hadn't brought any cloaking systems to use just for the three humans here. In Jorge's eyes, it wasn't needed right now. They could get them out after a few hours, away from the city and off to a safe house.

"We're… we're staying?" Nia asked as he turned around and looked at her.

"Yes ma'am, at least until midnight. Once that time has come, we're getting you out of here to an evacuation point."

"Um… who… who do you work for… if you… mind me asking…"

"You may meet them in the future, they're a little preoccupied right now to talk to you in person." The huge metal man turned back around and seemed to communicate with the other two in pure silence. Unbeknownst to the three humans in the room, they were speaking in machine language.

"Jorge, seriously, we aren't golems, the little miss pink and frilly over there-"

"She's a princess that doesn't know about us Deacon, can it. Clear yourself and focus. We're her new guards until O dark. Keep frosty." Deacon put his rifle up in the air with his fingers opened out, surrendering. He would do what his commander told him. He just hated being called anything other than automaton. Golem was a serious insult in his many eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, Erilyn brought up a slightly dirty tray with a pot of tea ready and some crackers, a very small wheel of cheese and some salted meat. "Sorry, couldn't find much else, a lot of the kitchen has been destroyed with things everywhere." The tray was put down with three metal cups ready, the china tea cups smashed up on the first floor. Orlo floated inside and sealed the open windows up with the foam, looking for any other holes he hadn't gotten to yet.

"The building is mostly secure, though that won't hold if another assault is attempted" he said. In silence, however, he informed Jorge the foam would dissolve after they left, with no indication they were there. It was never designed as armor, entirely made simply to cover openings against weather.

"We could always torch and burn the building just to make sure" Ethan chimed in on that info.

"Do we really want to cause one giant bonfire in the noble district?" Turnie asked through coms.

"Hey, it could make everyone think the princess pony is dead due to a giant fuck up from the smugglers" Deacon replied.

"Her name is Nia."

"She could be the Queen of England for all I care, right now she's just a VIP we need to escort, and she can't hear us." Turnie sighed over coms as Orlo floated near Gilford who seemed worried he was going to harm him.

"No poking and prodding Orlo" Jorge told him.

"I was just going to see if I can calm them down with a little change of subject, get their minds off things. Reducing their stress will make the entire time they sit here easier." The Light helibot decided to pull a small deck of cards from a compartment in his chassis, put them down on the coffee table and sorted them. "Any one up for a little magic trick? Get your minds off what is happening."

 _ **11:30 pm, 16th, November**_

Selene headed for the gates of the Rikter family only to be called to a stagecoach waiting outside by Morlanion. Hrist followed right behind her, though Blue was left inside the pocket house this time. The entire group had to be four, not four and a half.

What she saw sitting inside was Donovan and Melsia, apparently both going to this meeting. "So, six of us" she remarked as the doors closed and the coach rode forth with Elsei sitting next to Selene on one side while Morlanion sat next to his mother.

"She's technically not part of the meeting" he explained, though that seemed to confuse her even more. "She's… my mother has a gift with magic."

"I thought we were only going as a four-man team plus one, are they going to allow that?"

"Technically, I'm Donovan's wife, and spouses are allowed to oversee the entire meeting from afar" Melsia told her.

 _So more than just mercs and bodyguards where we're going to be… things just got even more complicated…_

The short trip was boring as Hrist looked out the small window and saw there were almost no people on the streets, at least that wanted to be seen. Once midnight would hit, Bronze Team would be leaving the mansion with the princess and stay concealed until they could escape the city. When they would get outside the walls, the HRVs would be waiting for them. The empress breathed deeply as she realized they were now providing asylum for a political figure of the enemy.

Once they stopped, she noticed there was a massive building just outside with marble pillars holding up the front. It looked as if it was ripped from the Classical Era, Roman design and all. Torches and lanterns were lit just outside, with mercenary guards watching the front.

"We need to get out first before my father and mother" Morlan explained as he stepped out and took a protective stance. Elsei and Hrist followed suit with Selene coming up behind them. The Rikter parents came out slowly and looked around.

"Sir, they're waiting for you inside" one merc said to Donovan. As they headed inside and down the many halls, Selene walked next to Morlanion the entire way, deferring to him on leadership for this group.

As they reached a set of double doors that was swung open, they could hear the yelling as nobles practically snapped at each other from across the massive table for laws and rules to be set for something. Morlan stopped the dev and pointed to another set of doors that branched to the side, heading up a flight of stairs.

"We don't stand behind them?" she asked.

"All guards stay out of the main area, it stops too much intimidation when others speak about the politics of the city. They need to focus on the here and now, not whether a crossbow could be leveled at them instantly due to raising their voice. We mainly stand upstairs to scare the other guards. If something happens down below, we're close enough to reach them quickly." Once they reached the second floor, there was a large curving balcony that allowed them to watch from above, with marble stairs turned into seats around the back. Cushions were placed along each row with some of the guards for the nobles already sitting. Many of them were watching her group, mainly keeping an eye on Morlanion… and Hrist.

While Ezra's brother was muscular, he wasn't especially tall, reaching the same height as the Valkyrja. While he was wider than the battle maiden, Selene was very sure he wasn't nearly as strong as her. The group stood near the balcony railing and watched from up high, the second floor being a little closer to a third-floor height. The actual third floor was a massive library that was locked away on the outer rim of the city hall. The whole building was built somewhat like a coliseum, with the center being for the congressional meetings and the outer rings holding the audience and specialized rooms. The only real difference was this place had a large roof to protect against weather.

"I'm telling you! We cannot afford to have the diamond trade flow anywhere else! It could be disastrous!" one noble yelled out as he slammed his fist against the table.

"It has never harmed us before to allow a little competition Miles, so stop being angry that another town, not a city, is working the trade. Transportation through them might be cheaper instead of just having a caravan with guards travel all that way" his competition reasoned.

"Seems they're already in the thick of it" Selene commented quietly, hoping to keep her voice down.

"They fight over petty things that have almost no basis for the future of Silvinholm. You can ignore most things that come out of their mouth" Morlanion replied close to her ear as they watched. Hrist inspected the other guards behind them, some being bored and playing cards, others sharpening their weapons. A few magic casters were seen in the top of the seats, watching everything in silence. Melsia stood next to Selene and watched her husband sit down at the head of the table.

"Ah, Donovan, so good of you to join us" one noble, the head of house Reysor, said with a sneer.

"I was under the impression we started at midnight, right now it is currently… 11:50 pm" Don replied calmly.

"We've always started early, you know that. Some of us have more important things to deal with than having you hold back on the crucial issues, to abstain from votes."

"I abstain to keep the houses from falling into a screaming match and listen to both sides, which you are so good to start. I'd suggest you relieve yourself of that anger before we come here, Alain." The man stood up and was about to snap at him, but a quick movement upstairs stopped that. Morlanion coughed out loud, warning him to keep things civil. Alain sat back down in his chair, grumbling something as his fat rump landed on the cushioned seat. The man was rather obese, his clothing somewhat held in spare shirts of the same color to hide the rolls of fat.

"That man is trouble, Falksworthy always warned me of that" Morlan mumbled softly.

"Antoine Falksworthy?" Selene asked surprised. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why, yes, do you know the General?"

"I… have met him once or twice. He's a good man." Morlanion nodded in agreement.

"He taught me everything I needed to know about tactics and strategy. He always did hate the nobility, though not my parents. He considered them… what was it… 'a dam to hold back the flood." The empress attempted to keep as much information held back as possible, hoping to not tip her hand that he was now a citizen, and a professor, of her empire.

"Have you spoken to him in a while?" she asked.

"I last saw him early this year. Wonder what he's doing now. I could always ask him for advice on anything that plagued me."

"It sounds as if you trust him quite a bit" she responded as they both watched the meeting.

"One of the few that I trust his judgement on most matters. I've seen some good men in my travels, in our battles to protect Artinia. I've also seen some terrible ones, which seem to have proliferated somewhat in the past few years." The dev glanced over at him without moving her head, a question playing in her mind to ask him, but worrying about the answer he would provide; she was hoping it wouldn't lead to a response that could cause her to not be so friendly with him anymore.

"If he told you to do something, would you do it?" she asked.

"Knowing how often what he tells me, and never hid anything around me, I would say yes."

"Even if that might have been to say, I dunno, rebel against Artinia or something?" He looked at her with a furrowed brow. She just shrugged, wondering how he would take it. He exhaled loudly and turned back to the meeting.

"I guess… hypothetically speaking… if things had gotten bad enough for him to say to go against the Artinian government… I… I might… though there needs to be a really good reason for me to ever do that. I mean… as an example… the royal family going entirely insane or becoming, I don't know… serial killers. I might."

"Good answer."

"You were afraid I would just leave just because he told me to?" he asked her with a slight smirk.

"I was just wondering where your loyalties lie. You stand for the people, don't you?" He chuckled, trying to keep any sound from coming out. A smile broke out on his mouth.

"Yes, I guess you could say that. I am paid to be a figure for the Artinian standing army, though I always try to do what is right."

"Sometimes that isn't the easiest thing is it?" He frowned quickly and seemed to be playing back actions already taken in the past.

"Not when someone else puts out orders I need to follow that… should be considered… crimes…" she looked up at him and tried to grasp what he was thinking.

"You've followed orders that were crimes against humanity?" she whispered. He remained silent for a second, mulling over the words he would respond with.

"I've done my best to walk a fine line between doing what is right and doing my duty. Sometimes… my duty requires things that go against my conscience… I… do my best to find ways to… work around some of those issues so all benefit."

"Not always easy, is it?" He nodded in silence.

"It isn't; however, I do my best to not follow those orders as much as possible as well. I have quite a bit of leeway, given the symbol I seem to be to the men on the battlefield."

"Of course." They continued watching the nobles as the clock reached midnight.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"We've got movement, just outside the gates" Orlo reported as he stopped his small magic tricks, Nia and Gilford calming down considerably as Erilyn tried to figure out how he performed one of the card flips.

"Touching on two hundred Artinian soldiers inside the city… how the hell are they inside? I thought mercenaries were the security force in here" Ethan asked Jorge as he checked ornithopter relay information.

"Do you really think the mercs would stop a standing army walking in with orders to come here? They aren't going to get in their way. They'll probably ignore the public disturbance once they storm the place too" the Medium replied as he looked out the window just downstairs and at the front door. They had moved the furniture against all doors, with the foam Orlo had sprayed keeping windows mostly protected from intruders without kicking hard. "Seems we have to lead them inside before we can head out."

"Warm welcome mat sir?" Ethan asked.

"It seems that way. Set up shop. Kill the lights."

"Fuck yes" Deacon replied as both Lights headed out of the room with Orlo putting his cards away. The humans in the room wondered why they suddenly started moving around with a purpose as the flying saucer headed to the windows and started installing what looked to be traps. The remainder of Bronze Team was following suit throughout the mansion, with mines, trip wires and alarm systems to warn of a breach.

"You three, stay here. Hostiles inbound" Jorge warned as he walked to the doors and closed them up, Orlo following him while Turnie stayed inside with them.

"Everything is going to be fine, we just have to thin their ranks then get you out of here" she told them softly.

"How… how many?" Gilford asked as he shared a glance with Nia.

"Not enough to stop us, I assure you."

 _ **(Recommended Song: Sam Tinnesz – Ready Set Let's Go)**_

"We got movement in first sector" Deacon reported as the back door was being broken through, with a mine going off almost immediately. A cannon was fired at the front door, blowing it open. What they weren't expecting was Jorge waiting there with his autocannon, shield at the ready. A hail of fire erupted outwards, tearing apart the cannon crew.

Five soldiers tried to break through the windows, with two succeeding, the remainder trying to somehow repel in with ropes wrapped around their waists. Ethan was on them in a heartbeat, his rifle picking them off easily.

"Sector two windows broken" Orlo reported.

"Bathroom cleared" Deacon responded as three rounds were fired, piercing the walls and taking out the soldiers who broke through that window. A mallet was used as what looked to be a paladin charged through the back door. Jorge back handed him across the room, snapping his neck as Ethan boost slid across the upstairs hallways overlooking the foyer. He was heading to the bedrooms used for the twenty men and women that had protected the princess, now disintegrated. A quick spray at the men who had been wounded by the traps laid inside, one of which was a blast panel with laser grid they had set up, and the room was empty of any living hostiles.

"Echoes in basement somehow" Orlo told them as he hovered near the door, opened it, dropped a few spider mines inside that he kept in Selene's special forces inventory set aside for them, then closed the door. Now that there were openings, the soldiers were just trying to rush in, only to be running into a meat grinder of bullets, lasers and micro missiles.

Deacon had somehow lapsed in judgement while moving towards the kitchen, with one soldier trying to ambush him. A quick dodge and combat knife to the Artinian's neck and the enemy was contained in that room.

Nia and Erilyn were wondering just what the noises that were coming from outside were, as the weapons being used made an odd pfft sound rapidly at odd times, the sounds of screaming when soldiers were killed coming right after as the different types of equipment ended their lives. There was a sound of kicking as the foam over the windows started to break open, with Turnie pushing everyone into the opposite corner while she sat right between the expected entrances for the soldiers.

They watched as two soldiers finally broke through, with her shoulder mounts aimed in both directions. The swordsmen got backs full of buckshot as four more came through, with another two shells fired before the last two could attempt to even engage in close combat with the healer. Unfortunately for them, Turnie wasn't about to be hit. One struck down, with her catching the blade between two hands, snapping it, kicking outwards and backflipping behind the second soldier. A quick foot sweep followed by a palm strike to the first's neck as he was open and they were both down, the second knocking his head on the floor and blacking out.

Not one to leave any alive, she quickly fired point blank two shots, one in the forehead and another in the chest for both with her sidearm. Erilyn was surprised she was so damn nimble; her moves were flowing like water with more soldiers coming in. For a metal soldier, she was a one-woman wrecking crew.

"How's it going up there Turnie?" Ethan asked as he fired triple shot bursts into oncoming Artinian forces from the main bedroom.

"Not bad, they're uncoordinated once they enter, you?" she asked.

"Almost like shooting fish in a barrel, I almost feel sorry for them… almost" he replied as the automaton chucked a grenade inside and turned the corner, waiting for it to go off. They were moving through the building in impressive speed, clearing rooms that the soldiers entered then moving on. Five against two hundred… and they were winning.

Jorge was finally seen smashing someone through the wall itself from downstairs, his strike breaking every bone in the man's body as he flew across the room, dead on impact. Nia screamed as Erilyn covered her head from the debris. These metal soldiers… they were incredibly effective at defending the mansion. As the body slid on the floor a few meters, Turnie stopped it with one of her feet. "You know you just opened up the wall for echoes to come in, right?"

"Sweep and clear, make sure none of them are waiting to ambush as we get the VIPs out of here" Jorge ordered.

"Detecting only twelve left… all running away. It's doubtful they saw us inside, their pings showed they never entered" Orlo reported as Artinian soldiers ran as fast as they could, not wanting to even enter the building. Every one of their comrades in arms was butchered by something inside that mansion. They weren't about to lose their lives to some creatures the princess had as back up that probably killed the mercenaries before. "Checking… no movement."

"Let's get them out of here. We'll grab a stagecoach still outside" Turnie said as she helped the three humans up and out of the estate, outside and into a waiting carriage. The horses were spooked, but Jorge held them back with his giant paws for hands, doing his best to sooth them. An ultrasonic emission system could be heard by the equines, calming them down.

"Easy" he said as they slowly settled, with Gilford taking the reins. "You drive, we'll hide inside." He nodded, not sure what to say as the huge metal warrior climbed in, making the inside a very tight fit. Everyone was practically crammed in like sardines due to his size. Nia and Erilyn both sat on Ethan's and Deacon's lap with Turnie on top of Jorge due to the size of the small cabin. Jorge had to hunch forward quite a bit to keep his head from punching through the ceiling.

"Hang on" Gil told them as he got the horses to pull forward, charging down the streets and heading for the front gates of the city walls.

"Anyone hurt?" Turnie asked as she looked between the two ladies. They both shook their heads, with Nia doing everything to hold onto Erilyn like a child to a mother. The carriage bolted across the city and through districts, finally reaching the gates.

"The blocks are in place, right?" Jorge asked Orlo.

"Should still be there, the portcullis should not be able to drop with those." The mercenary security saw the stagecoach charge towards them, with one whistling for the guards up top to close the entrance. Unfortunately for them, there were stone outcroppings pulled out at the halfway point by the helibot previously while cloaked, which was the main reason they were so late to rescue the princess. The horses pulled the carriage right through, with the remainder of the Artinian soldiers just outside on horseback to chase.

"We got a tail, won't give us enough time to dismount just yet" Orlo told them. He was latched to the roof with his cloak on, tracking the area and acting as a mini AWACS as Gilford pushed the horses as fast as they could go.

"Calling in some air support" Jorge informed the team as the coms was opened to the waiting gunship just above them and out a distance, rotating over the area. "Gunship inbound, danger close."

The specialized heavy transport turned into pure death circled the horsemen chasing them and unleashed hell, sending them into disarray as they wondered just what had carved their soldiers and horses to pieces in one strike. "Dragon! Dragon!" one soldier yelled out as they never got a good view of what had just attacked, the gunship flying so high and making odd noises due to the weapons it was using, one if which was the equivalent of a GAU-12 25mm Equalizer. They backed off and tried to regroup, with the gunship keeping watch while the carriage headed over a hill.

Two HRVs rolled up and stopped, with Gilford slowing the horses and letting everyone get out. The humans stared in awe at what these things were, with no horses pulling them, the sounds of their engines making them wonder if they were powered by magic. As soon as most of the group was inside the HRVs, ushered in by Turnie and Ethan, Jorge busted out of the stagecoach due the fact he seemed a little wedged in. That sent the horses into a panic as they ran off with the remainder of the carriage. The Commander of Bronze Team walked over and got inside, closing his door. "We're clear, let's head home."

The mission was a success, though how useful the princess was going to be, if any, was up to their empress.

 _ **Three Hours Later**_

Selene was practically falling asleep, despite the extra time she was out like a light in the carriage coming back, as the meeting continued, though it seemed to escalate into a few yelling matches often enough. Her circadian rhythm was being thrown off tonight. The nobles couldn't really agree on much, requiring deals to be made just to get laws passed that would benefit the people. In the back of her mind, that was pretty underhanded for quite a few of them, and quite unfair to the others who accepted the deals on behalf of the people, usually paying some sort of fee to get it through. One of those deals was paid for by the Rikter family, who seemed to do whatever he could to make sure the people got some respect.

"I'm telling you, there is no reason to have mercenaries control the security of this city anymore! Artinia is strong enough to provide a standing army, it is strong enough to move in and protect the people!" Alain Reysor yelled out at Donovan. It was slowly waking her up as her eyes glanced at the guards behind her. Most were half asleep, but there were a few she did notice that were very alert. There were four casters, all together, all of them watching intently.

It was possible they were just doing their job as professionally as possible, being students of the wizard's academy in Aureos, but the way they looked at everything…

"Psst" she whispered and nudged Morlanion. He wasn't falling asleep, but he did look tired, his arms pressed to the sides of the marble block he was leaning against as he sat down on one of the seats with Elsei drinking some water. He looked at her and blinked, wondering what she was interested in. Her head gestured in the direction of the wizards still very much alert, even compared to the other casters in other guard groups.

"I wonder if they are waiting for the meeting to end" he softly questioned as the wizards didn't move much at all.

"Could they be waiting for a signal?" she asked.

"Possible. It could be they might have only been contracted for a set amount of time. I've seen once before a group leave middle of the meeting. It was very embarrassing to the minor noble house when that happened."

"Why would they leave?"

"Not paid enough or haven't been paid at all. Some of them are foolish enough to have the contract laid out with payment coming at the end of the meeting, not before." As much as Selene couldn't believe people could be so stupid, she realized that yes, humans were dumb in a lot of ways, herself included.

 _I guess doing contracts for game companies got me used to half and half payment. Half when I start, half when I leave._

"Having a private security force handled by every noble house keeps pay for the mercenaries competitive and stops the government from meddling in every affair we have, we've been over this Alain" Donovan replied to Reysor.

"The amount of funds we could save instead of keeping them paid could go into our companies! The city itself! You are holding us back Donovan! Artinia is willing to step in and defend us, while you want low trained soldier wannabes!" Alain snapped back, his fist slamming into the table and making a little of his fat jiggle.

"Those low trained soldier wannabes have proven time and again that they are better prepared for most issues happening around us than the footmen that march about outside our walls!" Liam Ardenis, head of house Ardenis, growled out in an old gravelly voice, backing Donovan up. House Ardenis dealt with the most mercenaries for the main security of the city walls and gates, with house Everthorn dealing with the policing force.

"Haven't we had enough of keeping disconnected from Artinia? We are part of the kingdom, they are a part of us. Do we not have their symbol, their tabards on our walls?" the head of house Bachus, Jerceval, commented in defense of Alain.

"Something is… off…" Melsia softly said as the four of them got up and watched intently over the railing, with Hrist tracking the four wizards. The argument continued, getting larger with more houses joining each side. Unfortunately for Donovan, he was a little outnumbered, though his side did constitute the main mercenary companies that protected the city with Everthorn, Ardenis and Treeyul standing with him. House Reysor, however, had most of the trade and manufacturing, with the religion controlling houses seeming to hold back, not sure who to vote in agreement with. Edemus, Bachus, Reysor, Daldas, Valgon, Windal all seemed to be in agreement. The problem was, they were doing it for greed.

"This doesn't look good, they might lose the vote six against four, maybe more if Folsen and Yumerin join. Don… sway them…" Melsia whispered out.

"Bringing in the Artinian army to protect the city takes us out of control of the protection of the people. It also, last time I checked, puts many mercenaries out of a job. Unemployment would go up drastically if we took the steps you are inferring. The economy would tank with so few of them buying anything, the movement of coin would slow, and our companies would fail due to that" Donovan explained.

"You don't think soldiers buy things Donovan? You are a fool for thinking that, they are just like the rest of us" Alain retorted.

"Last time I checked, the Artinian standing army, at least the ones not required to join by our king, have contracts on them to buy from certain companies, most of which are based in Aureos. Not all of us have connections there, Alain, or the king's ear. Those men are more likely to buy with the discounts they are provided instead of paying for anything of decent quality made in Silvinholm."

"Are you saying my equipment, made by Aurean hands, is inferior, Donovan? The very same hands that have been chartered by our beloved king?" Alain replied.

"The equipment in question is made by slaves, Alain, not by hard working citizens. There is no incentive for them to create anything other than shoddy junk" Miles from the minor noble house replied. That started a new argument amongst everyone in the room. Donovan called for order and slammed his gavel on the table.

"They really go all over the place, don't they?" Selene asked.

"I believe they are still arguing over having Artinian guards here, but I can't be sure, at least just yet" Elsei replied.

"I want a vote on this!" Alain shouted.

"We already voted on this last year, it isn't happening Alain. It would put too many out of work, causing too much of a shift. Have you not seen what happens when a shift of power of that magnitude comes into effect?" Donovan told him.

"I had a feeling you would say that." The wizards upstairs were all bunched together, waiting for this moment. They cast a teleport portal between three of them while the fourth kept a magic barrier around the group. The portal appeared not in the middle of them, but downstairs near the meeting table. Out came Artinian soldiers who lined up along the outside of the room.

"Shit…" Selene cursed out as all the guards readied their weapons to protect their nobles.

"House Rikter, you are intentionally blocking the future of the city of Silvinholm. These fine men here, sent from Aureos, our holy imperial city of Artinia, have brought forth a much-needed security that allows us to dispense our funding in other avenues. Even now, they have done what no one else could do; I have word that they have found the lost princess of Artinia, the precious sister of our majesty, King Teiyan Erelius." There were whispers as everyone wondered if that was true.

 _They found her, but then they lost her. I have an entire team bringing her back to my castle, asshole._

"Is this true?" the head of house Bachus asked.

"It is. They have done what house Rikter was supposedly doing for the past year, in one day no less! Seems a bit suspicious they could find her when we could not." Alain seemed to snicker. Selene looked at Melsia who was watching her husband. The bodyguards near them had no idea what to do, whether to fight the wizards who weren't attacking anyone, or to sheath their weapons. This was the Artinian army being summoned in, not some assassins paid for to attack one noble house.

"Luck has its way with many an action, Alain, and they had a good deal of it just for this event. This is one time" Donovan said through a calm demeanor. Inside, however, he was trying to keep his cool.

"We need to get down there…" Melsia muttered through gritted teeth.

"Hold, mother. Wait a moment." Morlanion shared a look, his trying to calm her down while hers was of anger. Selene glanced between both of them, not saying a word.

"Luck, as it is, has swayed in our favor, Donovan. I have papers that have very damning evidence on it. It appears the estate she was being held captive in was sold by none other than your house. Care to give an answer to that?" Melsia was about to burst out in rage, but Selene put a hand on her shoulder. She knew she had no part to play in this but having her erupt and scream at them without her husband trying to defend himself would be foolish. The woman looked at the empress as she shook her head, putting a finger up to her mouth to keep quiet and wait.

"That estate was sold to an unspecified recipient through another company I have no control over. We never even met the group who bought it."

"Except the signature has the time written on it from both parties. Ralos Alfinteim and Donovan Rikter, two minutes apart." Alain was grinning a devious grin as he stared at the head of city hall, who was still remaining calm and composed.

"That is not the princess's signature, I have no idea who that man was or even was in the same room. Both parties were given the scroll to sign in different parts of the building" Donovan replied.

"A likely story."

"Ralos… he kidnapped the princess?" Morlanion whispered out, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock. They continued to listen in as the wizards nearby continued to keep the portal open.

"The king believes that you, and for that matter, our fair city, is in league with General Antoine Falksworthy, who is still at large at this moment."

"Those are false accusations, you would do well to-"

"Oh, I am not the one accusing you, it is our fair and noble ruler that says this. We all must abide by his just word. Perhaps you should take it up with him to clear your name. In the meantime, he has allowed restricted control of the city amongst the houses who are willing to end the use of mercenaries in the security of the city. He wants to make sure this never happens again. The kidnapping of royalty, the princess no less…"

Morlanion gripped the top of the railing, doing his best to be even more level headed than his mother. "The General… I can't… my father would never do that…"

"Wait, does this mean we aren't getting paid?" one bodyguard behind them asked.

"It means you simians are out of a job" one of the wizards in the group cackled out.

"Arrest him!" Alain shouted as Artinian soldiers rushed to grab Donovan's hands. Before Selene could even take action, Morlanion and Elsei jumped from the railing and landed, rushing to his side.

"It's… Morlanion… The White Sword…" one of the soldiers muttered out in awe as they backed off for a second.

"My father would never do such a thing to the princess. He has served well the kingdom, just as I have." Alain sat in his seat, bringing his hand up to his forehead in feigned worry.

"Oh no, it is worse than I feared. The son of house Rikter is in league, probably the one that facilitated all of this. Tell me, how often have you been seen talking to General Falksworthy?" Morlan gritted his teeth.

"The General is no traitor! He would sooner die than harm the princess or any of the royal house!" he roared. "You all know of me! I have led the charge in many a battle for our kingdom! Why would we ever attempt something like this?!" he snapped out, looking amongst the soldiers. They then looked at each other, some even remembering fighting by his side. He was a hero in their eyes, taking on five, ten, even fifteen enemies of the kingdom by himself. His word carried weight.

"Maybe a play for something greater, to train the princess to take the crown of our king? I wouldn't really know, but it could all be answered back at the palace once you are all escorted there." Alain gestured with his head for the soldiers to move forward. They hesitated, knowing his strength and martial prowess. They hadn't seen Melsia run down from the second floor and head to be with her husband.

More soldiers came out of the portal, some even paladins of the holy order from the Artinian church. That seemed to focus the army, allowing them the courage to start moving in again. "We're sorry sir, but we have our orders. Come quietly."

Morlanion pulled his sword and shield, with Elsei pulling her halberd. Selene and Hrist just stood upstairs, watching. "Don't do this sir, drop the weapons" a soldier asked, almost begging, as he didn't want to fight a hero. Morlan saw the fear in quite a few of their eyes. They were just doing their jobs, ordered to come here by their king. While the nobles were calling the shots inside Silvinholm, outside Teiyan was commanding everything. Some of the soldiers were young, probably peasants who were drafted for mandatory military service and given a sword and shield.

Morlanion lowered his weapon and looked at them. "You all should be ashamed of yourselves, for helping in this plot against my family and me" he told them sternly. Elsei saw him do this and lowered her weapon as well, confused he wasn't going to protect his parents. The Artinian soldiers walked up and put manacles on each of them with a quiet "sorry" told to them.

The level 35 warrior looked up at the second-floor railing to see Selene and Hrist watching them, not supposed to be a part of anything at all. For all he knew, they were just here for the payment of guarding a noble for a congressional meeting. The two women must have looked like ordinary mercenaries, wondering if they were getting anything out of this. How wrong he was.

"We're going to let them do this?" Hrist asked as quietly as she could and leaned in.

"I've got a plan, I just can't put it into effect just now." The Rikter family was slowly walked out of the hall and outside to waiting stagecoaches. They would more than likely be brought out of the city and down the road to Garrington or the two villages just before it, at least temporarily. Then it was a long trip to Aureos, through another two towns and right into the imperial city.

Both women walked down the stairs to the first floor, with Artinian soldiers asking them where they were going. "Those people taken out of here have our pay. No pay, no work. There's no need to be here anymore then."

"It's pointless to sit around with no coin involved" Hrist commented, with Selene a little surprised she spoke up, not staying quiet this time. The guards seemed to accept that answer and let them leave without further issue.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

The stagecoaches rolled forward, pulled by six horses each as the prison wagons continued along the road to Garrington with a full escort of cavalry behind and to the front. Morlan sat staring at the floor of the wagon, the silence between himself and Elsei being palpable. There was nothing to be said, they knew each other too well.

The Artinian riders were almost falling asleep, their eyes drowsy from the long trip ahead of them and being awake the entire night. What they didn't know was that there was an ambush just ahead, prepared just for them.

"Targets in crosshairs, waiting for go signal."

"Targets locked, weapons trained."

"Go" Selene commanded. Charlie Team slipped just over the hill nearby and fired a specialized AOE weapon, a Mazer System to disorient and knock out everyone in the convoy, including the prisoners held inside. Soldiers fell off their horses, with the mounts themselves collapsing on the ground as well. They silently slipped forward and ripped off the doors of the carriages, grabbing the four packages that were meant to go to the king for judgment. They then slipped back to the hill, a waiting helibot prepared to transport all of them back to the castle.

Selene seemed to have outstayed her welcome in Silvinholm, another day maybe at maximum left to grab the last remaining intel and books she could obtain before leaving that night. Instead, it was stealing away political prisoners. At least once she got home though, there would be no more skulking around and having to hide her presence under the guise of another identity. She would have seven guests she'd need to question, three of which the dev was pretty sure would want to become citizens of the empire, though one of those might want to take control over the Artinian Kingdom.

 _Empires don't always have to manage an entire area of land, they can have kingdoms under their rule, as long as they knew who was boss… might be a good idea to ask the princess if she was willing to be a figurehead placed in front of Artinians, with me pulling the strings. I'll make sure she's treated well, though there won't really be any power._

 _ **Eight Hours Later**_

Morlanion woke up groggy with his head pounding as if he had gone through a night of drinking with Elsei. His eyes roamed the room he was in, well furnished, extravagant and well lit by… some sort of crystals on the ceiling and walls. As he reached up to his forehead, he noticed the manacles had been removed.

"Where…" he tried to speak as he looked around again. No one was inside the room with him, which worried him. He slid out of the bedsheets and got up, checking to see what clothes he had on. Morlan's attire seemed to be what he had on under his armor, the tunic and leggings he normally wore and were cleaned often. Both his armor and gambeson were confiscated before they were shipped off towards Aureos.

The man quickly headed to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside. A few bangs on it gave no response from the hallway beyond. "Hey! Open up! I need to speak to the jailer!" he shouted. Silence. He swore and looked down at the floor for a second, thinking of someway to get out of that room. A cursory scan of the location gave him a potential means of escape, with a small clock on the nightstand with a moving pendulum.

Just as he opened the front door of the time keeping piece, his hand reaching in to attempt to wrestle the pendulum out and use it to either pick the lock or help wedge the striker out of its position, Hrist carefully opened the door with a quick twist of a much more complex key than anyone in the middle ages could have thought possible. As she entered and looked around, her eyes dropped onto Morlan awake and trying to break the clock.

"I would suggest not causing damage to the guestroom. My empress would be most… unhappy, with you doing so." He turned around and looked at her.

"Brynya, what's going on? Where are we?" he asked.

"Follow me." She walked out the door and waited in the hallway for him to get his thoughts together and continue after her. Once both were outside, he could see through the windows as they headed down the hallway and to the right, through a few well-lit passages. There was not one torch or lantern anywhere, the crystals keeping everything bright and easy to see. Despite it being close to winter, it was quite warm inside, with soft carpet running the length of every room or hall they went through. The entire time they walked, he could see odd… creatures… metal men walking around, guarding locations. None seemed to pay any heed to him, though he wasn't exactly a threat… yet. Finally, they reached a set of huge double doors that were pushed open by two golden plated metal guards, looking to probably be honor guard.

The two of them walked quietly into the throne room of the palace, with Morlanion noticing how massive the place was. He had seen King Teiyan's throne room once, it was nowhere near the size or as… pure… as this one was. The marble and gilded filigree of gold and silver, gems and paintings, rich carpeting and chandeliers, told him whoever was the ruler here had far more wealth than Artinia, with extravagance seen throughout.

Roughly at the two thirds point, Hrist stopped him and told him to stay there as his eyes fell on the throne, made of clock gears and metal turning and twisting under padding. Sitting on it was Selene, dressed in her golden armor regalia. "Ilana?" he asked. She chuckled a little.

"Yeah, sort of. I guess now I can throw the fake identity away, it's good to be back home after that little trip. My name is Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire." He squinted in confusion, trying to piece together multiple thoughts and worried he had been captured somehow. He remembered sitting in the jail wagon, ready to be carted off down the road before blacking out.

"You… you kidnapped me? Where are the others?"

"I _rescued_ you, though if that is how you want to think, I can't really stop you. Your end was coming, I wasn't about to really let it happen to your parents."

"Seems… odd… that another kingdom-"

"Empire, don't get it wrong."

"Empire… would come to my aide. What do you hope to gain by doing this?" Selene leaned a little forward and rested her chin on a crooked fist, her pointer finger wrapping up over her cheek.

"Antoine was actually the main reason I even tried going to Silvinholm actually, he begged for me to be… diplomatic… in dealing with the people and nobles inside."

"You're going to invade."

"I've _already_ invaded, Artinia just doesn't seem to know it yet. It seems a little odd that your kingdom would forget it declared war on Gold Pine village, now a town, who then begged me to rule it. Now, here's the interesting thing about declaring war… it involves the other side now becoming hostile. Since Gold Pine is now mine, I am going to protect what is mine, so Artinia is about to realize it started something it can't handle with such a fucked-up government and king." Morlan scowled.

"You can't get away with this."

"I already have, Morlan, with the people's permission and welcoming me very quickly. Each village, town and city I have taken so far has had their quality of life doubled, tripled, due to my rule. Gone are oppressive taxes, military overstepping their bounds and feelings of vulnerability. Medical assistance is provided freely, hygiene has gone up, travel between towns is easy and affordable with no peril. My citizens can make good wages to live on, to take care of their families. Can you say the same?"

The warrior stood there and averted his gaze, gritting his teeth. She was right, Artinia didn't exactly take care of its people, it acted like a bully to even its soldiers. "Where is Elsei, where are my parents?" he asked sternly.

"In guestrooms, perfectly unharmed. Didn't you notice you don't have manacles on you?"

"I want to see them."

"I'll let you, once I've finished questioning each one. It makes it easier to get the facts straight."

"I want to see them, now." Selene cocked her head a little, dropping her arm.

"I don't think you seem to realize where you are. You. Are. In. MY. EMPIRE." The last few words seemed to get louder and louder, until it thundered through the entire throne room. "You have no authority here, and if you attempt to attack any of my automatons, I can assure you, you will lose quite quickly." He looked around and noticed the honor guard all staring at him, easily four feet taller than he was. He gauged their effectiveness, though he had no idea just how fast they could be. The weapons they were equipped with were varied, with some unknown tube with a trigger, a hand cannon of sorts, held against their shoulders.

She stood up and let her cape flow gently down, smoothing itself out, then walked down her stairway to roughly eye level with him. "I spoke with Antoine, he can corroborate knowing you. Per his words, you better 'mind your manners in front of that goddess, she's trying to save your arse after all.' He's a smart man, I can see why you trust him."

"Where is he?"

"Working as a professor in my academy under my head mistress, a Valkyrja. I have three of them." His eyes widened at hearing that. He knew that Artinia had some extreme difficulty with ten of them in the Azaltos Mountains, easily destroying armies by themselves, let alone all together. Now, this Selene had one teaching along with his old General, along with two others. Was Brynya one as well? She was standing next to the throne after leading him in.

"I don't believe you." The empress rolled her eyes.

"I don't care. I'm under no obligation to prove myself to you, to make sense to you, or even talk to you. I'm trying to be nice here, but if you don't want to reciprocate, I can be a lot meaner if you prefer." Silence filled the air as he looked around again, then sighed.

"What do you want from me." A couple of chairs were brought in by two automatons, placed for them to sit in. She motioned for him to use one. A cup of water was provided to him as well.

"I'm trying to understand what has happened to your family, to the nobles in Silvinholm. Now, Antoine wanted me to take over Silvinholm by diplomacy, to sway all of you to my side. I could have easily rampaged around the land, there is not one way your military could even hope of stopping me. I'm starting to think I can't uphold my promise to him, so help prove to me there are people that will agree with me." He let out a dry chuckle.

"You want me to help you take over Silvinholm?" he asked.

"No, I want you to tell me as much as you can about the different noble houses you've had to deal with along with your family. So far, this Alain Reysor is a bit of a greedy powermonger that I'm going to have to deal with in some public fashion, once the city is under my control, and it will be under my control. I need to know if the other nobles can be ignored or do I take them out as well. Your father and mother told me stories about them already, but I thought I'd like to get a different view from you, given everyone's bias towards each other in some fashion."

Morlan just sat there and looked at the ground. She leaned in and tipped his chin up with a gentle hand. "Hey, I helped your younger brother, Ezra, along with helping pay his abbey to keep it going. I've saved you and your family from almost certain death. I gain nothing from any of this other than intel, maybe a few more citizens." He looked up at her, glaring.

"You think I'll become a citizen?"

"Your parents already want to become citizens, I've already verified it. All of their holdings have been taken in Artinia, I'm providing new ones for them." He looked shocked for a moment, then took a swing at her. Hrist took two steps forward but didn't even have to make much of a fuss, as Selene caught it with her gauntleted hand, not even budging a millimeter. "Morlan. Stop. That was uncalled for."

"You're lying!" he snapped, still trying to push through her impossible strength. He had no idea she was this strong, she didn't really show it when they were fighting the taken. She sighed and nodded.

"Okay, you're hostile until you get some proof. Fine." A quick snap of her fingers and his parents were teleported to the room, looking around confused. Elsei was still in her guestroom.

"Father?" he asked. His arm dropped, forgetting to attempt to push through her hand and stood up.

"Morlan, I see you've met our gracious hostess here" Melsia said as she looked at Selene and smiled. That made the son look a little perplexed for a second before feeling a little embarrassed.

"I hope you two were enjoying the tea provided" Selene asked.

"Very much so, thank you" Donovan replied. "Now, Morlan, as you may have heard already… at least, I'm hoping we aren't starting at the beginning, your majesty?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Continue, he seems a little reserved on helping the enemy." The Rikter family head of the house nodded.

"Morlan, you should accept that some things change for the better. We have-"

"You betrayed the kingdom! You really did kidnap the princess!" Morlan yelled at his own father.

"The princess is here in the palace, you numbskull. I need to talk to her after all of this, along with her Admiral and her bodyguard. Yes, that's right, he's alive and well. Your fucking king was going to kill all of them, take the princess, then use her for his own nefarious gains. Seriously, this gets old trying to explain all of this. Can you two please knock some sense into your son? I have other pressing matters to attend to."

Both parents nodded as Hrist was commanded to watch over everything. Antoine was asked to head over from the academy temporarily and provide his explanation of what had happened, why he was a part of all of this. "Jeeves, can you bring Nia and the other two from the princess's entourage to the tea room please?" she asked via coms. He acknowledged quickly as she headed there herself, frustrated with how fast Morlan went from friendly to a fervent believer his kingdom could do no wrong.

 _He was just complaining about the orders he sometimes got and bypassed! I swear… hypocrite._

As she entered the tea room and sat down, waiting for her guests to arrive, she just looked out the window at the garden. There were small humming birds moving around, not actually alive. They were machines made with technology given to her from Information Age and beyond, which allowed the garden to be well taken care of and cleaned of pests. Swimming in the small pond was a school of koi fish that were not machines, they were real. Some of her scouting teams even found some turtles that could live in the habitat.

"Your majesty, Princess Nia" Jeeves said as he backed away and let the young girl walk in, clearly intimidated by the empress as her bodyguard and Admiral followed, unsure what the woman wanted. Selene smiled at her.

"Hello, how are doing? Gotten a chance to calm down and relax? You're safe in my empire, I promise you that." She stood up and put her hand out for the princess to shake. The teenager had no idea what to do, as even though it had been a sign of peace and not carrying a weapon since the fifth century BC, it was not normal to touch royalty. However, Selene was an empress, a tier above a queen, and even higher than a princess.

Nia put her own hand out, almost like a salute. The empress chuckled and took her hand to shake it. Erilyn smirked, as the princess never had this happen to her before. "What is going to happen to us, um… your majesty?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not some tyrannical ruler. I heard about your plight from a friend of yours, Antoine Falksworthy and-"

"Antoine is here? Where? Please, let me see him, I beg you" the teenager pleaded. Selene put her hands up to calm her down.

"Easy, he isn't here just yet, I called him from my academy to talk to some others we rescued from a political coup that happened in Silvinholm. It seems he might be in high demand today, I'm going to have to get him a gift for all his hard work."

"He works at an academy? I… I don't understand, why?" Selene looked between each person there in the room.

"Here, why don't you sit down for a minute, my butler is bringing some tea. This might take a little time to explain, so bear with me, alright?" Nia looked at the two others there, with Erilyn nodding as she watched the dev. A quick nod from the princess and they were all sitting down, with the auburn-haired woman telling a little story about what was happening, how the Artinian Kingdom was at war with her empire, and how she knew about what King Teiyan had done to her older sister, Arilane. Nia's eyes were tearing up as she tried to keep her composure at the thought of her sister being used and abused by her brother.

"So, you, oh… I'm sorry, may I speak?" Erilyn asked. Selene nodded, seeming almost confused at the question. "You allowed General Falksworthy-"

"Professor Falksworthy now, he doesn't want to be called a General anymore. Just as some things might bring bad memories to all of you, he'd like to try and forget that title. Please, once he's here, don't call him that."

"Right, my apologies. Professor Falksworthy is now a citizen of your empire?"

"That's correct. I found him held prisoner by pirates in Sweet Water Harbor, got him back to this castle and helped him get to my academy for those who wish to learn and improve, a college of sorts. He works alongside my head mistress there, Skuld." Nia seemed absolutely relieved that he survived, wanting to hug him as soon as he showed up.

"So… what happens to us now, as the princess asked?" Erilyn questioned, still a little intimidated. She had seen first hand how impressive the palace was, she could only imagine how advanced the rest of the empire could be. Steampunk and Magic both working together in some areas, far more than Artinia ever had… probably far more than any kingdom or country on the planet from what she could see. This empress sitting in front of her, being friendly and trying to answer their questions calmly, was probably a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, even without an army.

"Well, I know that you were trying to escape your brother, princess, so I wondered if I could strike a deal with you maybe?" Nia glanced over at Erilyn and Gilford, wondering what to say.

"What… sort of deal?" she asked quietly.

"So, I'm going to conquer your kingdom. There is no two ways about that, it is going to be under my control. Your brother, with all of his deeds, is done for. Now, this does not necessarily mean Artinia needs to be utterly conquered, I don't really see Clockworkians as a name people want to be called by if they ever get met by another country, but it could happen if your kingdom completely falls. I wonder if, once your brother is overthrown, you would take the throne, under my overarching rule of course." Nia looked shocked, as if the teenager didn't know what to say.

"You want Artinia to be a Vassal State?" Erilyn asked.

"Something like that. Having each kingdom in the future handle itself takes a lot of weight off my shoulders, with paperwork, laws, rules, policies being done by you. It also makes it so that the only people I really need to meet with are kings and queens of those under my control, I wouldn't need to constantly get reports from towns and cities. All the same, I would like to hear about issues that are appearing, as they are my subjects just as much as they would be yours. The kingdoms would still be mine, not separate entities."

There was silence in the room as Nia tried to think it over. She wouldn't really have any actual power, always being under Selene. However, she'd be protected no matter what, with help provided in many regards by a much more powerful empire watching out for her kingdom. While the princess had no idea how strong the Clockwork military was, she had a hunch they could roll over just about anything met on their world. She'd simply watch over Artinia, keeping it functioning and the economy healthy, emplacing laws that were checked over by the empress in front of her. Any minor laws she could provide herself, without any real issue for Selene.

The problem… was Aureos. She couldn't stand to be there, so many bad memories were flooding her mind at that point, of her father being abusive, her brother, her mother long since dead once she was barely age six due to not being the queen her father wanted. She never really had power to begin with.

"I… I don't… I don't know if I can…" the tears welled up quickly. "I hate that place… I don't want to sit on that throne… with everything that has happened… it's… it's tainted so badly…" the tears flowed as Gilford got up and sat next to her holding her hand, with Erilyn hugging her. Selene sighed. "Please… I'm sorry… I just… I can't. I'd have night terrors all the time…"

"I… understand… it's alright. I had hoped you might say yes, but I do understand how painful it could be. What if… what if Silvinholm became the next capital? You could rule from there with a new castle." Nia looked up from having her head pressed against Erilyn's chest.

"What… do you mean? Aureos wouldn't be the imperial city anymore?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Aureos seems pretty corrupt from what I've been hearing from the Rikter family, I've-"

"You spoke with Donovan, your majesty?" Gilford questioned, looking up at Nia and Erilyn before returning his gaze to the empress.

"I have, I take it since you are on a first name basis, he did know the princess was staying in a manor he sold you?" They all looked at one another before Gilford nodded.

"Commander Alfinteim… he bought it at a steep discount, along with a gardener provided by him." Selene leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea.

"So, he did know. Interesting. Well, he was going to be carted off to Aureos for a supposed kidnapping of the princess, though-"

"They didn't kidnap me… they saved me… all of them… so many came to my aide just to escape my brother…" Nia cried out, the teenager closing her eyes to fight back the tears.

"Jorge… come in" Selene called via coms.

"Yes ma'am, what do you need?" he asked.

"There were no bodies of bodyguards left, correct?"

"That's correct ma'am… sorry we weren't fast enough getting the evacuation plan prepared, we were trying to-"

"I understand Jorge, I know. Keeping yourself hidden was a priority where possible. So, resurrection is mostly impossible?" Jorge sighed.

"Turnie could have tried with your permission. That sword that was used was a soul drinker weapon. It could be possible to bring them back with a powerful ritual… if you want to attempt it ma'am." That made her close her eyes and think. It would require another trip to Silvinholm well ahead of when she was planning to go back. It would also require another twenty percent of the treasury, unless she could somehow manage to get the families of the dead to all show up and pay the cost to the Ferryman. Turnie had access to **[Mass Resurrection]** along with other raise dead spells, she just wasn't allowed to use them without express permission due to the costs. She was going to have to research somehow dropping the payment to a more manageable level very soon, or just allow priests use **[Raise Dead]** from tier magic.

The Lazarus System would need to be mass produced for future proofing massive loss of life if anything happened. A quick check on her inventory and she set to work one hundred 3D printers. By the end of the next week, she'd be the proud owner of roughly one hundred twenty of them. After that, she hoped to get it to about one thousand to cut down on resurrection time. The problem was, she had no idea if it would work on a completely disintegrated body with a soul eaten by a weapon. The abomination seemed to show there were restrictions to how someone could be brought back, no matter how powerful the magic or science could be. Attempting use of the machines might give a more definitive answer though. Another issue was the Lazarus System was… tall. It couldn't fit inside the manor, they would need to be set up outside, in public for everyone see. This would have to wait until after she had finally taken Silvinholm for her empire.

"Thank you, Jorge." The coms line ended as she returned to speaking with Nia. "Hey, it's ok. Silvinholm could be your new home if we just get it under better control, alright? I-"

"I can't… I'm sorry… I'm not cut out to be a queen… my sister was so much better…"

"Hey, don't say that princess, please. You could be a great queen" Gilford said quietly, trying to comfort her. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Selene could understand, the girl was traumatized with everything that had happened.

"It's fine. I'm not going to push you, I won't force the position down your throat. But I will warn you though, if you don't take the throne, then you really only have two choices. The first choice is become a citizen of my empire, I'll provide you with some starting funds to make a new life for yourself. You will not be a princess any longer, the royal name will be displaced, thrown aside. You will just be yourself, starting over." The princess opened her eyes and blinked, trying to wipe away the tears.

"And the second choice?" Erilyn asked.

"You leave the continent. I get tickets on a ship for another country, you all head there. After that, you're on your own. I'm not going to say you can't visit, but if you aren't a citizen, then we will be suspicious of you. You've got to understand, protecting my subjects is a high priority, and anyone who will not submit to my rule here is either a temporary tourist or gets the hell out." They all looked at each other.

"You'll… let me become a citizen of your empire?" Nia asked and sniffled.

"Of course. Well, right now Gold Pine might be a good place to settle down if you want."

"The village?" Selene chuckled at that.

"It's not a village anymore, it's grown quite a bit to… one moment…" she checked her report on her map that she was receiving from Stafinson, throwing it into her inventory each time to update the information. "Oh, it's about up to thirteen hundred in population, so a small town, but getting larger every week. There are amenities there you won't find anywhere else, well… maybe Glass Dale."

"I heard Glass Dale was destroyed" Gilford said as he looked up at Erilyn in surprise.

"I had it rebuilt, updated and improved. We also found some survivors that moved back. Eld Horn is under my control if you would prefer a hunting manor, um… Sweet Water Harbor if you want a home near the ocean, and… oh…" She temporarily stopped as a small report was put in her inventory from Brynhildr about taking Werelosil. A picture was taken via the optics of one of the automatons of her brand-new prized horse now turned into a Pegasus. It wasn't nearly the size of Asterion, but it looked built more for speed rather than power and war. She wondered if the Valkyrja would look a little odd sitting on the winged creature, being seven feet tall and all.

"Uh, where was I… Werelosil town is a nice location if you like horses."

"You took all of those places?" Erilyn asked, astonished.

"And more to come. Paldos City is next, along with the neighboring villages that branch from it to the east. Each time we take one, we make sure the laws aren't screwed up and taxes are controlled, with required amenities provided as standard for each citizen there. Free healthcare, schools, library, police and fire, hygienics control buildings and improving the market or bazaar. We don't continue on until I'm sure the subjects now under my rule have everything they need to continue without being stranded with a destroyed home."

All three humans, beyond Selene, looked at each other with smiles on their faces. Gilford had a gleam in his eye as he looked at Nia, his cheeks flushed, then looked away. "Um… maybe… where do you want to live?" Nia asked Gil. He looked back up at her in surprise.

"Uh… any… anywhere near you… my lady…" he replied.

"Then… would you… stay with me… in Sweet Water?" she asked. His mouth fell open, not knowing what to say.

"The ocean. About time I finally get my feet wet again. Might be able to get myself a boat of my own… might name it the same as my father's…" Erilyn commented.

"So, Miss Erilyn… Brandsworn is it? I think I heard something from Antoine about your father. He was dishonorably discharged and executed by the king?" Selene asked, wincing a little as she brought up the past for her. Erilyn looked down at the table, her pink hair moving a little as the other colors swayed slightly.

"He wouldn't open fire on refugees trying to get away from Sweet Water, from the pirates. He disobeyed orders, so… they hanged him. I knew right then and there, I would not follow Artinia's rule, not unless Princess Nia was at the head of it." She rubbed Nia's shoulder, already showing she had a close friendship with the teenager.

"Hmm. I'll see about you getting a ship of your own, though it will have to be registered with my navy. You know… now that I think about it, I'm still missing a mayor in Sweet Water… voting hasn't started yet… hell, most people haven't really registered for it yet…" Selene seemed to raise an eyebrow at Nia, wondering if she might take the bait. The girl looked up at her, curious.

"I… I don't think…"

"It's a lot easier to do that than being a queen, trust me. You'd have Gilford and Erilyn here to help you out. A city wouldn't be that bad, would it? Ocean to calm you, good people that have also suffered under pirate tyranny, now free. Give them some hope, as you build some for yourself. There's already a manor there, rebuilt from the ground up by my construction crews. What do you say?" The empress asked.

"I'd be honored to help you out Nia" Erilyn commented.

"Are… are you sure you think I can do it?" the girl asked. Selene nodded and smiled at her.

"Not as hard as you think, there's a girl not much older than you running Eld Horn and doing a pretty good job herself."

"Um… ok… but… I mean… yes. I will." Nia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bracing herself. "I, Nia Erelius, accept the chance to become the new mayor… um… if you'll have me…" Selene beamed at her.

"I'll send the information to them ASAP. Now, an Admiral is no real good sitting on shore. You want a ship, right Miss Brandsworn? Might I ask if you could be interested in having a small defense fleet for the city?" Erilyn gawked at her and looked at Gilford and the princess.

"I… I'd be…"

"You'd no longer be an Admiral in just title, though it would be a… less advanced fleet than what I have, though quite a bit stronger than anything else you would see on the water. Home port would be Sweet Water, come home to your friends, keep security of the harbor with ironside Frigates, what do you say?"

"Yes! Yes, I say, thank you, your majesty." The pink haired woman almost coughed out the words as she smiled at the incredible fortune.

"Good. Um… Gilford, uh… Lieutenant Gilford Telareign correct? Interested in being commissioner of police for the city?" His mouth dropped open.

"Why are you giving us these positions?" Erilyn asked, though she was worried she was questioning the hand that was trying to feed them.

"Well currently my security forces stay outside the city to not interfere in normal affairs, I don't want the people being uncomfortable with my automatons walking around everywhere. Too much of a change in everyone's environment tends to cause issues in how people think, psychology and all that. I've already had the other towns and cities create human police precincts and fire stations, so that my mechanical forces aren't taking over jobs everywhere. I'd rather a warm heart and a kind face protect and serve the people instead of constant intimidation. My automatons are powerful, but they aren't there to replace everyone."

She was lying of course, her automatons could easily manage to be friendly to others, professional and courteous due to their programming. They'd do the job better and faster, however making sure there was a face behind the security of the city would put people a bit more at ease. She was trying to give them reasons to continue living.

"I… I accept, graciously. Thank you, your majesty." Selene nodded in approval. He was going to be the commissioner of Sweet Water Police from then on.

"Alright. I'll see about getting everything set up, please, enjoy the tea, rest and relax, tomorrow you can be transported to your new home. You won't be lost out there, I'll make sure there is some assistance nearby to walk you through the steps and get all of you up to speed, so don't worry." The time was getting late, about two hours before dinner would be served. They finished and started to walk out, with Nia pulling on a small plate on Selene's sleeve to get her attention, then thinking better of it as she realized she had just done something that would cause insult in Aureos. The empress just looked over at her with a questioning gaze.

 _ **Recommended Song: Jetta – I'd Love To Change the World)**_

"I'm… really sorry… that I can't be the queen you want… I hope… I can be a good mayor for you though. I wish it was different, I wish I was stronger, but I'm not. I can't rule Artinia, but… I know you'll do well. It should belong to you. Thank you, for… for everything." Selene put her hand on Nia's shoulder and nodded.

"I'll do what I need to do to end your brother's rule. I'm sorry you need to know that, but hopefully it also puts you at ease. You are safe in my empire, I swear it. No one will come for you at night, no one will try and kidnap you, and the people of Sweet Water will be overjoyed to have you there as their mayor, with Gilford and Erilyn protecting the streets and waters." A quick cupping of the princess's cheek, now a mayor with no royal title, and Nia smiled, tears of joy welling up now.

The mayor's entourage walked down the hallway towards the garden where dinner would be served with heating lamps nearby, tea only really sating their thirst. Selene watched them walk with two automatons escorting them. As they turned the corner, Nia turned and looked at the empress, smiling. They'd see each other again once they were eating, but for now the dev had some work to do now that she was back at the castle. She turned on her heel, walking the other way, with Bronze Team coming out of the shadows right behind her, heading to the research labs. She saw through some windows Antoine talking to the Rikter family, with Morlan seeing her as they had left the throne room. He softened up quite a bit as he gazed at her, with Elsei by his side, now let out of her room to speak with him.

He now realized she was helping them all. Without her, they'd probably be executed, the princess would be in the imperial city, just like her older sister… following the same fate. He nodded at her, realizing he screwed up in being mad at her. She nodded and continued. He would most likely become a citizen of her empire as well, a hero for the people to see walking amongst her armies alongside Brynhildr, Elsei by his side.

This would be the first time she'd have so many guests in her palace, with a small feast made by the maids just for this occasion. It would put all of them at ease to know they are here amongst friends. The Clockwork Empire didn't mean them harm, it was a force to be reckoned with against their enemies. They would soon see that.

 _I guess Clockworkian is going to be the identity my citizens are going to use. Eh… doesn't roll off the tongue like Artinian… was really hoping she'd take the throne… oh well…_

With Werelosil taken over, and Silvinholm now becoming a hostile city, she was now going to work on surrounding it, waiting for the right moment to strike with her armies. She would apologize to Antoine, the nobles inside were no longer capable of being spoken to.

Once they entered the research labs, the shield that was damaged placed on a scanner platform and having laser arms rotating around it, looking at how deep the strikes had gotten. The corpses were floating in buoyancy tanks filled with clear fluid. Selene sat down and stared at the shield with the claws sitting nearby.

"How the hell did you manage to damage this, you creepy fucker?" she muttered to herself as she sat there, checking through all logs and reports. Compared to a normal design, the shield that Hrist was using was one of the most advanced pieces of defensive equipment this world could ever see. While not quite up to the material used by Valkyrja, the secondary systems inside more than made the Carbyne material more than a match for any godly creation. The problem was how it seemed to part like the Red Sea when the claws struck and sat there.

 _Thermal or radiation? No, logs don't show heating. Molecular Diffusion? No, the atomic bonds weren't so much as dissolved as rended from each other… wait…_

Despite already knowing the shields were completely bypassed due to her screw up of not installing an oscillation frequency emitter, the high-end protective armor was nearly cut apart. She could only imagine what Tungsten Steel might have done. In her eyes, she feared Hrist might have been seriously harmed by the creature if she hadn't upgraded, even though both are still incredible defensive materials.

A quick atomic model simulation of how the Carbyne was being torn asunder, the timeframe of each portion of damage… the gravitational stress exerted seemed to be almost nil, yet at the points of impact… the armor receded.

 _Faith!... holy shit, the damn thing exuded stolen faith into the armor plating to try and push through! I can't even begin to think of how much damage that can cause normally, to steel wielding soldiers or a human body._

Selene took out the necromantic orb from her inventory, no longer needing the damnable thing, and threw it into a portable R&D lab in another portion of her inventory for as much data analysis as possible. She then took samples of the faith eater corpse to put in a slew of new R&D stations made for this, just in case she'd ever need to throw them away if they got contaminated somehow or warped in the process.

What she didn't tell anyone was that she had snuck away a few minor trinkets throughout the trip, both from the abbey and from Silvinholm, all of which were religious items of importance. A rosary, a small pocket idol, book of hymns, the list continued, all of which were placed in further R&D stations to see if she can gleam something about how faith was used by priests, monks, that creature, potentially even gods if at all possible.

The whole process of reviewing the logs, the scans, the small experiments she did herself took enough time for Jeeves to come looking for her and inform the empress dinner would soon to be provided, not even using the coms this time. "Ah, I should probably go get changed to evening attire for the dinner. Thank you, Jeeves." The oscillating frequencies for the shields would stop any sort of penetration now, trying now to fight through three separate frequencies at the same time overlapping on each other. What she wanted rather than needed now that she was reviewing her defensive tech was double layer shields and soon to be tier six magic immunity. Legendary quality tier would take some time to finally get finished, which all combined, not including any space created advanced materials to bypass Carbyne, could tip the scales against these things if she ever met them again.

 _Next time I'm not hiding our strength and speed, that was just stupid of me to try doing that… if one of those faith eaters shows up again, the military is just going to be there to light it up._

Selene got up and walked out of the research lab, letting the R&D stations in her inventory do their thing while she went back into the palace and got changed from her golden armor to a soft grey dress and overcoat. The dev headed down to the outside dining area and greeted everyone, with Morlan coming up to her and apologizing for throwing a punch at her. "I… please understand where I was coming from at that moment, I-"

"I understand Morlan, to you I was the enemy at that point. I'm invading your country, what else would you think? However, you discounted too much who your father was, is, even right now."

"I know. I… I know. I'm a fool for thinking anything otherwise for my family. We've always done what was needed to help others… I still am sorry for how I acted. It was unbecoming of a warrior of my statute. Ezra would scold me for doing that… please keep this a secret from him, if it is true the abbey is already being protected by your empire." The empress chuckled.

"I won't tell him if you won't, just keep a level head and open mind next time. I have no reason to lead you astray Morlan, just remember that." She didn't want to tell him she wouldn't lie to him in the future, as it just wasn't certain that wouldn't happen. The dev would do what she needed to for the protection and expansion of her empire.

The group sat down and enjoyed a quiet dinner, provided by the empress, talking about different subjects, with Selene mostly explaining how her empire worked. The religions were open though controlled in how they acted towards others not of their faith, the taxation system, how medical and healthcare was provided even without magic. Donovan gave her a very interesting warning that there were magic resistant or even immune ailments and diseases out there, though extremely rare. While he doubted she'd ever meet someone who had one, it was something to keep in mind with the modern medical science providing help to those who couldn't be assisted by a **[Greater Heal]**.

The entire time, soft music was being played by a record player with recorded music from an orchestra living in Gold Pine now. It seemed to be a mixture of violins and harpsichords, which Melsia very much enjoyed. The Rikter family was going to be helped with staying in Glass Dale, waiting for the time in which the empire took control over Silvinholm. Once the city was taken over, the Rikters would be given back their lands and title, as long as they upheld their reputation in the eyes of the people. Given the political coup that had just transpired, the citizens there were probably angry at what was happening. While it was still possible to sweep in and take the city without much bloodshed, she'd have to watch how things turned out very carefully.

 _It feels like I'm doing what the President of the United States does with the CIA and NSA… watch my enemies, look for potential powder kegs and issues I'm going to need to address, move where required and worry about the potential cost of life._

The night ended quietly as the Rikters talked with Princess, now Mayor, Nia Erelius. They felt honored to meet her in person, which embarrassed the ex-royalty a bit as she blushed. "So, should I be going to the frontlines?" Morlan asked as he sipped his wine.

"I don't think you really need to; my automaton army is more than capable of fighting."

"So, I'm useless already. Sorry father, I guess you'll see your son become a farmer sooner than you think." Donovan and Melsia chuckled at that.

"There's plenty of other things you can do though. Take a tour of the towns and cities we have, act as a symbol of the empire that we are not here to kill and destroy, even the armies of Artinia. It could sway over the soldiers you have served with, show them the grass is greener on the other side" Selene informed him as she swirled her wine, taking a small sip at the head of the table.

"The citizens would see you as a beacon of hope Morlan, I'm sure of that" Melsia commented.

"It would also give you a chance to check in on Ezra once in a while" Donovan added.

"Oh, you'll all be able to see him often enough. I have plans eventually, once we take Silvinholm, to expand a railroad system near the abbey. I'm trying to make sure transportation around the empire is easy for everyone, not just my military" the empress chimed in. Donovan and his family all looked at each other, satisfied with that information, even if they didn't exactly know what a railroad or a train was yet.

 _I'm going to need to plan a scheduled advancement of my empire through the Eras, get them up to speed and slowly uplift them so they can understand high end technology. They're very nearly at Renaissance, if I can push them over the edge within the month, then to Colonial within a year… every year after that just go up an Era, give them a chance to settle in with the new improvements to their society._

Selene knew that the empire would see just slightly new and improved advancements in their daily life, to start reaching for bigger and better things; meanwhile, she would be in the background moving well beyond the tech tier she was at now. Exo-Atmospheric was just a stepping stone for where she needed to be, with the satellites launched already showing huge swaths of the planet she was living on, with a few of them scoping out the black void with stars glinting in the distance. While the ELT was still just being completed, there was already verified proof that an asteroid belt was found, though it was closer than Earth's Solar System, with another planet beyond looking about the same size as Mars. There was no research or analysis on the atmosphere of the new planet found just yet, the asteroid field would help with mining operations if she needed to start building a space fleet and stations.

As dinner ended, the guests heading to the library to settle down and have a nightcap before heading to bed, the dev played host with Antoine and Hrist assisting where possible. Bronze Team hid in the first-floor barracks, with no living soldier even there. They played games with each other and talked about what was happening in the last op, the empire's current state and why Turnie would not heal Deacon in the first-person shooter because he made a joke about her legs. He finally apologized as they continued to relax, the palace getting quiet once everyone turned in.


	26. Ch 25 Dark Elves

_**21st, November**_

Things had been going well for the past four days, with Nia now the mayor of Sweet Water and Erilyn getting her small fleet of ships slowly built, crewed by regular people while Selene's ships dealt with more aggressive targets. Pound for pound, the frigates that were built for the Admiral were a far cry better designed and crafted than Artinian ships of war, with ironclads being the main defense for the harbor. The royal navy on the other hand, was mostly sitting in the cove shipyard building up, with the lighter ships patrolling the coast. Selene didn't want Artinia to see what she had up her sleeve out in the open ocean just yet.

The ironclad ships themselves wouldn't have any steam engines or technology that was beyond what the crews knew about right now, though training would be available to them once they decided to "take the next step." The empress was going to do whatever she could to build the empire towards Renaissance Era, finalizing it hopefully within the next few months.

The people of Sweet Water seemed overjoyed that the princess was going to be managing the city, even with the young girl worried she'd do a poor job. Given most of the area was already rebuilt by Juliet and her construction crews, with a tunnel just finished heading through Azaltos Mountains, she didn't need to worry about much work to be done. Even so, any policies for fishing, markets and trade between towns within the empire's borders was going to be implemented by her.

Selene sat back in the pool after performing a few laps for exercise, her bathing suit a blue two piece. She had spent the past four days launching satellites, checking on research, upgrading the military with new shields that wouldn't be bypassed, setting plans for twin mass drivers to be built in both Boramar and Azaltos Mountains, used the ELT to become a hobbyist astronomer and used the Orb of Experiences to level ten times per day to catch up a little and even herself out to level 200. Along the way, she also used slap patches and potions in the morning and at night, not really enjoying the effects, but feeling it was necessary for future plans. The dev didn't use just one of each either, forcing herself to work through a good eight hours every day of the stuff and feeling her stomach gurgle while being a little light headed. An extra tech tier uplift to Early Intersolar Era gave her a pretty good idea now of what infrastructure she needed to build to attempt "colonization" of planets in her solar system, with new designs in weapons and propulsion, even light localized terraforming, becoming incredible new technology at her fingertips.

The whole thing paid off though, with her **{Philosopher's Stone}** ability used on one potion to get a hefty boost of 54 Stat Points. While it wasn't nearly as high as the one time getting 100, it was still quite a bit higher than the measly 11 she normally got. About the same time, Selene got the idea to potentially mitigate the indigestion she kept getting with elixirs or flasks on a time release for Stats and Skills. It would be the equivalent of Tylenol or Ibuprofen, she'd just need to drink it once and gain the benefit throughout the day, with 11 points every half hour for potentially the whole time. The problem was… research was crawling on it.

It wasn't an issue of her skills slowing it down, there was simply the problem of reagents that she didn't have readily available or in short supply to work on the next special brews. Her herb gardens were built up from things found in the valley, not much found outside of it. The towns and cities in the empire had requests for them to buy any and all seeds from exotic sources or far away lands if possible. While it helped considerably to build up the required reagents, it was going to take some time to work out the mixtures, go from Extremely Minor again all the way up to the Ultras, then make sure they didn't cause constant indigestion throughout the day. The whole process was to ease up on the side effects, not compound them.

If the research and creation worked as she hoped it would, it could very well lead to a keg of the mixture made and allowing her to use **{Philosopher's Stone}** on it until it provided a 100-point boost, then just drink once or twice per week, maybe per month even. If it didn't, it would at least teach her a few more things about how consumables reacted with the body. Until then, she had quite a few points to spend.

A quick check of her inventory while leaning back against the side of the pool and she started tweaking the stats and skills available, adding thirteen points to Magic Cast Time Stat to even it off at one hundred percent. Her speed was already near instant, but the number was annoying the hell out of her seeing eighty-seven the entire time. Now getting off a spell really was instant all the time.

One hundred Stat Points were put into Crafting Bonus, in hopes it would work on the newer elixirs and flasks to jump start quickly into Ultra tier. Each time she'd sacrifice one hundred of a lower quality, her chances of getting something better was the equivalent of one percent. Adding in one hundred points to the stat didn't suddenly make everything guaranteed to jump to a better quality beyond what it was supposed to have crafted, it just increased her chances to… two percent. This particular stat would be very annoying to get to a decent level before it actually did anything worthwhile.

Thirty Stat Points were put into **{Molecular Reformation}** 's Power, with another forty pushed into the AOE of the ability. Another eighty-six were added to the range, to allow it to be used at two hundred meters. One hundred were placed in Psionic Power, causing an effect around her for a few minutes in the water as it seemed to create radiating ripples due to her Biomimetic Barrier adapting to the new strength.

A quick dump of one hundred points or fifty points for the Stats she already had at one hundred percent left her with ninety-two points left over that were put into Perception. This made Health, Mana, Stamina, Rage, Psionics, Strength, Agility and Dexterity all at two hundred percent, to be buffed by wearing armor and consumables. Perception would follow suit by the end of the day. Movement Speed was already at two hundred percent from a previous point expenditure. She couldn't really consider herself human anymore with being able to do what she could.

Her skills were evened out as well right after, with Martial Arts receiving one hundred points, with a number of others brought to two hundred as well. Prospecting, Tracking, Gathering, Metallurgy, Farming, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, these were all increased to further the benefits of the abilities she had available.

Her perks were now needing to be cleaned up, which was her next step today. Most of what she had right now was before fighting Hrist at the temple, now turned into an academy. Rebuilding them from the ground up would take a little more time with computers being manufactured in her inventory to store in rows, stashed away and powered inside an empty storage room. Selene already had a plan to use all of them at once for research, then complete as much as she could for a day or even as long as a week, then swap over to more combat-oriented perks. It might work this way, as there was no telling what was going to happen in the next few days.

As the empress laid there and reviewed information on her character sheet, reorganizing her inventory yet again into new sections for easier access, what looked like lightning sparked over her head, disappearing in an instant with no storm clouds in the sky. She raised her sunglasses and looked up, confused for a second. "Was that the… anti-scrying system going off?" she asked herself. Her eyes looked around suspiciously, wondering what had just happened. Selene got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around her body, heading inside while checking through any warnings the ornithopters had sent in.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Giles had just finished teaching a few new students in his guild how to wrap metal around wood without setting it on fire, heading back to his office given to him for all paperwork and reports. As he past a storage room on his way there, a loud triple pop was heard coming from inside. "What in the…" he exclaimed and cut short as he opened the door carefully, looking around. There were shelves upon shelves of extra tools and barrels of different oils, however three things seemed to be out of place hidden deep inside.

As he turned the corner of one storage shelf his mouth fell open. Three of his students were lying dead on the ground, their heads exploded into little messy pieces all around. "What the hell!" he shouted out as an apprentice came up behind him at the door.

"Sir? What are you looking… at… oh bloody hell… they really did it…" he commented, his eyes going wide.

"Did what? Did what?! Tell me!" the blacksmith snapped at the young man, his eyes looking wild and angry.

"They um… they talked about trying to peek in on the… um… the empress…" he explained, not really sure how to tell him. The guild master got the jist of it right quick.

"They were trying to catch her, what, bathing?! By all that is… well they're damned lucky they died from the attempt! If she found out, they'd be hanging from a galley by the end of the day!" Giles roared. "How the bloody hell did you know about this?!"

The apprentice squirmed. "They… offered to let me in on it, but I declined. She's… a goddess, isn't she? For all we know, she smited them just now for attempting to breach her privacy." Giles narrowed his eyes at him. The apprentice was religious it seemed, part of the followers that worshipped the Clockwork Empress as a real deity. It wasn't as if she hadn't proven time and again that she was an equal to one of the gods.

"Then this should be a lesson to any of the other idiots who join my guild! Get back to your studies, I'll make an… I don't know, announcement or warning or something. No one should try and intrude on the empress's privacy!" Giles stormed out of the storage room and headed down the hallway. "Get someone to clean that up!" The apprentice gulped and looked back at the bodies.

"Should we tell the empress?" the young man asked him down the hall. Giles looked at him as if he was crazy on the other side of the hallway, pushing back his hair with both hands in awestruck at the apprentice's stupidity.

"Are you mad?! Of course not! She might forgive me, but the rest of you… not another word about this! Her majesty has got too much to deal with already, finding out some of the new members of the guild are perverts… no, absolute silence." The apprentice nodded, worried for his own safety despite praying to the goddess. Maybe she would forgive him as well, given he wasn't a part of this?

 _ **Castle**_

Selene sat down with the towel wrapped around her and checked through different reports, making sure construction crews had jobs queued up, task forces were mobile, and security had no issues near towns and cities. The economy was looking good, already tripling what it was before with the new laws she had spent the past two days hashing out in her office she had until now never used. The whole room was sound proof to make sure she had absolute quiet, with a very powerful sound system installed for different songs recorded of the small bands and bards now living in Gold Pine and Glass Dale. It could also provide sounds of nature to calm her while she worked on getting punishments and legalities to have checked over by Donovan.

As much as it was a good idea to potentially send the Rikter family to Glass Dale, she at the last minute decided to hold them back and offer both parents a chance to help her get the legal system up and running. Up until now, there were just simple commandments similar to Moses and the tablets. No murder, no theft, etc. etc. were the standard laws up until now. Donovan, and for that matter Melsia, were instrumental in helping with the bureaucracy she loathed to work on even with her skill. Once she had taken Silvinholm, and she would eventually, Morlan's father would be crucial in getting ethical policies made up to protect workers and tradesmen all over. His mother was great for controlling magic, to inform her of just how strong the average magician, wizard and grand wizards were in Artinia.

While she had already known the maximum tier for most wizards was around six, with maybe some very rare ones that could use tier seven, magicians apparently could at best use tier two and below, with a few parlor tricks thrown in. There were also quite a few more magicians in Artinia than she had originally known about, though still rare amongst the population. Magic wasn't exactly as abundant as it was expected to be with a population of somewhere around twenty million for Artinia. That number surprised Selene, as that seemed almost double what she was expecting.

Most countries, at least for Earth and in the first few centuries AD, had maybe at best around fifteen million for their populace. This was easily remedied by information from Melsia, stating Artinia in the past had conquered some of their neighbors, adding the citizens to their own. The size of the continent, at least from what she was able to verify with ornithopters as well as her map and satellites, confirmed it wasn't all that big of a population for where they lived. Tal Salunbal was the neighboring kingdom to Artinia, further to the east. This also gave her an idea how limited they were in naming conventions for their imperial city, Salunbal.

The continent they were on seemed to match the same geography of mashed together sections from Earth, with Australia being the main form for the most part. Sticking out the bottom seemed to be the state of Texas, with Mexico inverted and turned sideways, connecting to the lower right portion of the continent and curving up towards the lower left, creating a long gulf of water. There seemed to be a string of islands to the south and west, not really matching the same lineup of anything from her home planet, but the ones below them looked strangely similar to Hawaii bunched up really closely. Tasmania was missing entirely.

New Zealand, or the two parts of it, seemed to be parallel to each other and to the west. Indonesia was nowhere near the top, and her continent was almost where North America should be on the world map, albeit a little larger, somewhat encompassing the same area that the U.S and Canada should take up. This gave her some perspective as to the size of the planet. The main difference she noticed, besides where land masses were placed, was honestly the topography. Mountains and deserts were not where they would be expected in Australia, with areas noted to be almost like Ireland back in the day, green and lush. The temperatures weren't nearly as bad either, with massive heat spikes killing people due to the location in the world, being in the northern hemisphere instead. The wildlife, however, could be debated on how deadly it could be compared to Australia, with mythical creatures, undead, potentially demons and other creatures that were hostile to her subjects.

This also told her that the continent had far more than just Artinia and Tal Salunbal as neighbors to her Clockwork Empire, though completely blocked off from her valley. There were apparently four other kingdoms, or at least alliances, on this continent. While Artinia and Tal Salunbal were human, at least mainly human, Kohar Confederacy was to the north east and was composed of Minotaurs. Apparently, they were at war with Artinia, but just like the elves, seemed to be losing. To the south, just under the swamps, the Boramar Mountains barely end. Beyond that seemed to be more marshland controlled by the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe, with orcs and goblins comprising the populace. Melsia had expressly told her that those green skins were evil by their very nature, but Selene wasn't so sure of that.

 _All creatures tend to bow to someone with more power. As Machiavelli had said, it is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot have both. If they feared me, they'd heel and stay obedient. That's of course if they were even evil creatures to begin with. Too many games I've either played or worked on had completely different views on goblins and orcs, I can't just jump to the stereotype they are just monsters and need to be wiped out._

Apparently, directly south of Artinia and a little east, living in the area that looked like Texas was the Seong Neow Republic, run by… beast folk. They couldn't really be called beast men at all, given the fact they ranged from the looks of a full anthropomorph to an anime cat girl with barely any hair. They had a few scuffles with Artinian forces, each one sending the humans running. Surprisingly, while stronger and better in a fight than Artinia, they never invaded, always defending themselves. This seemed to tell the empress they could be talked to, opening diplomatic negotiations with them and hopefully making some friends. Besides… she really didn't want to kill any cat girls. They were too cute in her eyes.

None of these kingdoms were anywhere near the size of Artinia though; not even Tal Salunbal was the same size. Somehow, this kingdom she was at war with had taken over a good half the continent by itself, with the others scrambling for scraps.

 _If they joined my empire, they'd have the whole continent and all the trade it provided. Let's see how they react to us; if they realize their fucked if they try to fight, I could gain some new kingdoms annexed in willingly, even the orcs and goblins. As much as they might look different, they could just be misunderstood… as long as they aren't thinking of humans as food. Then they become target practice…_

Right now, however, Artinia was the main issue. Conquering it, then potentially opening negotiations for Tal Salunbal, would be the best course of action. While Seong Neow Republic would be poking up into the empire's belly, as it were, she highly doubted they had anything capable of harming her military. Donovan had said they had a few items from down there, brought back up. The whole place seemed to be Asian in how the society was formed, with katanas and kimonos, kung Fu and noodles. That didn't give her a lot to go on for the government, but it at least informed her of how they might think, with Orlo able to psychologically work up a plan to communicate without insulting them.

If worse came to worse, she'd do what she needed to do and end any threat they could cause, though unhappy with the results of fighting fluffy anthropomorphs. Hopefully they aren't as nationalistic or globalist as she was worried they might be.

"Ma'am, sorry to disturb your exercise, but we have an issue in Glass Dale" one of the security automatons reported in through her coms. She was surprised there would be any problems with that town just yet.

"I'm done right now. What's the problem?" she asked.

"We have a dark elf here, severely dehydrated and nearly dropping dead. She traveled from the far south, near Paldos City." That peaked her interest. Her right eyebrow raised, wondering what that meant. Was this an escaped slave?

"Who is she? Did she travel from Olva'lore forest?" the empress asked.

"Yes ma'am, not from the city from what we can gather. She's… not worried about giving out information to us. If there are any humans nearby, however, she shuts her mouth immediately." That seemed reasonable to the dev. They were probably murderers, rapists and kidnappers in the elven woman's eyes. For all she knew, she had stumbled into an Artinian town and just wanted to die.

"Alright, so… is she an escaped slave or?"

"A ranger for their military ma'am, serving under a Princess Silara. Apparently, the princess has been captured ma'am, just recently."

"How recently."

"Within the past two days." That surprised the empress. It took two days running from Olva'lore Forest just to reach Glass Dale. This little elf had almost no sleep or anything to eat just to reach a human settlement, which made no sense at all if she considered them hostile.

"Was there anything following her? Anything at all? A hunting party, a… a slaver gang?" she asked.

"Negative ma'am, she might have lost them halfway. We don't have visual on any echoes."

 _Shit, I was hoping to not deal with the elves in either direction until most of the towns and cities were under my control and Artinia was just a bad memory._

Selene sat there, thinking for a few seconds as the security automaton on the other side waited patiently for her to respond. While any living guard would normally wonder if she was still on the line, her mechanical forces knew better than to question.

"Alright, get some medical treatment for her, a light amount of food and fluids, I'll come over there and have a chat with our new dark friend." She thought about bringing Bronze Team with her, but at the moment, they were preparing for a trip to the Kaldanas Mountains for extensive recon of the dwarves that lived there. She wanted to know just how technologically advanced they were in this world. If they were at a Steampunk tier, she wanted to know which one and just how strong they really were. If they were still in the middle ages, she needed to know if they used any sort of special magic or powers inherent to their race.

"Understood ma'am, we'll get her settled." She counted her small favors that security had found her instead of her military. While both had their uses, security models tended to be more considerate of living creatures than military. Defending the citizens seemed to also involve being professional, while the military models were there to wipe the floor with any enemies on the battlefield. It was the difference between listening to a British nobility treating someone as an equal compared to a Marine Sergeant Major. If her military models looked friendly, then they were doing something wrong.

A quick check on the new designs she had hidden in her inventory, the ones mainly involving a mixture between civilian models and special forces to create battle maids, and she headed to her bedroom to change and head over to Glass Dale. She sighed along the way.

 _First impressions last the longest, I guess…_

 _ **One Hour Later**_

The helibot landed softly with the empress getting out with her honor guard, heading to the small hospital built for the town. One of the autodocs immediately escorted her to the private room set up for the dark elf to recuperate inside. Healing magic was the standard practice to get patients up and at the pinnacle of health, though modern medicine was easily available, even if hidden away so as to not cause further fervor in anyone who worshipped the dev.

Hrist did not accompany her this time, as she was spending a little quality time with Asterion. Brynhildr had just finished taking the connected villages below Paldos City, not yet taking the slave selling hub. Once she reported in that Paldos was taken, she could play with her new Pegasus back at the castle as a reward. Blue had a chance to lounge around with Luna at the academy for the day, sort of a doggie daycare for the time being. The students were pampering both wolves almost to death, partly due to them both being owned by their empress, mostly because they were cute despite Blue attempting to always look regal and strong. It didn't always work with Luna nearby, twice the size and yet younger than he was.

As the empress walked into the room and looked at the dark elf lying in a medical bed, a blanket up to her waist and a clean linen gown covering her body, she pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. The elf looked out the small window, trying to ignore the woman waiting.

"It figures I'd stumble into a human town" she said as she continued looking away. Surprisingly, she had an almost aqua colored short frayed hair, not the white she was expecting from a dark elf.

"You were heading north after all, what did you expect?" Selene countered.

"I was hoping that you spoon-ears hadn't expanded all over the place like a disease, find some location to hide, catch my breath then loop around. I guess we can't go anywhere without seeing you short-lives taking up space." She had just used two racial slurs on Selene within two sentences.

"Well, at least you're candid. So, from what I hear, you are almost healthy enough to leave again." The elf rolled her eyes and glared at her.

"Only for your kind to push me into slavery. Get on with putting the shackles on me, I'm done talking to you. You'll never break me into finding the princess."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, nor do I really care. By the way, the Clockwork Empire abolished slavery, it's completely illegal here." The elf cocked her eyebrow, slightly confused for a second at the name.

"So that's what you short-lives call-"

"I believe the term you were looking for is human, and for the record, you are currently in one of my hospitals and were tended to, without discrimination. Also, speaking like that with my honor guard nearby is a very good way of making enemies when you didn't need to." The elf swiveled her head and glared at her.

"All of you short-lives are the enemy to my people as far as I'm concerned, given the atrocities you've committed." Selene rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Welp, here I was flying all the way out here only to find some racist elf who can't seem to figure out the rest of the world isn't just one kingdom being dicks to them. I take it you've never talked to anyone outside your little forest, correct? It shows." The elf cocked her head back a little, confused at how she was speaking to her.

"Can you prove you don't want to conquer us, just like Artinia, human?"

"That depends on if you piss us off. As you've plainly seen, I have more than just human soldiers at my disposal." The dark-skinned woman looked at the honor guard just behind her, with it being unknown if they were ready to pounce on her for even sneezing or just standing at attention.

"The metal men behind you."

"They are called automatons, and yes, I have many more of them. Armies of them." The thought of metal soldiers beyond any creation she had ever seen, never sleeping, always capable of fighting at peak efficiency, marching across the lands and defeating all forces in their way… it frightened and yet awed the elf. This was definitely not a breakaway from Artinia, they seemed too powerful. Where did they come from?

"While I cannot speak for all of my kind, I'll at least attempt to be civil in speaking with you."

"Does this mean all of your people hate humans? If that's the case, racism tends to breed violence and I better not be hearing about attempts to attack my settlements. You won't like the outcome. It will be very one way." The elf cocked her eyebrow, somehow knowing she meant business.

"Who are you? You keep saying 'your' empire."

"I would ask the same of you, given I don't have a name just yet to call you." The elf thought it over for a second, wondering if it was alright to even speak to her. Given the medical attention she received, the clean bed she was lying in, no shackles on her arms and no threats to sell her off as a slave, the dark-skinned woman eased up a little.

"Raima. Raima of the Silk root family."

"I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire."

"I haven't heard of you."

"We're new, special. Artinia is at war with us without realizing what they've done. It's good you haven't heard of me; it proves that no leaks in information have reached outside my borders." Raima eyed her up and down, sitting next to the bed.

"This is the first time I've spoken to a human without them attempting to gut me or throw manacles on my wrists."

"As I've already said, my empire abolished slavery since its inception. As for trying to kill you… don't do anything you'll regret towards me."

"Are you referring to the met… automatons behind you?"

"They're a threat, yes, but you'd still need to contend with me as you attack." Raima raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"No human has ever been able to outperform an elf physically. You might be stronger and more brutish, but we've always been faster."

"I'm no normal human."

"That's what they all say." Raima rolled her eyes. Selene could easily pick up the bed pan nearby, clean and unused, then bend it one handed against her thigh. The only reason she didn't was she just didn't care about proving herself to this woman. She could think whatever she wanted to think about her, it didn't really strike a nerve.

"So, is there any reason I should still be sitting here? If not, I have other matters to attend to." Raima didn't say anything, trying to think up something. "Well, I guess I did just fly here for no reason. Regardless, rest up, then safe travels once you leave the hospital." Selene felt as if she wasted her time. Attempting diplomatic relations with anyone unannounced seemed a pointless lesson now learned. She'd schedule appointments from now on.

"Wait." The empress stood up and stopped, looking at the elf and expecting more than one word.

"If you are really at war with Artinia, then you might want allies, or at least no aggression between our people."

"Raima… I'm fairly certain my armies can roll right over Artinia, we've already taken multiple towns and cities within the past two weeks. Allies have never been a concern for me, it almost always ends in someone wanting a piece of the pie that my empire did most of the work for."

"Then we won't fight you if you promise to not to go near our forest. You better not try anything."

"First, I don't think you have the diplomatic authority to speak on behalf of all your kind. Pretty sure your king or queen would have a say in that matter. Second, right now, with the way my army is built, you have absolutely nothing that could stop them if we suddenly became enemies. Don't go saying things to ruin negotiations. If you sour the well, don't expect the water to taste good." Raima opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, trying to think of some way to fix what she just blurted out.

"My… apologies then. Perhaps… perhaps you might speak with my king?" she asked.

"Fine, it's clear you haven't had any training in diplomacy. Head back once you're well enough to travel, we'll set up a meeting point. Again, I hope your people aren't all hateful of humans or this is going to be a very short royal conversation."

"I… don't need to head back to tell him." Raima closed her eyes and tried to do some sort of spell, but it didn't seem to work very well. Her silver eyes opened again, her white hair shifting as she realized there were no plants in the room. "By all the… are you humans so adverse as to not have nature with you inside your homes?"

"If you're referring to the potted plants and small herb gardens, they aren't normally allowed in hospitals due to allergic reactions from pollen. The last thing anyone needs is patients to get sicker while inside being treated." Raima was about to interject about the disconnection from nature, then quickly shut up as she realized Selene was being logical. This place was to help people heal, not harm. If someone could start coughing from pollen or sneezing, it could exacerbate symptoms further, cause rashes, even close windpipes.

"Then… I can speak to him if you bring me outside." Raima slowly slid her legs out from under the covers and tried to stand. Her legs wobbled and she nearly toppled over as Selene caught her and called for nurse assistance. Once she was helped into a wheelchair, they brought her outside to an inner courtyard with trees and flowers. A few stone benches and tables were set up, along with a chess board embedded in two of them.

The elf slowly lowered her hands to below the wheels and touched the grass, feeling it under her finger tips. She closed her eyes and concentrated, a slight green glow flowing and rippling in the area. The whole process took about a minute, then dispersed as Raima looked up at the empress. "It is done. He has agreed to allow you safe passage into the forest." The dev cocked an eyebrow.

That was very fast communications through nature, sending a message through the roots and nature itself to her ruler. Selene's **{Communications Is Key}** ability had the advantage of not needing to be touching or near to anything, she just talked inside her head to those she had connected to herself. Her automatons could easily chat at a moment's notice, with anyone else needing an earpiece. If one of them was ever somehow stolen, it would detect the wrong skin cells it was touching and… detonate. The resulting explosion was not conducive to one's health.

However, it might have been possible that Raima could speak to nature, to trees given her race. Selene couldn't really do that. Nature wasn't exactly her forte, automatons and steampunk were her area of expertise.

 _Elves are like the EPA on steroids, able to tell if something is causing damage to the environment or harming a biome. That is damned useful to keep an ecological balance in the area. Hmm… but she's a dark elf though… aren't they supposed to be destructive?_

"Very well. We'll see if things will work out. I'm not about to guarantee anything, but we'll be cordial as long as he is."

"My king was wondering the same thing. It's… not every day that he gets the chance to speak to humans on civil terms."

"So, when is the meeting expected?" Selene asked.

"Tomorrow, when the sun is at its zenith." The dev crossed her arms and shifted on her hips.

"Hmm. I was kind of expecting to deal with… other things… tomorrow… let me see if I can shift my schedule around." The empress had multiple meetings for the next day, each with the mayors of her towns and cities, checking with Donovan and Melsia involving how to best move trade of spare supplies piling up in the castle. While the place was clean and proper, hidden underground were stores of silk, cotton, linen and even wool now. Metal ingots in towers were ready to be used with dried foods available to transport anywhere. The Rikter parents were a boon to figuring out how not to oversaturate the market with the quality goods she secretly had in abundance.

This wasn't all there was either. Brynhildr was going to commence her assault on Paldos City officially tomorrow, with a report provided soon after. There was also a symphony playing that night that Selene really, _really_ wanted to go listen to and have recorded. There were only about twelve songs available right now at the castle, with nothing available, obviously, from Earth. She didn't have access to young country, rap, hard rock, jazz, etc. or any variations or new forms beyond the music she could get from the bands and orchestras living in the various municipalities. Gaining art in all forms to spruce up the castle made it less boring by leaps and bounds.

"He'll wait for you in the grand tree… what you lumber… er… humans… would call a castle." She was about to call Selene a lumber foot. Last time she checked, her Agility was at two hundred percent, further improved by the Epic armor she wore giving a drastic jump in all stats by a sizeable amount. Raima didn't know it, but the woman she was sitting near could easily dance through her arrows as if the elf couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

"I would much rather meet in a neutral location… whatever. We'll see what he has to say."

 _ **22nd, November**_

Selene was about to cancel the whole meeting, as there were so many things she was trying to do right now. Bryn had started her assault on Paldos City, cutting off any hopes of escape to warn the king of Artinia they were under siege. Giles had worked on a new forge in his spare time in hopes it would be mass produced for all blacksmiths in the empire, with the empress's blessing. It allowed enchanting from magicians and wizards during the forging process, allowing stronger enchantments to be built into equipment and items via pre enchanted materials. This allowed magic casters to go do their own thing while not on a schedule to meet up with weaponsmiths or tailors. It also drastically dropped the cost of enchanted items, however there were massive restrictions on weaponized enchantments inside the empire now.

Skuld wanted to plan a temporary showing of what the students had learned, at least for an hour, to prove they were making gains in education for the people. Anyone who was at least somewhat wealthy in the empire was now sending their children to the academy to be taught by new professors barely found in time to help Skuld and Antoine teach them how to act, to break away from the corrupt views of Artinia and actually want to work to help the communities they lived in.

Research had completed for Class III shields, protecting against up to nuclear levels of damage, roughly up to high megaton strength, which nothing beyond 9th tier magic or higher seemed to be able to drop on anything. If someone fired one of those off, they'd be quickly targeted and taken out. This also brought up tier 6 magic immunity, which was almost complete. The research on the samples from the faith eater was going exceptionally slow, with difficulties constantly found as to the composition of some materials. The claws especially didn't seem to match keratin or any sort of enamel layout, which seemed to tell her these weren't grown, potentially… grafted on. There were too many errors that kept popping up in the reports too.

Morlan and Elsei were going with her to the meeting, along with Hrist for support. While having two humans entering their 'grand tree' might come off as insulting, Elsei explained there wasn't really any animosity between dark elves and high elves, at least the ones that were above ground; there were groups that were banished long ago to the underground, however any elf that still lived in forests was almost always not hostile to another of their race entering. This worked differently from the stories she had read back on Earth, with the idea of 'Drow' being evil narcissistic elves that were matriarchal in ruling.

Technically, 'high elf' was another name for what Elsei was, and normally considered a little arrogant. Elsei seemed to be on the calmer somewhat friendlier side of how they would ordinarily act towards humans, with a warm personality whenever she was with Morlan. There were many different races of elves, just as there were many races of humans. Elsei had even said there were Avariel living to the far north east in the Kaldanas Mountains, hidden away.

Raima was asked the previous day if Drow was a name they had used. She got very angry once that word was used and requested that Selene not use it ever unless underground. It seemed to hit a nerve being called that, almost as if she had insulted her mother or called her a bitch, but far worse. The dark elves of her forest wanted to distance themselves from supposed underground relatives as much as possible.

 _Huh, ok, so different from what I thought was normal. Good to know._

Apparently, both elves with her in the helibot could trace their lineage back to a very high pedigree, though a long-lost cousin was now considered batshit insane and lived somewhere else in the world, supposedly an elf king of ill repute. The last they ever heard about him was he was just living a life of debauchery and pleasure, not even really ruling over his little screwed up kingdom, abandoning his subjects to the collapse due to his ego. There was a high elf hero apparently held in some sort of stasis crystal to the north by the high elves, the name almost lost to time it seems. The only letter they had for her was an A, whether that was used at the beginning, middle or end of the name was lost to history.

"Two minutes to LZ" Selene got a report from the helibot and checked her inventory for the small gift she was bringing, usually standard in human relations between nations back on Earth. It was a magnifying glass of the purest grown crystal, absolutely clear without a single imperfection. The handle was a golden lattice dragon hollowed out and climbing up to hold the lens. The quality of the whole thing was above anything Elsei had seen even elves create, which should impress the king. That was extremely high praise given what they tended to make being better than middle ages humans could ever hope to craft. Raima was surprised that this 'lumber foot' had access to techniques in crafts beyond her people. Besides Hrist in the transport, none of them had really seen the empress's manufacturing capability, and she didn't intend to show it either… she would be quite embarrassed.

The helibot landed softly just outside the grand tree, with guards rushing out to aim their weapons at the unknown metal creatures. They had no idea what to expect as the doors opened and the honor guards stepped out, four Mediums that all noticed the weapons trained on them and got ready to rock n roll. The dark elven guards had no idea how to really fight them, these ten-foot-tall mechanical soldiers that looked as if they could wipe out half the people in the city alone. Then Raima stepped out, with Morlan and Elsei right behind her.

Hrist came up and stood at the bottom of the small staircase that extended down from the raised transport, with Selene slowly stepping out into the shade of the leaves the grand tree provided. There were some rays of light through holes in the canopy, proving that these people didn't just come out at night or shun the sun. The trip had shown a massive section of the forest already cut down, probably by loggers or to build up open space for camps.

"High Ranger Raima, you live" one guard said in surprise as he saw the dark elf walk forward.

"Yes. I bring… a guest. She is here to meet with our king." The guards lowered their weapons quickly, not wanting to instigate a fight with the metal creatures guarding the woman that looked like she was royalty. They escorted the group inside and up multiple flights of stairs, directly into the throne room. It was circular with windows seeming to corkscrew up the walls, glowing runes etched into the wood. There were floating tapers in the air giving a soft light that was almost like a low powered LED. The dark elven king sat on his throne, warped and gnarled wood growing as if it was stone and metal mixed with antler.

"Your majesty… I bring you Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire to speak with you" Raima shouted out proudly as she saluted and bowed to him. "This is King Weren, ruler of the dark elves of Olva'lore Forest."

"Raima. While you do well to bring this… empress… to speak, is it true what has happened to my daughter?" the king asked. He sat with a greying beard, still looking fairly young despite the crow's feet at the corner of his eyes. His age could have been anything, probably something over five hundred for all Selene knew, maybe closer to eight hundred.

"I'm sorry your highness, it is true." Raima kept her eyes down and staring at the ground, feeling guilty about what had happened. Weren sighed and closed his eyes.

"We don't have the numbers right now to mount a rescue…" he said out loud. "I cannot lose another… not so soon…" his hand reached up to an amulet and ran his thumb along the emblem on the front, caressing it as if there might be a picture of some sort hidden inside. It was doubtful the dark elves had even the means to create a silver graph or photographs, though there might be something with heliography used, somehow, with nature acting as the catalyst. Raima glanced over her shoulder at Selene, her eyes filled with sorrow. Something had happened that caused the ranger to run towards Glass Dale, something that involved the princess it seemed.

 _What is with princesses getting into trouble around here… I really didn't take the job of white knight, I'm pretty sure I'm the wrong gender…_

"Perhaps… perhaps the empress might have something to offer to help while you speak?" Raima asked. Selene half closed her eyes in annoyance, the ranger speaking on her behalf causing her to clear her throat.

"Ahem." The ranger turned back around and looked at the empress. "I speak for myself, Raima, thank you." Ranger Silk root realized she screwed up and dropped her eyes to the ground, embarrassed.

"That will be all Raima, you are dismissed" King Weren informed her. She turned around and saluted then bowed. "My… apologies… if she caused any trouble. I understand you are human, the ruler of an empire that is at war with our enemy, Artinia. It… doesn't surprise me." A chair was brought forth from the ground, gnarled roots growing up and hardening. Selene couldn't figure out if these dark elves were part wood elf in some capacity given what they were doing with their druidic abilities. Elsei had informed her that all elves had at least some connection to nature in at least a minimal capacity.

Given that these dark elves were living in a forest, they might have nurtured their talents and abilities back to the strength of any other elf. The semi stone and metal architecture mixed into the wood, however, seemed to tell her it wasn't like any other druidic creation though.

"Doesn't surprise you that other humans fight each other, or doesn't surprise you that Artinia picks fights with everyone?" Selene asked, remaining calm and composed, wondering if he'd apologize for inadvertently insulting her like Raima did at the hospital.

"It doesn't surprise me that they strike out at everyone around them. They seem to govern themselves off of greed, expansion, taking what does not belong to them, like spoiled children."

"I would like to agree, however I'm probably in the same boat given we're taking what is theirs practically every day, including their citizens. They're quite happy to be out from under foot of the pay to be saved church and tyrannical rule of an insane king." Weren leaned forward in his throne and gazed at the empress, his silver eyes looking at her curiously without anger. While it would be understandable for his kind to be prejudice towards hers, he didn't seem to lump her into the same group as the slavers coming for his people in droves. His eyes seemed wise and calm, with an air about him that seemed far more noble than the members of the houses in Silvinholm, very similar almost to Donovan and Melsia.

"Somehow… I don't believe that is entirely true. You have an air about you as one who fights when she needs to." The dev chuckled.

"Should have said that line before I had an interesting trip just recently then." The empress was the main cause of getting into trouble in Silvinholm after all.

"Were the battles for righteous reasons?" Morlan looked at Selene, knowing that she had a good heart. She had saved his family from too many things to rip them apart.

"That I know of? Mmm… in my eyes, not really. To others…" the empress looked up at Morlan standing to her right as Hrist stood to the left of her chair. "Well… history books won't be written by me, so I probably shouldn't speak for others. They'll decide." Morlan smiled a little at that response. The empress didn't seem to have an over inflated ego of herself.

"A reasonable choice. When we are dead and gone, our mark we leave on this world will tell others whether we were good for the world or an abomination that needed to be snuffed out" Weren replied.

"Or someone that didn't do anything productive; there are those out there that perform in that regard, forgotten like a footnote at the bottom of a page" Selene added in. The king nodded. The honor guard surrounding Selene kept their stance near their empress, the guards in the throne room doing their best not worry. If there was one thing that the dev had brought to the grand tree, it was presence, and it was overwhelming.

"Well. Now to speak of other matters."

"Yes. So, we flew here for… what exactly? Raima didn't quite give all the details… or any actually." Weren chuckled a little.

"She isn't the most diplomatic, or the most talkative. She is one of our best rangers, though even that seemed to not save my daughter." The king looked at the small steps to his throne for a moment, lost in contemplation. He quickly recovered and looked back up at Selene.

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement? I have been told that you are in… conflict, with Artinia."

"That's correct. They picked on the wrong village at that time." Weren's eyebrows both raised for a few seconds.

"Village? Your empire is a village?"

"Started out as a village. It's obviously grown since then to take control of quite a few towns and cities."

"I see." That information seemed to tell just how effective the metal soldiers guarding the empress really were. Expanding from one simple village to an empire in such a short time… the woman was not to be trifled with it seemed. The thoughts racing through his head were that she was either a brilliant tactician, incredible blacksmith or powerful witch with so much magic it could overflow into the oceans. He was counting his favors that she would rather talk than act like the aggressive cousin to the east.

"How long did it take for you, your… empire… to build up from that one village?" he asked, curious.

"Mmm… maybe… a month?" she replied. His eyes widened in shock, doing his best to control his surprised visage. He blinked.

"With these… automatons?"

"Yes. It's worked well so far, the people that lived in the towns and cities I've taken so far are glad to be in my empire. They've had their quality of life… oh, I dunno, tripled? Quadrupled I think?" she said, looking up at Hrist.

"They worship you as a goddess, your majesty. I would say you've done more for them than any ruler could ever hope to achieve."

"Ah, yeah… that… oops."

"They worship you?" Weren asked.

"Not from lack of trying to keep them from doing so. I've… finally given up." She clicked her tongue with her teeth closed, averting her gaze away from him and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry if I ask too many questions about your empire, empress. I simply wish to know more about our neighbors, given you are far more… agreeable… than another kingdom we both have issue with."

"It's no worries, I would like to ask some questions myself about your kingdom as well. Learning from one another mends bridges as they always say, gives understanding of our similarities and differences. The more one knows, the better educated we can be to handle new situations when they arise between our people." Weren smiled and nodded.

"Well said. I would like to offer a tour, if possible, except for the fact that the bone walls are a bit in… dire straits I'm afraid. Forgive me for not taking you there."

"It's quite alright. I take it Artinia has been attempting to cause undue damage to them?" she asked.

 _Bone walls? As in necromancy? No, that has to be wrong. I'm guessing more just a name of the material, like hardened vines or something turned into bone. Can't jump to that conclusion just yet._

"Yes, it has been difficult to repair them, our dancers have been exhausted as of late. This is the last city of my people you see… we have nothing left." That seemed to answer the question bouncing around in her head. They were calling forth something from the ground to build the defenses, hardening it, potentially sacrificing plants that voluntarily gave their lives to protect the dark elves.

"I see. How many subjects do you rule over?" she asked.

"I believe… at best…" he stopped for a moment, seeming to try and hide some embarrassment. For an elf, it was like he was being gutted telling her. To any human, it was like the high and mighty had been knocked from their pedestal given how elves tended to treat other races in mythology. Selene withheld feeling anything until she got more knowledge of how the elves on this world lived. "Seventy thousand."

That number meant they could last for a long-term siege, then they would be gone. While some might be ignorant and think that was a massive population, seventy thousand was about enough for the dark elves to rebuild their population if they could just stop being picked on by Artinia. Elsei had explained last night that her kind didn't reproduce nearly as much as humans did due to their long lives. That one hundred thousand might take a century or two before it gained another thousand citizens, and that was a best-case scenario. Dark elves would be rare from here on out it seemed, at least on this continent. The high elf next to Morlan had told the empress that her kind numbered roughly five times that in their massive forest.

Seventy thousand also meant that was _all_ of the population, not just the warriors and guards trying to keep the slavers away and the sieges broken. It would be a shame for the city to fall, from what she could see flying in while looking through the helibot's cameras, the place was beautiful. It had a dark yet serene feel to it, calming almost, as if the city itself was softly crying due to guilt from a long-forgotten punishment.

"Hmm. I would ask how Artinia has gotten the best of you, but I don't want to insult you obviously. I also believe I already know the answer. Quantity, right? Throwing bodies at you until you can't fight back hard enough?" Selene asked solemnly. She remembered what Melsia and Elsei had informed her about how quickly humans could get masses of soldiers to come crashing down on their small numbers, despite being equal to ten of their footmen or knights. The king didn't seem to want to answer. "I understand, I'll take that as you would rather not speak of it."

"I thank you for that. I… would like to say I hope your battles are going better against our common foe, but I can probably already guess." Selene did a facial shrug and glanced up at the ceiling, conical in shape with a few open windows with guards staring down through them at the group.

"Well, I might be able to show you how well they are doing if you wish." The empress put her hand into her inventory, disappearing into the portal that comprised all of her equipment and items, accessible at any moment. He gawked at her, surprised at what she was capable of. A small square slate was pulled from inside, with what looked like black glass on the front. The dev quickly tapped some buttons and brought up an aerial view from an ornithopter, seeing the one-way battle that Brynhildr was fighting with her army given. "Please, come. I'll show you."

The king stood up from his throne and stepped down the few steps circling the raised area, walking to her slowly and with a grace usually expected of his kind. She turned the slate over and showed him the scene, with Paldos City being utterly torn to pieces. His eyes widened at seeing one of the tanks open fire with its cannon, reload, then fire again, rolling on treads and charging forward with infantry covering with rifles. It wasn't a battle the way he knew it… it was an absolute slaughter. It was also giving him some immense satisfaction seeing that city be taken down. Weren noticed on one side of the small screen a line of slaves being escorted out of the area, all of them elves. The automatons were covering their escape, keeping anything human away from them so they could get medical attention. They didn't care what race the slaves were, they were held against their will.

The man was awe struck and just how much power her army had, controlling the ground, air and probably seas for all he knew. Artinia wasn't a threat at all, it bit off far more than it could chew by a long shot. He was looking at the military of a super power.

"I forget who once said this phrase, but oh well. 'Pity is for the weak, this is what strength really looks like'" Selene told him quietly as his eyes were glued to the tablet. A missile flew in and disintegrated a slaver running for his life with a flail in his hand. A small object was thrown by one of the automatons into a building with the soldier waiting outside; there was an explosion, followed by the two automatons breaching and entering. This was very advanced combat tactics in his eyes. They swept and cleared areas quickly, set up checkpoints, covered their retreats and moved as one, with backup provided by the metal boxes with turrets on top. He had never seen such an effective fighting force before. It was like a divine army coming down to smite the slavers for all the evil they had done.

The speed at which the automatons moved was incredible. They walked around like humans, but then suddenly had bursts of speed creating shockwaves in their wake to reach another location. A ballista bolt somehow was fired out of view, slamming into the energy shields of one Light auto. It promptly returned fire and ended the threat, unaffected by the primitive projectile. It didn't try to dodge the attack, just ignored it as a combat ineffective weapon. For all he knew, if it any attack could be considered effective against it, the mechanical soldier would probably move deftly away and counter.

Weren's eyes broke away from the tablet, not due to needing to look at the empress, but because she finally put the tablet back in her inventory. He was stunned. No words could form in his mind other than "incredible."

"Perhaps… perhaps we could… come to an agreement?" he asked timidly. Somehow, he went from wise and calm to acting as if she would squash him like a bug.

"You want me to not attack your people I take it? You know, there is something I remember hearing once. 'Always remember that diplomacy is above military action.' My armies are not here to start wars, but to end them. You aren't a threat to us, and I don't intend to start something with so few of your kind around; it would be just malicious intent." The king stood there, staring at the woman sitting down calmly and gazing at him. He could see why her subjects considered her a goddess… no, from what he saw, she was stronger than a god even.

"I… was instead going to… going to…" he didn't know what to say. "Please… I know I have no right to ask of this… would you… be able to, find my daughter, bring her back?" Selene was surprised he started begging right then and there. The guards looked at each other, seeing him almost acting as if he was beneath this human.

"I… don't… I mean, what would-"

"If you do this, I'll make sure we have a shipment of mithril as a reward."

"Oh, almost forgot, that reminds me…" the empress pulled out a small case strapped together holding the magnifying glass. "I know I should have given this at the beginning, my apologies. It's usually customary to provide a gift to the host when visiting their home." She completely bypassed the request and reward offer for a second. He tentatively took the case and looked at her, a smile on her face as he opened it. As his eyes laid on the craftsmanship of the tool, even if it was simple, made him realize there was only one thing to do. A plan was hatching in his mind.

"As for the mithril, um… I… I'm sorry to say this, but I believe I already have stronger available."

"Adamantite."

"Not exactly." Weren cocked an eyebrow, trying to regain a little composure in front of his guards.

"Something I would consider better right now." His jaw dropped. She had materials stronger than Adamantite, one of the strongest materials he knew of. "Um… that shipment would kind of go to waste. Thank you for the offer though." She had the look of someone wincing at refusing his request.

"Please… save my daughter… I… I'll give anything…" he said as quietly as he could.

"Anything?" she asked, a smirk playing onto her face. He already knew what she might ask for.

"We… this pains me to even attempt to say it…" he stopped and looked at the guards.

"No… sire… we're stronger than this… we can… to bow to humans…" one guard spoke up.

"So, we really are surrendering…" one of them in the upper windows grumbled out. "We'll never be treated as equals…"

"I wasn't exactly going to go that far honestly… especially since this is our first meeting and all… you're not surrendering, I have no idea why any of you would think that. Seriously? King Weren, would you be so kind as to order your guards to gather here? I can see they're angry due to very little information. Perhaps I can assuage their fears and answer questions about what I'm offering in exchange for our assistance in this matter."

"All of you! Come down here right now." The guards walked in and lined up behind the king, with Weren not yet hearing the offer. He already knew she was going to ask them to join her empire.

"Now, the offer I am providing is for the Olva'lore Forest to be integrated into the Clockwork Empire. That means, as far as you are concerned, being citizens of the empire as well. No slavery, I already told Raima that was abolished and never allowed. You'd be afforded the same rights as anyone else, it doesn't matter your race."

"Equal to a human? Have we fallen so far to be on that level?" one of them asked.

"Do not insult the empress with those slurs! You did not see the power she has at her fingertips! Her armies could wipe us out! She is offering a chance to be members! Not slaves! Besides, these people aren't the same as Artinia!" Weren yelled at him.

"What… sort of rights?" One female guard asked tentatively, the others looking at her. Selene explained the different benefits provided to each citizen, the chance to get an education easily and learn about the world, to build new lives.

"We have a connection to the land you walk on, even if less than our kindred to the north. Can you truly tell me that you'll keep the balance?" another guard asked.

"I've already got a national park near the castle already, remember Hrist? The lake area?" Selene asked. The Valkyrja nodded in agreement. The guards whispered something to each other. "I'm pretty sure there will be other areas deemed protected under my rule. Gold Pine forest hasn't been touched, um… I believe the Eld Horn forest, the… the one that has those special deer…"

"Eld Horn I believe is the name for the whole area" Morlan interjected.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. My mistake." She pointed at him for a second and waggled her finger, nodding at his help. The guards started to whisper even more.

"All of this seems… too good to be true…" another female guard said, worried her hopes were being gotten too high hearing of this place.

"Is what you said all true?" more asked. They were in agreement. They had been whittled down so much over the years that a respite from the fighting just to survive, even if it was a part of an empire with humans, made them at least listen to what she was saying. The high elves would most likely be much harder to even attempt to get into the empire, probably taking weeks or months, maybe years to get them to wonder if it would be better to join up. They were easily protected by the Kaldanas Mountains after all, with dwarves living in those mountains adding an extra support line. From what Selene saw of Elsei, even when she was among humans, she was still calm and collected.

"Ahem… if I may speak, your majesty" Morlan asked. She nodded and motioned for him to step forward, Elsei by his side. "I was a citizen of Artinia. I was… one of their heroes…" the guard started to whisper but quieted down as he continued to speak. "You all might even have seen me fight at one point… I'm not proud of my actions due to orders. However… my family was rescued from the clutches of a corrupt government. I was not a citizen of the Clockwork Empire at the time. Now my family and I are. There is not a day that goes by that I am not glad to be here."

The man coughed a little, slightly embarrassed. "Unfortunately, I do not know how much my words would carry weight in this endeavor to sway you, due to only being in the empire for five days… but I can tell you this. Being given this opportunity, you may think it is a poor choice on your king's part. I am telling you, by far and wide, you are completely wrong. The empress is giving you a chance to be a part of something incredible. I have seen it with my own eyes. If given a chance to come back to Artinia" he said a he glanced back at the dev still sitting. He smirked at her, a gleam in his eyes; "I would decline immediately."

 _I was not expecting things to go the way they have right now… wow. There's no way, no way I'm getting an entire race of elves to join my empire… this is a farce… has to be… way too easy…_

They seemed to grudgingly agree, not really sure what to expect other than what was told and what their king had seen in the little tablet before his eyes. "Rescue my daughter, and… I… will swear our people to your empire. Show us that you believe our lives are worth protecting." That made Selene raise an eyebrow and smirk a little. It actually worked. This seemed too good to be true. The only thing she needed to do was get a few strike teams split from Bryn's forces to head a little southwest to search the remains of the forest.

"Done." Selene snapped her fingers as ornithopters fanned out just outside the forest and one spy satellite started scanning the area, checking for any slaver camps that could still be nearby. Three showed up on her Hud. One of them had a tent that had thermal scans of chained up captives ready to be sold… to an overtaken city. "Bryn, I'm peeling away a few teams from your army for something, okay? They'll be back in a little bit after a special mission" she called over coms.

"Oh, don't worry about it. We have most of the city now beyond a few hold outs that have no idea we can break through their barricades. Sorry to say… we've wiped out a good amount of the citizens here…" Brynhildr responded.

"How many? Wasn't the population close to two hundred fifty thousand?" Selene asked while king Weren wondered why she was silent but didn't question her.

"Yes… that's what we thought it was… and my army has wiped out… around half of that…" Bryn sighed out. The empress didn't want to show it to anyone near her, but that damned near made the city deserted given the other half might have been just slaves.

"And I take it the remainder were either slaves or people who willingly surrendered, or were not slavers?"

"That's correct. Selene… look, I know I shouldn't say this but-"

"But you are anyways, and I don't really want you to hold back regardless. You're going to tell me the city won't survive this."

"Yes. Even if we hadn't annihilated half the population, ruining the main source of trade here will make the economy here collapse. There's nothing to keep it going from what the Captains you provided me with have informed. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I understand, you did a great job. We'll find homes for the refugees, maybe work out something else for Paldos City to somehow rise from the ashes later on. We're clearing out a disease right now, the wound has to heal after you did all that work." Bryn sighed in relief and nodded on the other side, though the dev didn't see it.

"Alright, we'll continue on, should be done with the incursion within the hour."

"Good. Then you'll be back at the castle to train your new Pegasus. See you then." The coms line ended as she re-tasked three fire teams into a QRF and sent them to the slaver camps that did not have a decent size of captives inside. The last one they would head in and handle themselves, give Morlan and Elsei a chance at some decent exercise. The empress stood up and motioned for her team to start leaving, with the king confused.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To go get your daughter back. Shouldn't take much time." The guards all wondered if the whole plan was for the empress to get her back with just her team. They were right. None of them had seen what the military models had done to Paldos City like the king had. The Honor Guard models were going to get their chance to finally fight.

"Is this wise? Shouldn't we get… more soldiers? I mean… an empress walking into a slaver camp…" Morlan asked.

"Nope, I'm not here to be babysit. We can handle this. You scared?" Selene turned on her heel and walked backwards toward the helibot waiting for them, a playful smirk on her mouth and a glint in her eyes. He let out a small chuckle. Hrist was happy to get the chance to end the lives of the slavers.

"Not at all. I'm just saying… there are probably a lot of them." The Valkyrja cracked her knuckles as they got into the helibot, not even saying a word.

 _ **Twenty Minutes Later**_

A slaver dumped out a pot of his excrement from the small tent he had and stretched his back. He had some fun with one of the new captives last night, with no real energy to do much other than sleep. It wasn't as if they didn't do a lot a few days ago, cutting rope to the right size and setting up traps. These dark elves were so stupid, with the traps hidden with a little magic that their druidic abilities couldn't detect. Tier magic was a wonder to him, the magician in the camp earning his pay many times over. A little illusory magic and suddenly they had the princess of the knife ears in their pocket!

Two of his friends were sitting playing cards near a campfire, boiling some stew. He could see through the flaps of the large tent all of the soon to be slaves chained to the massive poll in the middle holding it up, all looking a little haggard. The captives were asleep or had dull looking eyes, broken by being held for sale for longer than the newest group to be added into the mix. The only one not allowed to be touched was the princess, given her virginity would sell for a very high price.

He looked at one of them, licking his lips, before the men at the campfire all stood up and heard something coming their way. "What's that?" one asked with a slurred accent.

"Dunno. Grab your blades boys." They all slowly got prepared as over in the distance three humans walked towards them with a high elf, their weapons out. At the front of them was a woman in golden armor and long red hair, her small entourage seeming pitiful. "Lookie here! We got ourselves some adventurers! This one is a pretty looker. Hey there sweetheart! How about you have a little go with-"

Silence and shock from the remainder of slavers as she was suddenly past him, her sword out and his head missing from his neck. The speed in which she moved was incredible, crossing close to one hundred meters in less than a second.

Morlan charged forward, moving as fast as he could while Elsei was quite a bit faster, her elven agility giving her a leg up as the Honor Guard came up from behind. The mechanical soldiers were ordered to circle around, providing a complete pincer maneuver. The kidnapping bastards would never stand a chance. The ex-hero of Artinia swept the legs out from one slaver and backhanded another with his shield, kicking a third into the campfire as he screamed from the heat and boiling stew. Elsei slammed her halberd through the chest of one of the men, lifting him up surprisingly and bringing the body down on one of his friends, using the weight to add even more damage. Despite being lithe and agile, she wasn't exactly weak and able to use their mass against them.

The Honor Guard were cleaning up, no damage incurred of any kind as they just caught slavers running and screaming for their lives. It was divine justice being laid down upon their heads by all of eight beings against close to two thousand. One slaver had his chest blown out the other side by a cannon shot by one of the Mediums, with the soldier continuing on as if it was just another day protecting its empress. Not one of the men would live to see another sunrise. There was a view of three men flying into the air by Hrist going _through_ the group to reach another behind the tents, knocking them around like bowling pins.

While Morlan and Elsei had gotten close to thirty kills, both were absolutely amazed at what Selene and Hrist were doing, practically handling the whole place by themselves. The warrior had never really seen the empress go all out, hiding behind that identity of Ilana when he had met her. The speed, the strength of her hits… she couldn't be human, she had to be another Valkyrja. A firebomb was thrown at Hrist, who completely ignored it and stomped through the flames looking like death itself coming for the attacker. Soon the entire camp was silent, with almost none left alive to Elsei's contentment. At one point Selene used **{Molecular Reformation}** on a group of slavers stupid enough to not run, trying to ambush her and failing miserably.

The tent flaps were fully pushed open by the royal protection squad as the small group entered, breaking chains of the soon to be slaves and waited for the helibot to land. Once the captives were freed and slowly led onto the transport, they quickly headed back to the grand tree to drop them off. Selene cast a **[Grand Heal]** to bring them all back to full health, mending any and all wounds. None of them wanted to speak to the humans, some scowling at them as they had just transferred from one slaver group to another in their eyes.

The princess seemed to have a cold stare at the empress, her silver eyes always watching her while they flew, with half of her right eye covered by her long white hair. A very elaborate tiara sat on her forehead, damaged it seemed from a previous fight in capturing her. Her dress was still mostly undamaged, though it looked like a toga with a bikini top to cover the one breast that the dress didn't keep hidden, the whole ensemble being asymmetrical in design. Why she wore that into a fight, or ambush in this case, was beyond Selene.

What they didn't expect was to be brought back to the waiting arms of their people, happy that they could somehow make it back to see their loved ones. Weren hugged his daughter close, still looking at the empress every few seconds. "Thank you… I… I am a man of my word, though it pains me to say we are now a part of your empire." Silara pulled away from him, confused as to what he had just said. He started to explain things to her as Selene just stood there and cleared her throat.

"I'll come by in a few days to work out the laws and requirements to be integrated into my empire as well as signing the official documents. Don't worry, just the standard stuff of thou shalt not kill, no stealing, etc. etc. I'll leave you to focus on receiving your daughter right now, deal with explaining to your people the changes and assuage their fears. Welcome to the Clockwork Empire Weren. I promise it isn't as bad as you think." Silara started to argue with her father as he tried to calm her down, however her eyes kept swapping between the king and Morlan as they tried to turn around and leave.

"We surrendered to the humans? The filthy low born?" Silara said out loud as she stared at the backs of the group.

"Silara! Please! These aren't the same humans we've been fighting!" Weren tried to explain to her as Selene turned back around and looked at the princess. She seemed extremely arrogant, even with being rescued. "Don't act that way!"

"Why shouldn't I? They'll just act the same way to us in kind." The empress slowly walked back with annoyance but held her tongue and picked her words carefully.

"I believe you have a misunderstanding of who we are. You're currently speaking to the ruler of the empire that sent an army to wipe out the slaver city that was kidnapping your people and sell them int labor or worse. I would suggest that you at least try and keep an open mind about us, given the fact your father was so quick to join your forest into my borders."

"Hmph." Selene sighed and brought a hand up to her forehead, shaking her head slightly.

"I understand you have a hatred for humans due to the way they've treated you but acting this way towards everyone shows very little experience on your part about what lies beyond your forest. The world is a lot larger than you think it is, acting as if every human out there is the same shows you just follow stereotypes and not notice that everyone is different, probably even goblins and orcs even."

Silara seemed to glare at her, before her eyes glanced back at her father who nodded furiously. "You aren't going to treat us like second class citizens?" she asked calmly.

"I don't believe we have that classification in my empire to be exact, so no, we aren't. Even if we did, it would be news to me and promptly eliminated to get rid of entitlement." The princess walked forward a few steps and stood in front of Selene, eyeing her up and down. There was pure silence in the throne room for what seemed like an eternity as the dev simply waited for another slur to come out of her mouth.

"We've never trusted humans, you always go back on your word every time we try."

"That was more likely Artinia, correct? I can guarantee we're quite a bit different. But I take it you won't accept words from just a little human." Selene sighed and looked at her entourage. "I was actually expecting your people to act very much like a word Raima told me never to use. I'm doing my best not to try and insult you."

"What did you think we would act like?" Weren asked behind his daughter.

"Um… like… sadistic mean elves that torture captives and have spikes everywhere, worship some spider god and do evil magic things."

"Oh, Drow." Silara seemed to be quite angry at hearing that word come from her father's lips. "No, those are still around though."

"Those, not they?" Selene asked. Silara and Weren both looked away with anger written on their faces.

"We don't consider them worth calling sapient. They rely more on their guttural instincts and darker emotions than any we have seen… besides Artinia…"

"I see, so that's why you don't like being lumped in with their kind. I'm glad I could be educated in that regard. One step closer, appreciate the information." Silara cocked an eyebrow at the empress, seeming genuinely surprised that a human was listening and trying her best to see them as people, not evil beings that need to be killed. "So, Drow still exist? Hmm… might have to keep an eye out for any odd cave networks… they're hostile towards your kind as well, right?"

"Very much so."

 _Huh, wait! I remember reading about this somewhere… these dark elves are followers of… what the hell was her name… Eili something… maybe not the same deity now obviously but still… good Drow! I actually found some. But… they must have been at war with Artinia for… sheesh… racism and caution probably run a little deep right now…_

Selene checked her clock in her Hud and realized she was pressed for time. "Uh, my apologies, we'll have to get the official documents written up another day, I uh… kind of have a schedule to keep up with right now. Just… well, worry about rebuilding what you can, we'll come back to hash out the details of the annexing. We'll uh… also see about re growing parts of the forest, seems some of it was cut back. Princess, I hope there may be some way to change your mind as well as the rest of your people, there's nothing to be afraid of this time. I know you won't trust in those words, but at least have some hope that there are humans out there that don't act like primitives."

"We'll await your return" Weren said with a slight bow, which still seemed to confuse the hell out of the dev. Silara just looked at her as they walked towards the arched opening to the throne room, still cautious of what had happened. Her people now belonged to the Clockwork Empire, and as far as she was concerned, the dark elves were citizens now. As the group headed out of the grand tree and back to the helibot, Morlan leaned in while the remainder of the dark elves watched them, not yet told what had just transpired. Were all of them like this?

"What just happened?" he asked, completely dumbfounded at the personalities of the dark elves.

"I really don't know. Seriously, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth here, usually things like that should take months of negotiation I would think. I'm more worried that the people in the empire are going to treat them poorly and further damage relations. I'm going to need to make a very quick announcement, set some guidelines as well, given that everyone is going to think of them as some creature coming from the caves to eat their babies." Both of them looked at Elsei who seemed to still be unimpressed. "Elsei, you said you don't have a problem with dark elves, does that include Drow?"

"That does not include Drow. That was… unexpected. Our kindred that split away and went underground are as you would think they are, vicious and vile. The ones that live above in forests we have no qualms about, despite some objections from the elders of all elves."

"So, the old geezers don't like that the dark elves are being treated with at least some respect?"

"The Drow split from our kind long ago, causing catastrophic damage throughout history. To suddenly allow a faction of them to live above ground, to forget what they did to us and others… some cannot let go of the past, forever having long memories of what they did." The empress thought for a moment.

"Placing the blame on the children of their enemy isn't right. People change, views change."

 _Evolution probably has changed them from the original Drow to now… that's also why they had some light tan skin tones all the way down to pure obsidian… I doubt all of the dark elves act the same way though, but it did seem like they were at least interested in being more social with the outside world, just hated how humans treated them._

The flight was quick and boring, coming back to the castle and landing without any issue. There was enough time to change into a goth Victorian jacket dress with pants and boots before Selene had to head to the blacksmith guild to speak with Giles about the new forges. Elsei decided to stay behind and was allowed to read in the grand library, with Jeeves making a pot of tea for her. Morlan and Hrist went along to escort the empress through the inner workings that Giles was explaining, with Morlan especially being interested.

"You've had an interest in smithing?" Selene asked him. Giles was curious to see one of the heroes of Artinia enjoying the craft. The warrior smiled and crossed his arms as the guild master watched him.

"I've always held a fascination of the metals and craftsmanship used in providing my equipment to me. Knowing more about it makes me a better soldier, able to take care of it with less effort."

"Hah! It seems you speak like a true Rikter, using that head of yours!" Giles laughed out. Once the showing of the modular forges was finished, they headed to Giles's office, with the door to the storage room open and an apprentice cleaning up some red mess inside. The dev stopped and seemed to cock her head backwards along with her torso pulling back a bit, her legs still coming to a complete stop, so she was slightly off balance; she furrowed her brow as she looked inside. Giles turned around and noticed she was there, his eyes widening in worry.

"Something fall down?" she asked the apprentice. He looked up and almost soiled himself, dropping the mop and jumping an inch. Giles glanced over his shoulder and did a quick double take, his eyes turning into saucers as he flipped around and seemed to waddle quickly towards her.

"U-uh nothing! Nothing happened! Just… just a little mess! No one hurt, no deaths at all lass! Come come, this way!" he blubbered out as he ran to grab the empress's hand and lead her back, one of the very few who were allowed to do that without the honor guard knocking them back. Selene looked at Giles inquisitively as she felt something was off.

"Giles… what happened?" she asked.

"Just a mess, nothing to be concerned with…" She sat down and crossed her arms, staring at him as he laughed nervously. As he sat down at his desk and looked at her, he could tell she was frowning and cocked an eyebrow at his lie, his smile dropping to an open frown of worry. The guild master closed his eyes and called for strength and a miracle from every god he could think of as he explained two different stories, none of which sounded real. She just kept looking at him in silence. Suddenly, as if he couldn't take it anymore, he told her that three of his students had attempted to scry her castle, to see if they couldn't catch her in undress somewhere, all in a mashed-up sentence.

"Ah. So _that_ was why I saw that effect above me. I see…"

"B-but it wasn't anyone else's fault! I swear! We were in no way a part of this! I've already informed all the other apprentices to-" he stammered out as he gestured his hands wildly in front of him, trying to assuage the fear from the empress that everything was under control.

"Easy, easy. So, it was just three of them? No one else connected to it? I did warn everyone with those posters Abby and Stafinson helped write up that no one should use scrying magic without authorization after all. This was why." Selene sighed and covered her face with one hand, closing her eyes and shaking her head softly. "My my, this goes well beyond the kids trying to peek through a window at a woman showering… how the hell did one of them know how to perform scrying magic?" she seemed to ask herself more than anyone else. **[Planar Eye]** was an 8th tier spell from Yggdrasil, beyond the abilities of anyone here, most certainly for three students. They must have been using a slew of minor magic items to just try and peek at her, which failed.

 _I'd rather not be fap material when I should have privacy._

"There were bits of some glass all over the ground lass. They might have bought a whole bunch of stuff from some trader just to catch a view of your… unmentionables…" he coughed out as he tried to avert his gaze to some papers on his desk. That told her that the magical item used was something like a crystal ball in some capacity, to allow all three to see what was going on. That seemed like a gross thought… all three of them in the storage room just to catch a glimpse of her naked…

"Well that's it then. I put these security measures in place for a reason after all." The blacksmith looked up from his papers, embarrassed that he had to explain this to her about three of his apprentices being perverts.

"Are you… are you branding them in any way or… will you bring them back to life…?" he asked her tentatively as if she was about to explode in his face.

"What do you mean 'brand' them?" she asked.

"Brand their names as a shamed lineage. The insane king of Artinia did it all the time, ruining the family and making it almost impossible to get any jobs."

"What? Why? No, god no, those were the sons of unknowing parents. That's just… too harsh. That's going overboard. As for resurrection… that depends on if the parents are informed and pay for the act, double the amount in this case to give recompense for their actions." Giles nodded in understanding. He'd send notice of the ill-fated actions that the students had performed, not the full details however, to the families of the three no longer among the living. If they cared, the students would be resurrected… by her directly. She wanted to glare at the apprentices and have a very stern chat with them. "Now, where are the documents to officially get these forges authorized by me."

Giles handed her papers hidden in a desk drawer for her to peruse and verify she was signing off on the modular forges to be bought and sold. How they worked was surprisingly simple, with a cart simply bringing in the required material and the pieces fitting together like an IKEA furniture piece. This could potentially be expanded to the carpentry guild as well for regular furniture, doors… potentially wagons and stagecoaches even. This in turn could potentially move them much closer to future eras far quicker.

The dev signed the documents and pulled out an official seal stamp from her inventory, looking like the main clock positioned in the middle of each town and city in the empire. Some wax and a small press to close the document, the deed was done. "Alright. Ownership of the patents have now been acknowledged, I'm sorry to cut this short but I have to be at the academy in… crap… ten minutes." Giles gave her a quick hug before the group left, Hrist seeming to be a little unhappy as they headed out. In her eyes, the apprentices that had tried to spy on her empress should be left to rot in shallow graves.

Transportation was quick to the academy, with a warm welcome from Skuld. She showed them to some of the afternoon courses, with brand new professors found by Donovan and Bryn living meager lives in the villages connected to Paldos City. While the large municipality was for the most part wreckage, the villages still were mostly untouched beyond making sure the mayors acknowledged the Clockwork Empire as their new ruling government. Brynhildr had proven she was a capable General and decent diplomat where needed.

As the small group walked through the hallways, Hrist's sister explained that the numbers had now gone up to close to six hundred students, with twenty professors, Antoine included, educating them. That meant there were thirty students per class. Selene would have to figure out if there was a way to get any more teachers to come out of the woodwork in the coming week or two. The teenagers ran to doorways to watch the group walk around, seeing the effectiveness of their education, with some students standing in their late classes reading passages from books provided to them. A few of them noticed the group and a slight commotion would start, which was quickly settled by the professors commanding them to continue their studies.

"Reading and writing is standard now in… English… though they are to learn secondary languages as well, of their choice where we can manage it. Basic grammar and spelling are the norm, with basic arithmetic learned by all. We've had a few advanced course takers that have shown exceptional capability however" Skuld informed them as they headed to the courtyard.

"No issues with bullying, I hope. That is sometimes a problem in schools" Selene asked as they continued walking. There were a few students playing a small game with a ball, stopping immediately as they noticed the honor guard escort.

"We had one small group… quickly rectified."

"No corporal punishment, right?" Skuld visibly shivered at hearing that. Had she hit the students?

"Define corporal punishment…" Selene crossed her arms and stood there for a moment with everyone watching her. Skuld turned around and seemed to wince, bracing for the dev to be unhappy with her actions.

"Physical harm to the student by an educator." Skuld sighed in relief at hearing that.

"In that case, no. They take the job of janitorial staff without pay. That's… alright to do, isn't it?" The empress nodded and smirked. Raking leaves up and having to throw trash away in front of other students… horribly embarrassing. They'd drop in status in the eyes of everyone else. Popularity was always a thing for teenagers, having the right looks, clothes, trinkets or toys. Their image would be tarnished if they were caught bullying another student and placed at the bottom of the totem pole suddenly.

"It is, I'd assume they lose privileges as well?" the team continued walking.

"No leaving the academy for one month, no desserts of any kind after meals. They lose all tokens for time off and have to regain them. They also need to be in their dorms after classes." While that seemed a little harsh to others, it felt perfectly acceptable in Selene's mind as well as Hrist's. Being seen cleaning a latrine when an automaton can do it, not allowed to see a play in Gold Pine or be seen with a potential girlfriend or boyfriend at a symphony, no sweets and no chance to get away from school to shop can either change the student or make them meaner. If they fall further from grace, Skuld could easily expel them, which would be the ultimate shaming act for the family. Further modifications could be done to the system as needed.

They reached a small auditorium where a small class was explaining poetry. Each student would stand at the front and read out loud one poem they had created, regardless of language. Most of the children had slight issues, nothing to be concerned with, however a few stammered after seeing the empress standing there watching them. "Calm down class, they are just interested in hearing your incredible poems. Show what you have to say from the heart, from the mind. There is no wrong way to write these… as long as they aren't one sentence" the female professor said as she rearranged her glasses and patted the side of her small desk with a ruler to get their attention.

"What are the average grades for the students?" the dev asked as quietly as she could while they read out loud.

"Most are in the B range, a few are straight As. There are some outliers that are getting Cs. Very rare is it to find any that have gotten below that. We've been doing what we can to help those students attain a greater understanding with a few student tutors helping where they can."

"The tutors aren't girls heading to the boy's dormitory, are they?" Skuld shook her head.

"We're doing what we can to make sure they are same sex to stop any… events… from occurring here." Selene seemed to grin at that thought. Teenagers would be teenagers; hormones did take over a lot of their young lives. The empress returned her gaze to the students in front of her.

"Should probably have a sex education course added to the mix." Skuld flushed a little at that.

"We… have one… there is a professor that has detailed parchments with drawings of the anatomy. It was… illuminating…"

"For you?" Selene asked, surprised.

"No… look who you are talking to" Skuld said and smirked at her. Her sex life wasn't completely private to the empress, she knew what the male and female body looked like via experience. "I mean to say most of the students don't really know what causes pregnancy, don't know very much about even their own bodies, don't understand the issues with not controlling their urges… they just didn't know anything about biology." One of the students, a young girl, turned her head and looked at the empress, a glimmer in her eyes. A quick clearing of the professor's throat and she quickly turned back around, embarrassed that she got caught. Selene shook her head softly and smiled.

The group left the room and headed back to Skuld's office, which was interesting in that she had quite a few magical items in glass cases, a map table, chess table, among quite a few other things. It looked just like a professor's office back in college, with papers stacked on her desk neatly. Her windows overlooked the courtyard, allowing easy view of movement in almost all directions, though not enough to the whole academy. It was just too large.

"Are you running low on anything?"

"No, we've now got that sewing room available, thanks for that." The dev had a tailor automaton brought to the academy to help with any uniform requirements within the past four days. It made getting new students dressed a snap. The head mistress leaned back and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"Are you okay? You seem a little tired." Skuld opened her eyes and smirked at her. Valkyrja didn't get physically tired like humans did, their stamina was nigh unlimited. They slept due to still needing to let their brains process the daily activities and memories, however.

"Mentally, yes, you already know the answer for physically."

"I'll get an administrative staff crafted up for you, sorry we didn't get that ready at the beginning." The brown-haired woman put up one hand palm open and just smiled.

"It's alright. I wasn't expecting all of this to grow so fast." They talked about different events that had happened here while Selene quickly set in motion the construction of an administrative automaton team to help Skuld with new student arrivals, keeping track of different requests to accept graduates from other smaller schools and in general keep paperwork under control. It wasn't a good idea to provide Skuld with a computer, as that would take quite a bit of training on her part. The battle maiden learned very quickly, but there was so much that would need to be addressed with saving files, copying and pasting, folders and just typing without breaking the keyboard. A computer could be the most efficient tool and at the same time her worst enemy with errors and restrictions. The last thing she needed to hear was her head mistress deleting her whole root directory and losing grade reports.

"Well, things seem to be going well. I'll let you relax. Thanks for all the hard work Skuld." A quick hug given to Hrist's sister and telling her not to be a stranger at the castle, then they left.

"Oh, one more thing, apparently one of my students relayed information from a shop keep in Glass Dale, something about a new item available there for Hrist?" Skuld said as they just barely exited the office door. The raven-haired woman's eyes widened a little as she realized the shop that was being referred to. A new plushie was made, hopefully better quality than the last one.

Selene looked up at Hrist, wondering what this was about. "Did you order something?" she asked.

"Yes… just… it looked interesting, nothing to be concerned with." The empress shrugged, thanked Skuld and continued down the hallway. The Valkyrja would need to pick that plushie up tomorrow morning, there was almost no time to waste. She'd slip out with Asterion and head for the store as early as possible.

 _ **24th, November**_

"How are you doing, princess?" Selene asked as she sat down at the table in her tea room, this time bringing the king and his guard to her castle.

"I… this place is…"

"Intriguing, isn't it?" Weren finished her sentence. Silara looked out the window at the well taken care of garden, her white hair falling down a little as she pushed it back behind her pointed brown ear. Paperwork was placed on the table for her father to read through, with cups in front of all of them, including the guards.

"There was… a… a…"

"Pegasus?"

"Yes. You have them?" Silara asked the empress.

"I technically only have one with another just brought in, given to my General sitting right here" she replied, turning to her left and gesturing to Hrist who was drinking her sweetened tea. "However, another of my Generals recently took a town that breeds horses. Since they are Valkyrja, they can change them into-"

"Your Generals are Valkyries?" Silara asked, astonished. Hrist's eyes bolted up and locked onto the princess, annoyed with that mispronunciation of what she was. Her gaze at that point could have carved the elf into pieces.

"Valkyrja. Just as you don't like being called Drow, they don't like having a bastardized version of their race used. She is in front of you after all, it's an insult to her face."

"My mistake… apologies." The princess was being far more cordial than a few days ago. It looked as if she was starting to realize this was a completely different human government that was trying to welcome them into the fold.

"And… done…" Weren said as he finished writing his name on the papers.

"Good. I'll have these sealed away in the vault. As for your people, I'm sorry to say, we might not be of much use in helping repair the city given how you build. We can, however, start working on getting the forest cleaned up of forgotten traps and remove all the stumps for new trees to be planted. While I can promise there will be no slavers, adventurers or any human enemies roaming around anymore, I can't be certain your people won't get attacked by wildlife."

"That has never been a problem for us, I can assure you" Weren replied.

"Also, I would suggest we plan group trips to nearby settlements that are within our borders as goodwill building events. Werelosil I believe is going to have a showing of their best breeds of horses, perhaps you might bring your… uh… what do you normally ride in the forest?" she asked.

"Black Panthers actually…" that made Selene's eyebrows raise. The forest they lived in didn't seem like the place for that kind of large cat to live in at all, but she wasn't exactly educated well enough to say that there was a restriction on where they could live and be bred. She just knew they normally lived in tropical rainforests near China and Africa. This world could have had a slightly different ecology for some areas, however. Maybe it was a darker, larger version of a Puma?

"Ok… um… they're well trained correct?"

"For the most part…" Silara interjected as she continued looking out the window. A hummingbird cleaner drone flew by and landed on a flower, testing the nectar inside. There were bees moving about as well, taking pollen from one point to another. There was a little silence for a moment and the dev worried about giant cats deciding the horses were their next meal during the equestrian dressage show.

"Ok… can you maybe make sure they don't try and attack the mounts of other riders that live there or nearby? It could provide a boost to your reputation that the panther riders are better at keeping their mounts under control."

" _I_ cannot do so." Selene looked at Silara with a half-lidded gaze. "The riders would need to show command and they are indeed better than any knight of your race on horseback. That is what you call your armored soldiers, yes?" she asked.

"That's what I just said… Hmm… Glass Dale is having another shop opening event, that might be one to bring some of you to see some of the ware available… Eld Horn is having a hunting event… when do they not… Sweet Water is going to have a launch of two ships, if you wanted to get out on the open sea for a day." Silara looked at her father, never once being able to see the ocean.

"The ocean…" one guard tried to whisper to another. "I hope we are allowed to escort the king there…"

"I know… that would be incredible…"

"I take it your people hardly get a chance to go to large bodies of water?" the empress asked.

"We have a pond and an underground spring that we use for water. Beyond that… it is usually too far to travel given where we are" Weren replied.

"I see. Given the forest is situated near the middle of the continent, at least in retrospect to north and south, I can understand. Well, you'll be able to hopefully see dolphins and whales if at all possible." She couldn't believe she was working out tours for dark elves to mingle with humans. There would have to be alternate tours heading to Olva'lore Forest to see what their city was like for humans to realize they didn't mean any harm; they were just like them… they just lived a few hundred years longer.

"That sounds… interesting. Thank you for the offer. Hopefully this can help mend the bridges between our people" Weren said with a small grin on his face.

"I hope so too. I'm going to provide this marble to you, it is magically enchanted so that you should be able to contact me with large issues. Don't expect me to always answer it, I'm almost always moving about. I'll do what I can to… uh… return the call… however, with that said, there is a… _glow_ , left over, if I attempt to get in contact with you that will let you know I need to speak with you and you didn't answer." She was literally telling him she made a magical cell phone with voicemail for him to use. The dev never expected to make one. Ever.

"I will keep it with me always." The king took the marble, about half the size of his palm, and placed it in a small ornate case he pushed into his jacket pocket.

"Why is your palace so large?" Silara asked. Selene thought for a moment on what she was expecting her to say. It could be she was just genuinely interested, or there was a chance the princess was looking for a way to say humans built too much and destroyed the land.

"Because I needed the space."

"You need so much open space to build what exactly?"

"Things I'd rather not explain honestly."

"Or you have no idea how to explain, as you just build and destroy."

"Silara!" Weren snapped out. "I apologize on her behalf, she doesn't-" The empress put her hand up for him to be silent for a moment.

 _And here I thought we were starting to get along…_

"I don't want to explain because it could cause too many questions, scare the locals. There is more hidden underground that you are not seeing; I'd rather not have massive weapons of war in full view for everyone to be afraid of, or projects that would take far more knowledge in different subjects to understand. There are far too many things I simply cannot tell you about because you just wouldn't comprehend. Better to have most of it secret and keep questions from being asked than to have them in full view. Also, security of the area is top priority. I don't have to worry about anyone getting anywhere near this place without a serious fight on their hands."

"Overcompensating for your own fears?"

"Everyone is fearful of one thing or another. From what I've seen so far, it pays to be cautious." The princess seemed to be trying to figure out the empress, but so far hadn't gained the upper hand. "I am willing to admit I feel fear once in a while. To not feel it would mean there is something wrong with me. Might I ask what you fear the most? Is it your people bowing before a human empress? Or is it your worried we really are just going to enslave your people, that everything I've said so far is just a big façade to make you lower your guard. Ultimately, I really don't care what you think of me, it matters little. Your father is the ruler of your people, under me."

That last bit was actually false, given the spells available to her to alter how the elf thought. She just didn't want to use them. Changing the princess's mind about humans would take some time, hopefully only a short amount if possible. "I hope there isn't much discord happening in your city, King Weren. They aren't angry at you for joining, are they?"

"There is a bit of outcry, mostly disappointment. Change is a fickle thing; some don't want it even if it is for the better. I worry that it has dashed their spirits, making us less of who we should be, independent."

Once the meeting was finished, the empress gave a small tour of the palace grounds and the castle itself, keeping them away from the research labs and showing the farms. Silara seemed impressed with the forest grown below ground, wondering why it was even there. "Originally I needed wood to help expand and didn't want to destroy the forest around the lake nearby. This was the easiest solution. We have spells cast to keep the whole process going without need of damaging the ecosystem outside."

It seemed the humans were being ecofriendly, to a point at least. The empress couldn't answer how she manufactured all of her automatons, whether there were factories pushing out pollution. There was just no way to provide that information that her inventory had all of the crafting stations available to pump them out.

"Ma'am, can we have a chat with you?" Jorge asked over coms. Morlan and Elsei had just returned from Gold Pine and had some time to themselves. Donovan and Melsia both were sitting outside in the gazebo enjoying a light brunch.

"Hey there, would both of you be so kind as to entertain some guests of mine here for a few minutes? I have some other matters to attend to. I'll be back."

"Of course, your majesty. Please, all of you, join us. So glad to finally meet the king of the dark elves living in Olva'lore Forest." The dark elves sat down as Selene slipped away with Hrist, meeting up with Bronze Team in the war room.

"What's the problem?" she asked. Orlo brought up satellite visuals as well as ornithopters showing unrest in Silvinholm. "Ah. I could have sworn I wanted this to happen… not quite with the people going against Artinian soldiers but…but that looks like…"

"Galleys. They're trying to weed out sympathizers for the Rikter Family. Beheadings have happened as well. There are a few riots that were put down, nothing especially large yet." That wasn't what she wanted. There were good people dying in the city. Reports of more soldiers moving into towns and villages have popped up alongside the events in the trade city, clamping down on what was still available to the kingdom. Part of it was being defensive as they had lost contact with a good deal of their land to the west, so it was understandable they'd double down for whatever was coming their way.

"Hmmm…" she sounded out, bringing her hand up and scratching her chin. "We could… no… maybe… that won't work…"

"We could go in right now, clear the armies, take control and fix this" Ethan commented.

"Juliet and Romeo are already busy working on quite a few projects. I can get a few new construction crews up, but I'd rather get Juliet to give the city a once over before anything happens. We just brought in the dark elves, I'd rather not expand too quickly and not get everything under control. It could cause even more of a mess if we grab up everything but can't support it or hear everyone's issues. Besides… I'm hoping I can somehow still keep the promise I gave Antoine in some capacity before we resort to our last option of guns blazing."

The small group worked through different plans of action and outcomes, with Orlo and Turnie explaining issues with each one and even Deacon worried about one plan involving going after the noble houses. He, of the entire Bronze Team, didn't want to snipe at nobles if it caused more problems than it was worth to the people who worked for them, or kidnappings causing the people to buckle down and go the opposite direction, reinforcing their connection to Artinia.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

King Teiyan walked through the hallways of his palace towards his courtyard, a waiting messenger standing there with a small package. Just as he exited out to the small gardens, the messenger saluted him. "Your majesty, I have come with the artifact you requested. The men who procured it are not sure that-" the young ruler grabbed the package from his hands and continued on, not even listening to the man in uniform, confusing him. The king walked on as if there was no messenger, heading off towards the special dungeon set up just for Xaxara. He already had read what was provided as to the use of the item hidden inside.

As he entered the vault doors and walked forward, he could see the goddess strapped to the wall, her chains pulled tight. She seemed to just be looking at the ground, thinking. Teiyan ripped open the package and smiled at the artifact held in his hand. It looked like some hooded woman crying with wings on both sides, but no arms. The chest held a gem glowing black and purple. He finally got something that might get everything under control… if he could figure out how to use it.

Somehow, there was a successful raid made on a faraway kingdom, with a guild of thieves somehow managing to steal away the creation from a very angry succubus in white delivering it to some magic researcher. Of the one hundred men and women who stole the object, one survived… barely. He lasted long enough to sell the artifact before being found, having enough time to languish in luxury for all of a week at most. The item was sold multiple times to make sure that it couldn't be tracked down. Fortunately for the black market, the Sorcerer Kingdom didn't seem to care about the loss as much as anyone else would.

Now it was in the king's possession. Xaxara looked up at the man standing in front of him, a glint in his eyes that told her he had some sort of plan that involved her. "Again, with some new idea to try and use on your people, young king? I'm surprised you're back so soon." Teiyan looked at her chained to the wall, a curious look on her face. What would require the sacrifice of another one hundred slaves this time?

"I'm going to put down the riots in Silvinholm and find those traitors, then make sure everyone submits unconditionally in Tal Salunbal. You're going to help me do it." She chuckled a little and glanced around the stone room.

"And how do you expect me to do that? I don't see any offerings ready for this." The king grinned at her.

"This artifact was created to steal power from another and use it to create an army of… demons I believe, or was it undead… it doesn't matter, at least that was what the research scriptures said." He didn't even know the name of the artifact, just that it was a failed creation of some kingdom, the Sorcerer Kingdom to be exact. It didn't even work like another artifact that it was modeled off of, acting more like a capacitor and less like a battery for the spell cast. It also only did one thing, which was nowhere near the strength of another failed prototype. The magic it would use might not even summon demons; it was very peculiar. The notes on it weren't very detailed, just using another artifact as a base template.

"You've had to keep feeding me to get what you want… I guess it was inevitable for me to outlive my usefulness…" Xaxara said to him and just gazed as her curiosity changed to a frown, with an ever so slight hint of worry in her eyes.

"Now, I don't have to even do that." He aimed the artifact at her but couldn't fire it. He shook the thing and slammed it against the palm of his other hand, then looked at the gem, trying to figure out how to get it to activate. "Damn it! Why aren't you working!" he snapped through gritted teeth. An ever so slight sigh of relief came out of her mouth as she just hung there. It seemed even gods were scared of dying.

"It seems you can't get it up. Lucky me…"

As a side effect of that, he backhanded her jaw and stormed back upstairs. She was safe… for now. He reached the top of the stairwell and sealed the doors then walked out to a waiting wizard council. "Figure out how this thing is to be fired at that bitch! Once you know, come to me immediately!" The wizards acknowledged and left quickly. Things seemed as if they could get worse for the goddess, as well as the rest of the continent, if they could understand the design of the creation that came from far away.


	27. Ch 26 No Red Dragons Allowed

_**29th, November**_

Selene sat at her office desk writing out some paperwork, annoyed with how complicated the past five days had been. It wasn't exactly all bad, not by any means, however the events that had taken place in just the past two threw her through a loop that frustrated her to no end. The first three were actually quite productive.

In five days, she surprisingly had the mountain cored out for the installation of the Boramar mass driver installation, with Azaltos just receiving its construction crew due to a slight expansion of the prison to have a minimum-security wing. Now she just needed to have the mass driver built inside, then test it with a filled cargo pod with some spare copper. If it worked, which was guaranteed due to the construction by Juliet's crews, the cargo pod would reorient itself in LEO, then in the very near future carried out to MEO, Medium Earth Orbit, or further to HEO, High Earth Orbit.

The twin launch pads for rockets were expanded a little to allow two flights at the same time, all while not colliding with each other. This allowed the network to increase to close to eighty satellites all transferring large amounts of data back, helping the ELT track asteroids and comets, look for specialized resources to bolster what they already had, and provide a slightly special feature via an automaton that could sit in at each town for symphonies and plays, recording the whole thing for the empress to watch or listen to at a later time. The dev had created limited DVR without any actual television or Hollywood just for herself.

Her entire plan for space capability wasn't to replace the launch pads with mass drivers, as each platform added would perform different duties, including the already designed space elevator. The rockets, as well as planned shuttles, would get satellites into orbit or small packages then return as reusable systems, while also _potentially_ bringing up visitors in the future… if they're trustworthy. The mass drivers would launch payloads of unrefined resources and cargo until space stations and the space elevator were built, then be used for fast return of priority shuttles and assisting in launching fighter garrisons for orbital defense, potentially assisting in destroying rogue asteroids. The space elevator would ferry just about everything, even act as a docking station for future ships, probably even the air fleets.

Second air fleet was now up and running and launched just yesterday, the flagship carrier _Empress's Conviction_ was at the head of it. There were spare air ships still docked in the airport, waiting for the third fleet to be completed now.

She had also gotten a little further in research in a number of areas, including what the faith eater was made of and Upgrade Point Elixirs. The empress was lucky that a trader had shown up from Tal Salunbal selling certain exotic herbs. Unfortunately, he did not have the seeds to regrow them, but it didn't stop the dev, buying up most of his stock for her experiments. He was all too happy to sell it, receiving ample payment for traveling so far out. His personality as well as his looks seemed to give Orlo a heads up that the nation that was Artinia's eastern neighbor was close to the middle east back on Earth.

It took some effort with one thousand stations in her inventory to get lucky over a twenty-four-hour period to "unlock" the recipes for Stat and Skill Elixirs, even though she was already sure what the ingredients would require. Her Crafting Bonus stat helped a little bit, with a two percent chance each time to let her catch a break. The most concerning part about each experiment was the fact it took one hundred Ultra Stat and Skill Potions for each project, every hour, and there wasn't a guaranteed success rate to unlocking the recipes. That meant there were 2.4 million potions used up just to finally unlock these things.

The entire "Elixir Program" finally bore fruit after using up a very healthy chunk of her herb reserves. The automaton farmers went to work quickly to recover that lost supply, recouping some of the losses. It was vastly worth it after two days though, with the Stat Elixir actually working, not just giving 11 points and giving her indigestion for twenty-four hours straight. She could take one elixir, be unhappy for half an hour, then receive the benefits for the rest of the day, gaining 11 points every half hour, or 264 each day. Now she just needed to work on getting Flasks completed in the same nature… once her herb reserves stabilized again. If she didn't have the infrastructure, the spells and the super farm built, the amount of resources she had gone through just for this undertaking would have bankrupted most countries and made each plant used in the mixture endangered species.

There were only three issues with the elixirs, probably the same for flasks in the future. They couldn't be doubled up, with absolutely no effect, positive or negative, if she consumed more than one in a half an hour. They also overrode any Upgrade Potions taken as well, being considered a higher tier it seemed. This meant they couldn't be combined for twice the effect, though why she would ever do that now was beyond her comprehension. It was either take an elixir, or in the future a stronger creation, or work with the compounding side effects of drinking multiple potions for a quick boost and very upset stomach. The third issue was she had none of the exotic herbs to craft any once she had gotten all of the research done. If she could find the seeds to grow them, they'd be made in bulk very quickly.

Selene had a chance to clear out her perks and gain a total of twenty thousand percent increase in research when working on projects involving consumables. She had to pick a specialization for it, however that was trivial given she needed her consumables projects quickly done, not just the Upgrade Point versions. Bandages, Poultices, Poisons, Ointments, Potions, Elixirs, Flasks, Kegs and Casks, Scrolls, Contracts or Scriptures, Tomes, even projects involving food that provided buffs were brought to unparalleled level of quality. There was really no reason to ever attempt to buy any consumable that wasn't made by herself now, unless she had no access to the ingredients.

There were even three consumables she hadn't even really made yet that the dev had completely forgotten about from Divine Apocalypse, mainly because she had no idea if they'd even work given what the empress had been dealing with. They were called Assistance Packs. They were a mixture of foods that buff, potions and other drinks, armor linings and spell scrolls that could be swapped out for single use cybernetics instead, as well as some weapon modifications that adapted to the tech era the player was currently in. Each one would provide a vast generalized buff that would increase experience gain, regeneration of health and faster cooldowns, provide mitigation to damage and increase loot finds and cash gains. They were mainly used to boost alts, otherwise known as alternate characters, for players in the game.

They could not be bought with real world money, only crafted in game with quite a lot of resources for each just to make the lowest tier. Given how much was used to make even one, they were usually bought by high level players that had been in the game for some time and were bored with their first character, for a little extra edge while out performing in a PVE field; the effects would temporarily cancel when entering a PVP engagement. This was the main reason she didn't want to make them, as it was possible if she fought anyone, they'd just shut off and be useless for any real combat. This would make them a complete waste of resources.

The tiers were small, large and critical, with the critical nicknamed "cheese packs" by the player base. She was still deciding if it was even worth the effort of using one of them, as she had just made sure to cover all bases by researching the critical versions and leaving it alone. There were many questions that had arisen after she had gotten them researched, the first one being what was considered PVP and what was considered PVE for these things to stay active.

If PVP was considered honorable combat between two people in a duel, or a team-based event, then these things were still valuable… at least to anyone but her. The buffs could easily be ignored given she had the Orb of Experiences, with her inventory providing an endless supply of resources via the loophole she found with crafting and dismantling automatons. This could also work if PVP was only considered between players, as the name implies. This brought on the next question that hadn't entered her mind since she arrived… were there players here, transferred from Earth just like she was? If there were players around, could she detect them?

The new scanner design was ready to be produced, drastically improved over the previous magnifying glass she had built off of. She just needed to build the thing, preferably behind a blast shield this time. One of the labs was constructed just for this purpose, to test out new explosives and volatile mixtures. If the thing worked, it could allow far more information than she was able to previously see in her Hud. This led to the third question: if there are other players, are they going to be aggressive and hostile or friendly and try and group up?

The communities that built up in videogames could be constructive or destructive, bringing on the term "toxic" to inform new players to search for greener pastures unless they had friends already playing. There were so many different types of players that trying to lump them into two categories of "good" or "bad" didn't really mean anything. Of course, there were hackers and gold farmers in almost every MMO since inception, those could be clearly dropped into the latter category.

The only thing Selene could commit to right now involving players ever showing up, was to treat them as an unknown until she could be sure they were at least neutral to her. In her eyes, she did not accept that moniker for herself, being a developer after all. She played games, but she also built them. Unfortunately, if her newly designed scanner did allow showing of a player's "status" then she needed to be extra cautious, as there was a pretty good chance, they couldn't do the same for her, thinking she was a native of this world. Given how people acted back on Earth towards each other at times, and how she was transferred to this world, it could be possible their thought process was that this was a very impressive videogame and she was an NPC. If that was the case… they might attack.

There were many other questions that were minor in comparison though. If players showed up, were they regular people or did they come as their avatar? Did all equipment come with them or did they show up naked like she did? Given that most everything seemed to have come from Yggdrasil, with not one piece of evidence stating anything else came from the games she had features from, it was possible the highest level anywhere could be 100. This at least gave her some reassurance that if a player was somehow around, she could take them down if needed. To her though, this was like an altered Fermi Paradox, are there players out there or was she alone, one developer in a sea of fantasy races?

She cast aside those thoughts for her immediate concerns right now though. Her main issue at the moment was getting trade and commerce laws set up, what constituted copyrights and patents. She had spent an entire day with Donovan just working through requirements that companies would need to abide by to do any sort of business in the empire, with practically no sleep for twenty-four hours, things such as eight-hour workdays or overtime pay, even minimum wages. She had also received reports from recon teams informing her that adventurers were delving past her borders. At first, she was willing to let them be sniped off, but threw that idea out the window as quick as it entered her mind. They hadn't done anything, just looking around and trying to complete quests to get paid. While some of them were malicious, most were just trying to live and explore, sometimes make the world a little better by clearing out some monsters.

"Ma'am, we're still waiting on that order, two groups are heading towards Eld Horn right now, visual range in approximately two hours" her security informed her. She groaned just as Morlan and Elsei walked through the door to talk to his father, who was sitting near the fireplace and stirring a cup of tea while reading through a decree of law she had put together to check for any errors that might be focused upon. She glanced up from her desk for a moment before continuing with what she was doing, a cup of coffee to her left.

"Your majesty, are you alright?" Morlan asked. She grunted a little and lifted her head, straightening herself up a little and pushing her hair back. They were definitely due a break, with so many requirements and policies now put in place to keep the economy from needing to rely on government assistance.

"Well, I haven't really gotten any sleep just yet, nor has your father, sorry about that. Been a little busy trying to hash out the details for what people can and cannot do, that sort of thing. I just got reports that adventurers are making small incursions into my borders… and I don't know what to do about it." She seemed to remain calm and collected as she wrote down a new need for companies to provide their employees with breaks and lunches. Apparently, that wasn't a thing… anywhere. Donovan and Elsei remained stoic, but Morlan winced.

"I believe you told me you were going to try and remain hidden long enough to take most of Artinia before they caught wind of your actions. With the adventurer's guild having quests that might involve exploring this area… someone might have caught wind that something is amiss out here" he replied. Selene leaned back and sighed while nodding at him.

"Or, they could be attempting some other quest that just so happens to be within my borders. I honestly don't know what I should do. I have three real options here, kill them, imprison them, or let them do their thing and speed up my whole plan of action." Her skills hadn't helped her in this matter, as Bureaucracy didn't assist with international relations or diplomacy, it just helped with running the empire. With immigration or economic design, it was beneficial, but mercenaries and adventurers or communicating with dictators was entirely different. There was no clear-cut answer.

"You believe they'll return with knowledge of the empire?" Elsei asked.

"I'm worried they'll become whistleblowers on their way out, maybe getting some payment for that knowledge. If Artinia finds out we're creeping forward and taking their land, it could… well… it won't actually do much of anything beyond make us creep forward a little faster and speed up my schedule… it's not as it your old kingdom can do anything…" Selene explained.

"So… why not go straight for the throat?" Morlan asked as he sat down on a plush couch, a fireplace burning in the far back of the office despite the place being fully heated and air conditioned. The dev liked the look of the fire burning, it helped her zone out a little and think while she worked on paperwork with different soft music playing.

"You mean take on Aureos in one strike? Well… we could…" she said. "The problem isn't pushing forward in one massive assault, that would be done in ten minutes, maybe less. The issue I have, or would have, is once governments fall… what do you put in place to prop everything up?" Morlan looked at his father who crossed his arms over his vested chest after putting his tea cup down.

"I don't understand" the warrior said as he furrowed his brow. Donovan leaned back in his chair.

"The problem she's referring to is when you have a void, quite a few will attempt to try and fill it. Taxes would disappear, payment of officials stops, people panic, the economy takes a massive blow with uncertainty that the people won't lose their lives in the next few days, so productivity falls. Lawlessness. When a government falls, whatever takes control has to reevaluate everything and stabilize the situation, get the money flowing, laws in place, repair the infrastructure if possible. That takes time. They also have to acknowledge our empress as the one in charge or lose their lives same as anyone else. That can strike fear in the people she is attempting to calm and keep chaos from gripping the land." Morlan's mouth dropped a little at how much had to be done, how much experience his father had and reasoning. He had to emplace laws in Silvinholm while he was growing up, so it was a sure bet he knew first hand what could cause trouble.

"That's right. I've been taking the towns and villages to contain any chaos that could erupt after Artinia officially falls, with it just being in one city if I play my cards right, the rest already under my banner." Selene was still frowning as she was thinking about what to do with the adventurers moving in her Hud, markers placed on their heads by ornithopters.

"I'd like to ask, your majesty, but are you thinking of emplacing a new government under the empire's rule for Artinia?" Elsei asked her. The empress chuckled.

 _Oh yeah, sure! We Americans have lots of experience with building new governments in newly taken countries! For all of about a week if that… we're great at getting into a fight and taking the enemy head on, it's rebuilding that's the big issue… I'm pretty sure it's a big issue for every country out there… we don't think that far ahead…_

"Since the princess, now mayor, doesn't want to become the next queen, I'm just going to fully absorb Artinia into the Clockwork Empire and make it nothing more than a memory. It's pointless to try and institute a new government when I can just have Gold Pine become the capital and send a mayor to Aureos, no weird borders that overlap for a kingdom that won't exist anymore."

"Will this happen for every kingdom, your majesty?" the elf questioned. Selene cocked her eyebrow and looked away in thought.

"Not if their government isn't screwed up. If it works and wants to integrate, borders within borders. If not, well… they better not pull anything. Some of the little guys have a bit of a napoleon complex, trying to pick a fight with something far stronger than they are." The high elf raised an eyebrow, being rare of her to ever do.

"You won't attempt to conquer the whole world?" Elsei asked curiously. The empress pressed on the bridge of her nose, an ever so slight headache erupting as she squinted her eyes shut. A quick cast of **[Light Heal]** and **[Greater Rejuvenation]** channeled through her fingertips and it was gone.

"I've thought about that for quite a few nights, trust me on that. I'd rather not call it conquering, I'd prefer to use the phrase 'Aggressive Inclusion into my government.' The answer is… it depends. What most people don't understand is two things. One, conquering the whole world leads to impossible amounts of paperwork and laws that have to be created almost from scratch depending on _where_ the country is on this dirt ball, so you better have a damned good government to keep it going or it will collapse very quickly. I'm still working on that, even with Morlan's parents helping with that, thank you by the way" the dev answered as she looked at Donovan.

"You're very welcome, your imperial majesty" he replied. Melsia was in another room working on some ideas to control magic, at least tier magic, where needed to keep the people safe within the empire. Having unrestricted use was a great way of having criminals attempt to steal, kidnap and murder. Morlan's mother, fortunately, had gotten some sleep, unlike her husband and the empress.

"The second, is frankly…" she looked at everyone in the room "that people are really, really… stupid and greedy." Elsei seemed to wiggle her eyebrows a little, trying to keep her composure.

"Stupid?" she asked. Selene nodded.

"We are all very dumb, sorry to say, even you elves. We're in the third dimension, the physical realm. That means we aren't perfect, we make mistakes, we're not a hive mind. Education can be great in some areas, horrible in others. That means there are going to be people throughout the world who are dumber than a box of rocks, who are incapable of adapting to change, who will lash out at that change, even if it is for their benefit. They don't understand, so they either believe it is beyond them, beneath them, doesn't apply to them or in their way to break through."

"'I know that I know nothing' is a phrase once written in a book I have had the pleasure of reading. Only the wise will accept some things are beyond their comprehension… for the moment at least. While nothing is impossible, everything takes time" Donovan commented as he stared at the fireplace.

"Exactly. While we would all know what the empire brings, everything else out there would be an unknown until it joins. Attempting to do this is no simple task, which is why, in my eyes, it depends. I may continue expanding the empire across the world, I may not."

"Cost vs reward. It may take too much effort to have the Clockwork Empire fill every crevice, every nook" Morlan's father commented. Selene nodded while facial shrugging, gesturing towards the man. While cost was a moot point, at least in terms of force projection and materials to build up civilizations incorporated into the empire, time was a commodity she didn't want to waste on pointless excursions. With space capability, she didn't need to expand to other lands to make her empire larger, it was going to eventually be a simple task of colonizing another planet or building space stations, asteroid colonies, potentially artificial worlds.

"I guess as an aside an empire by its very nature conquers through force. Very rarely do those empires stay functioning after they spread across the land and don't have their shit together."

The room fell silent as the markers continued moving in her Hud. "Engage… nonlethally. Contain them in the minimum-security wing just constructed. Damn it, I never thought we'd use that thing so soon…" she commanded via her coms.

"Understood ma'am." She watched as the icons flashed from yellow to a rainbow color, deeming them knocked out or incapacitated. The problem was taken care of, but now she would need to worry about releasing them at an unknown time in the future. They'd be pretty unhappy with what had happened, with a whole lot of questions as to where they were. While she could add in a fourth option, removing their memories via magic, doing that to more than a few people could have unforeseen consequences in the future, potentially biting her in the ass later down the line. Of course, with them waking up in a prison with automatons guarding them, eventually being released after Artinia falls, dealing with the aftermath… that could cause just as much damage. Keeping them imprisoned was the lesser evil.

 _It's not as if I have to answer for anything, this is my empire they're trying to head into after all, unannounced…_

Though the issue was at least temporarily resolved, Selene was still annoyed due to other situations that cropped up. One involved the land required to start construction of the foundation for the space elevator, and then get high end cloaking stations built around it to keep the thing from ever being noticed. It was going to take out a healthy chunk of the forest to the northern part of the valley, causing further environmental damage. She had hoped to not rip up so many trees, but the beast of a project was needed to expand upwards. Three different ways of getting there, each was a step in the right direction.

"Now, enough of me bitching about what is happening in the empire and what I deal with, what did you come in for?" Selene asked. Morlan looked at Elsei, who simply went silent and gazed at him. He sighed, realizing he was going to be the one who broached the subject.

"We… we both headed to Gold Pine this morning and… we have noticed the village has now turned into a welcoming town. It has… many shops and stalls now for its market, some with fairly decent wares to peruse."

"But?" the empress asked as she put the finishing touches on another page, placing her signature and symbol down.

"But… we…" he looked at Elsei one more time. "We… don't have any funds in which to buy any of it…" the room went silent and the dev's hand stopped writing. She looked up and blinked at him, then at Elsei. Her eyes quickly shot to the ceiling in a dumbfounded look.

"I… didn't account for that… of course… you have really nothing right now… whoopsie…" she muttered out, quickly crafting a faux leather bag in her inventory and taking one hundred gold from the treasury, porting it over and filling the container. A quick slip of her hand inside and the purse was on the desk, ready to be used. Elsei raised an eyebrow as she returned her gaze to her lover, who stood up and looked at it, surprised.

"That's… how much is-"

"One hundred gold coins; let me know if you need a little more." His eyebrows raised to their full height. That amount normally could allow them to have a feast every day for a month, sleep in a high-priced inn and buy fairly decent armor with equipment… and still have some to spare.

"You think you threw enough in there?" he asked, though it was supposed to only be in jest. Unfortunately, she was a little sleep deprived, so it flew right over her head at that moment.

"Well, I guess I could put a few platinum coins in there too, though depending on which store you go to, if they have just recently opened for business, you might not get change if you bought anything-"

"I was only joking, apologies your imperial majesty." Selene looked up at him and took a deep breath, then blew it out with her mouth puckered.

"Sorry, I'm just a little tired that's all."

"There is no need to apologize. A platinum coin… one thousand gold and you were going to give a few of them…" Morlan said in surprise.

"Wealth beyond Artinia, surely" Elsei commented. Donovan had explained how the currency system worked in Artinia. It did not follow the same setup that most fantasy games would have used. While the system had one hundred copper to convert to one silver, with the same to gold, a platinum coin was equal to much more, being equal to ten times the amount in the neighboring kingdom. The main reason was that it was difficult to mine it up, with almost no one really knowing how to prospect correctly. It wasn't that the precious metal was rare, they just didn't know with their middle ages' technology and knowledge.

From what she could gather from Morlan's father, copper coins were the equivalent of pocket change, with silver being used as the regular currency. A gold coin was on par with using a hundred-dollar bill, with platinum coins being only for the rich to hide away in some sealed coffer. This wasn't how she had set it up in her empire, with platinum dropping in worth to only one hundred gold now. This would allow anyone who bought something with the highest tier coin to actually get some money back instead of the shop keeps worrying about not being able to give back change. There may be further currency created in the future to mass transfer large sums to any other kingdom under her rule.

A coms request opened up that stated it was urgent from her military and security. She quickly swapped to it to listen in. "Ma'am, hostiles approaching from southwest heading northwest, winged bogeys verified." A quick check via ornithopters and a few weather balloons that were launched allowed her to see something that took her breath away. It wasn't fear that made her stiffen up though, but actually seeing a special creature for the first time. Two red dragons were flying just over the tip of the Boramar Mountains, somewhat majestically moving about. While they might have looked at peace in the open air, she was pretty sure they were anything but.

"Morlan, Elsei, have you ever taken on a dragon?" she asked. Both of them were surprised at the same time.

"Depends on the dragon. We've… I've… helped with taking on a young drake" Morlan replied as he kept eyeing Elsei.

"I have not had to steel myself against one of them yet. This must have happened before you found me" the elf replied.

"Know anything about red dragons?" Selene asked.

"They care about only their power and their wealth that they steal from others" Donovan's son replied with gritted teeth.

 _So, they follow a similar alignment system to Dungeons and Dragons, probably modified with karma from Yggdrasil. Ok, I can work with this. Chromatic is bad, usually in the evil category. Metallic were usually the good aligned ones._

"Launch interceptors" she commanded as SAM sites locked on.

"Fast movers outbound, closing BVR critical in thirty seconds, buster to angels 5" she heard from her security, the interceptors were already on flash 5 to be in the air almost instantly for a potential attack. The two dragons were probably looking for some place to strike, given the wealth now piling up in the treasury. It was surprising that two red dragons were even working together, as that might mean there was something in her valley that made them team up in hopes of overpowering it. She wondered if they could somehow sense the jewels and coin locked away in the vault, sniffing all of it out like bloodhounds. They'd soon be smelling something else…

"Shadows out. Bandits locked, cleared hot." Twin fighter jets, high end drone fighters, that looked quite a bit different from the ones stationed on _Majesty's Grace_. These were far more modern in design, a mixture between the looks of an X-Wing and a switch wing Pak-Fa for dogfighting with 3D Thrust Vectoring on all four engines and VTOL capability, giving unparalleled agility in the skies. It wasn't as if they launched all that often, only when the trajectory of an object was verified to be anywhere passing remotely near the castle. They were never meant to be seen by anyone, and if they were, whatever got that chance wasn't making it home to talk about it.

"Shadow 2-2, tone gained, fox 2." A missile was launched, hitting Mach six in a little under two seconds. The first dragon had a split second to realize it was being tailed by something smaller than it and highly aggressive, before the missile reached its target and detonated. The left wing was ripped off at the connection to the back as it plummeted towards the ground roaring, with the second one trying to dive and swing around, heading for the two interceptors that were way off in the distance, well beyond the range of any of her attacks.

"Good guns, bandit 2 maneuvering. Shadow 2-1 defending."

It shot as fast as it could towards 2-1, but unfortunately for the creature, it was fighting a drone fighter, smarter and well beyond lightning reaction speed. The fighter quickly launched a second missile upside down, still performing stealth actions to conceal the opening of its bays as the dragon realized it was attacked from a tiny dot in the far distance that was closing fast. It had a moment of clarity that whatever it was, it had the dragon dialed in and dead to rights. The missile flew right towards its open mouth as it thought the little thing was some transportation for another creature, not realizing it was an explosive package addressed 'to whom it may concern…'

Both dragons fell towards the ground, slamming into the terrain with sickening crunches and ending their suffering quickly. The previous kings of the skies were no match for the new kids on the block. They were packing far more firepower than anything the scaled beasts had at their disposal.

"Grand slam, bandits cleared. Capping the sector." The interceptors would patrol the airspace for another half an hour, making sure nothing else was coming up behind the two massive winged creatures.

 _You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherfuckers._

"Did… did your military meet a dragon?" Morlan finally asked during the silence.

"Two actually, looked to be full grown wyrms. They handled the situation." Selene simply gave him a short smile as she continued with one final paper. He was shocked they killed them so easily and she had gone back to writing.

"That's bloody incredible, your majesty" Donovan commented, speaking for his son who just couldn't get a word to escape his mouth.

"I'd like to hope it sent a message to other dragons, except nothing lived to fly away in terror. Oh well."

"What message would that be?" Elsei asked, also surprised by the turn of events.

"Don't try to touch my stuff." She yawned and stretched at the same time, checking over the child labor law that abolished them being employed until a certain age, and only at limited hours per week. "I need to get some sleep."

 _While they might,_ might _have been nonhostile, I'm not about to take that chance with dragons. Bad news bears for you guys._

"The immigration laws have a few typos in them" Donovan said as he finished his tea. Selene silently swore and shook her head to clear her mind.

"Well it was obvious it would happen when I'm sleep deprived. Was that the only issue?" she asked. He nodded and slowly stood up, pressing on his lower back and wincing. "Then I believe we can slow down and get some much-deserved shut eye, unless you two have anything else to add." Elsei looked at Morlan, wondering if he needed anything else.

"I… was going to ask if we might have a little chance to spar in the future… however… with the rescue of Princess Silara… I'm not too sure I want to request that…" Morlan spoke up as he looked away from both women. Artinia looked up to him as a hero, capable of defeating anything. Now that he had seen Hrist and Selene in combat no longer shackling themselves to hide their identities… he realized how small he really was.

"You could always spar with Antoine or his students, they could learn a thing or two from a legend." Donovan's son chuckled.

"That is true. Maybe we should pay them a visit, see how their martial training is coming along… if they even have martial training to be exact."

"That I've seen, Professor Falksworthy has started courses to help instill confidence and courage, with part of them being swordplay" the empress replied.

"No magic?" Elsei questioned.

"That… will probably be either a guild or another academy in the near future."

"Your mother is working on the details right now" Donovan explained to his son.

"Mother is going to work there?" he asked. His father shook his head.

"Just helping with the policies and procedures for training required. Our empress would like certifications for magicians and wizards to practice their craft. Your mother is trying to make sure those who are gifted can make use of their magical talents without paying through their noses." The dev cracked her neck and got up from her desk. "The empress is being very pragmatic without clamping down on those with the gift to cast spells. Give them a chance to learn their craft, without putting the safety of the people at risk. Either learn to control your abilities or we will control them for you."

"We can check through the work later; these are just the drafts obviously." Morlanion glanced back and forth between his father and the auburn-haired woman.

"You spent a whole day working on drafts?" Selene looked at Morlan then at Donovan and blinked.

"Well, it's not as if everything can be done on the fly. Laws have to be written and evaluated for any inconsistencies, loopholes and counters with other regulations. I'd rather your father catch what I've done right now before it gets printed and distributed where some new noble figures out how to play my empire like a fiddle. Why?" the empress asked. The two heroes sitting in the room looked at each other and blinked, elf and human.

"Better prepared than King Teiyan, I can see that already." Selene let out a dry laugh.

"Not that prepared. I swore there wasn't going to be so much red tape blocking the people, but now I'm starting to see some of that is for their protection. Rules and regulations are sometimes needed to keep others from being abusive to those below them." While the thought had occurred to her to get a judicial system set up for corporate issues involving suits or discrepancies, any criminal activity would be handled by an automaton casting **[Truth From Lies]**. The reason it needed to be one of her mechanical creations was that for some reason… no one else could learn Arcanic's Wizardry spells.

At first, she had thought that the farmers that were taught how to replace the nutrients in the soil had learned **[Nutrient Replenisher]** from her, but after a little investigation, they had gotten some help with a tier magic spell taught by a traveling magician to "cheat." It turned out they were afraid to tell her due to the fact they believed she might smite them for not learning to use her gifts provided. With a few other experiments, she was able to verify that the people seemed to be stuck on tier magic, unable to figure out the dimensional system required to adapt to her spells.

This might have been due to what stage of development the people were in, given the fact they didn't come from a technologically advanced society that even theorized different dimensions beyond the physical. Ignoring that hypothesis, she didn't know why they couldn't fathom how to use her spells. If she created scrolls with Arcanic's Wizardry spells written on them, they could be used, however the actual casting from the person was beyond their capability it seemed, at least for now.

It was also possible this was the same problem with the new Runecraft that the dwarves could perform in Kaldanas Mountains. Bronze Team had slipped in while cloaked and remained hidden while gaining as much intel as possible. Most of what they heard, saw, and detected was thrown out due to it being regular day to day activities of the average joe, however there was quite a bit more gleaned about their civilization.

It seemed that runecraft was mutually repulsive to tier magic, at least when it came to enchanting. She had no real information yet about runecraft being used as an actual magic system, though Bronze Team had found no evidence it could be used as such. It seemed to always require an object etched onto, in order to activate whatever special feature was expected. Casting without an item enchanted in such a way was still an unknown so far. These weapons or tools were still extremely rare, even for the dwarves, given tier magic had become prevalent.

The dwarves that lived in the mountains seemed to not really hold any ill will towards humans, regardless of the ones they knew about from Artinia or Tal Salunbal. However, most of the reason behind that was simply because they could take on Artinia pretty effectively and even laughed at the pitiful attempts of Artinian soldiers to ever pick a fight with them. While they didn't have impressive mechanical creations or automated construction, not even steampunk equipment, they did have magical stone and metal golems as well as some idea of mechanical assistance. Ratcheting gears and cogs were used with pulleys to move large batches of molten metal around underground, with mine carts on rail systems. It was more than what Artinia had. The golems, while somewhat impressive, were slow and nowhere near as effective as even a civilian model automaton. They seemed to be built for a sort of moving wall and slow heavy attacks.

Their soldiers all seemed to have the standard equipment, with every single one of them having a full suit of plate mail armor and a battle axe with a shield. The shields themselves looked like miniature tower shields for the size of the dwarves, covering from head to toe to protect against everything on their left side. Their city was massive underground, with a network of towns and villages chaining off from it. One of them supposedly was almost directly under the Eld Horn Town, which while it was fairly deep and could be considered harmless, did worry the empress a little.

"Alright, I'll see you all, or not, after I get some sleep." Donovan headed to his guestroom, while Selene headed up to her royal bedroom and got undressed. While very little had happened for five days involving action beyond the red dragons just now, she at least did get quite a bit done to keep the empire running smoothly.

 _ **Eight Hours Later**_

Selene woke up to a request from the prison captain automaton. The coms kept ringing in her head lightly as she rolled over and rubbed her face, checking the clock in her Hud. Eight hours had past, but it felt like only twenty minutes to her. The dev debated ignoring the call, then finally relented and opened it up.

"Apologies ma'am, but a prisoner wants to speak with 'whoever is in charge.' They believe they've been held for a crime they didn't commit." She groaned and looked up at the canopy of her bed, blinking and taking a deep breath.

"Is it one of the adventurers?" she asked, a little groggy.

"Yes ma'am. A woman, late teens."

"Oy… tell her… tell her the crime is attempting to bypass our borders illegally and an investigation is underway."

"I will do so ma'am." The coms ended and she tried to go back to sleep, getting another hour or so in if possible. Twenty minutes later, another call came in. Her eyes shot open annoyed.

"What."

"She is still requesting to speak to someone higher in the chain of command ma'am."

"Request denied."

"Yes ma'am." Again, the coms line ended, and she tried to go back to sleep. The time was roughly 6 pm, which meant she was going to have a late dinner by herself. As she tried to slip back to sleep, a knock on her door rang out a little. Selene rolled to her side and slid out of the sheets. It was clear she wasn't getting any more shut eye.

"Enter." Hrist walked in with Brynhildr and stood at the door while the empress put her robe on.

"You were not at lunch; we were worried you were not feeling well" Hrist said quietly. The dev just sat there on her bed and blinked away the sleep.

"I'm fine, I just pulled an all nighter with Donovan making a full pass of laws and regulations for the empire. There's still more to come." She yawned and stretched, then scratched her nose and shoulder.

"Ah, I see. As long as you are alright" Bryn said.

"Don't overdo it, I don't want to find you passed out at your desk" Hrist told her in a scolding manner. Selene raised an eyebrow and stared at Hrist with a smirk. She stuck her tongue out at her playfully.

"I'll do what I need to do to get the job done Hrist, I'm not some little child." Bryn smiled amusingly as she watched them argue a little, with her sister worrying about the empress's health. It was cute watching them, the empress being oblivious to what she had already noticed.

"Both of you, calm down please. We came here for a reason after all" the blonde said as she put her hands up, not really one to mediate, as that was usually Skuld's choice of action.

"Fine, what, what is?" Selene asked. Hrist crossed her arms over her chest, staring down at her, a little anger showing in her face, but her eyes told something different.

"Skuld has asked if we would bring her new Pegasus to the academy, as well as observe a class of students who are learning martial skills."

"Ah…"

"Is something wrong? You seem out of it" Bryn asked concerned.

"Just been a busy week, that's all. I still have quite a few things to do now that I'm awake again. Um… does she want us to head there today or…?" the empress questioned.

"Well, she asked if we could go there tonight to stay for the entire event tomorrow morning and… it was just us two." Bryn winced at telling her that. The empress wasn't exactly invited, not that she needed to be.

"Ah, I see. Well, in that case-"

"Sorry."

"What? No, that's fine, it helps me in the long run. I can't always be everywhere at the same time. In that case, I'll have some time to finish a few more projects."

"You aren't mad?" The shield maiden asked, raising an eyebrow and still wincing.

"Why would I be? I can go there anytime I want; I built the place after all. Besides, you three need to fly together for a little bit; go, I'll be fine."

"Can we take… the wolves with us?" Brynhildr questioned. Selene looked at her in confusion. "The students… it's like a badge of honor to have the royal… hounds? No, royal wolves it is… to have them visiting."

"Not the empress of the empire?"

"I didn't mean it like that! They consider it almost good luck to get a chance to pet one of them, for their studies and exams."

"They better not attempt that on Selene" Hrist growled out, both her sister and the empress looking at her. "What? That would be improper." The empress sighed and smiled with an open mouth.

"Go, I'll be fine. I never expected running an empire would be easy. I'll hold the fort while you three have some time together."

"Thank you, Selene, we appreciate it" Bryn said beaming.

"Nah, don't worry about it." The Valkyrja left her bedroom as she sat there with the drapes closed on the windows. A sigh came out of her mouth as she got ready to do a few more things before dinner. As she got changed into a black easy flowing dress covering her arms, the dev stepped out and downstairs just to see Donovan and Melsia heading out as well for the night. "Dinner out and about?" she asked. They both turned around and looked at her.

"My wife wanted to see what Gold Pine had turned into, there are apparently a few restaurants that have opened now. We're eager to see some of the sights. I'm… sorry, your majesty, we won't be around until late." An XLRV was sitting outside, pretty much an unarmored taxi service.

"I see. No worries, go enjoy yourselves. I hope Gold Pine shines for you." They both smiled, bowing and curtseying to her as they left. For the most part, beyond Jeeves as well as the maids and security forces, the palace was once more all to herself, at least for the night. Despite that, it felt a little lonely, especially without her wolves to stick around with her.

Regardless of the palace becoming empty, at least of all but one organic being, it was time for her to finish up on some experiments in the research lab, one of which was the new scanner. As she left the palace to head on over, she checked the status of dinner for one. It was already in the works, a steak with greens and some red wine.

The dev quickly entered the lab and headed through the myriad security doors, not simply to keep anyone from entering, but to keep structural integrity and seal off any experiments that went wrong. The sprinkler system was designed to spray an inert mixture of gases and solutions to stop any fires or chemical compounds from further causing damage, with secondary blast walls that would raise and lower depending on the lab. This was why most of the counters, desks and chairs were a good two feet from any wall, to allow spare protection to lock into place. She already figured she might need some of it for what she was expecting.

Once she reached the respective lab that had all of the equipment ready, she tested all of the suppression systems and emergency measures to make sure they would function correctly, then got to work. With mechanical arms, she attached multiple parts together into not a magnifying glass, but something like a crystal ball except cube shaped with a metal latticework surrounding it for handles. Adding in a few pieces of electronics that hopefully would handle the explosion she already _knew_ was coming, and it was almost complete.

"Ok, secondary walls up… shielding online… recorder system tracking mic… this is scanner mark II going forward with final build, going in three… two… one…" she focused all of the essence she had stored up the day before, preparing just for this moment. This time, however, she steadily fed in a slow stream of both essence bars, keeping track of the stability with sensors inside. "Almost… almost…"

Before she could even react, the whole thing detonated, a mass explosion contained within the walls and rocking the area, nearly knocking the dev off her feet as she stood at the console behind the several layers of transparent Carbyne armor, looking just like plate glass. She was sure the palace maids and Jeeves had noticed the tremors.

"Madam, are you alright?! We just detected a massive explosion in the-"

"I'm fine Jeeves, the lab held. Holy shit, it did a number on the project though…" she replied as her eyes scanned the inside. The electronics had fused with the crystal, sparking a little here and there with no apparent power source to allow the electricity. The metal latticework was blasted off and strewn about on the ground, with logged footage showing most of it had pinged off the shielding inside and ricocheted multiple times. The walls themselves were not damaged much thanks to the energy shielding, however the blast was registered in the upper triple kilotons in an area the size of a bathroom. What she had just witnessed was a nuclear bomb going off in her face… at least behind multiple defensive layers.

No fires had broken out, but she was a little bit afraid of walking in there just yet. Selene set the system into backup security mode to add extra layers of shielding as she moved through the door and headed inside, slowly making her way to the cube waiting there. "You can do this Selene… just grab the thing and shove it in your inventory… very quickly…" she muttered to herself as her feet really wanted to take her back out.

 _This really isn't a good idea to do this without at least Hrist or Bronze Team around! Maybe I should just go eat dinner and have a quiet night… god I am being so stupid doing this alone…_

The empress winced as she stuck her fingers out, noticed an arc hit them, and realized the lightning damage wasn't as bad as she thought. However, her Hud battle log did inform her that normally the electric shocks she was experiencing, without resistances kicking in, would be enough to flash fry her right then and there. It was like she was reaching for a downed power line flailing on the ground. A very quick thought shot through her mind of what her fire resistance would do if she picked up a cake pan from a heated oven without oven mitts on her hands, then disappeared due to the task at hand.

As her fingers grabbed onto the cube, it jolted a little and felt slippery to the touch, like it was covered in silicone lubricant and underwater. The facets seemed to pulsate and warp with every finger touching the sides as she picked it up carefully and put it into her inventory. A long exhale of relief erupted from her mouth as she realized the potential threat was over… one that she created. "Done." Her Hud seemed to warp for a moment as the new scanner connected… though it did take a good minute compared to near instantly for the old one.

 _Is this one defective? Shit, I'm the only one here! What if it installs some corrupt weird virus or something in my head!_

She tried to calm down and control her breathing as the Hud swiftly corrected itself once the scanner had a chance to start working. As soon as she started looking around the room, she was getting material compositions of every piece of equipment, every wall, ceiling and floor, even blueprint layouts. Granted, she knew how to make all of it anyways; in her mind, it was probably trying to help with shortcuts as to a damaged piece of machinery with those schematics and how to repair it right off the top of her head.

"And… nobody to use it on… great…" the empress whispered out to herself. "Stupid stupid stupid stupid… don't fucking do something like that again you idiot… not without someone else nearby…" Jeeves ran in with a maid right behind him and looked around.

"Madam, are you sure you are alright?"

"I'm fine Jeeves, thanks for worrying. I…" she trailed off as she saw quite a bit more information toggle on about her butler, his level and skills. He had abilities, she already knew this, but she was receiving accuracy for the numbers to the fiftieth decimal point on some of it, even sound vibration information of his footsteps. It was a little too much info in many ways. "I think I just need to stop playing with stuff until Orlo and Turnie get back…"

 _I dodged a bullet back there…_

"Best not to tempt fate madam." The empress set auto clean on the lab and headed back to the palace with her butler and the maid, trying to figure out how to turn off certain features of the new and improved scanner. There was just too much info pouring in, with coordinates and detailed knowledge of everything around her. She was honestly worried she might have something like an epileptic seizure from too much firing at her at the same time; it was a complete information overload.

Selene sat down in the dining room and closed her eyes tightly, working hard to get some of it to go away while Jeeves worried about her health. The maid continued back to the kitchen to bring her dinner, and just as it showed up, the dev finally figured out how to cut out half of what she was seeing.

 _That was the first time an upgrade could have turned out for the worse for me…_

As she sat there quietly with her elbow propped on the table, her hand holding up her head, her butler asked if she needed to be fed. "What? No, no, it's ok, at least now it is. Don't worry." Most of the new details were gone now, at least stored away in a quickly crafted log list if she wanted to get into the more advanced info on a particular object… like the molecular structure of each atom…

The empress picked up her fork and showed she could feed herself, smiling after the first bite. As she ate, the dev picked through the crudely built checkbox system she added into her character sheet to stop the overload and slowly turn them on and off for just the right amount of data to appear. Until she needed any of it, most of the data was reverted to the basics of the now obsolete one she just replaced, ignoring the now much higher-level tracking and basic stats of a target.

Jeeves, despite being a civilian model, was still a level 90 with her Steampunk Mechanical Engineering skill; until the Valkyrja or Bronze Team returned tomorrow, she wouldn't get full use out of it.

"Ma'am, sorry to disturb you; the prisoner is begging for an audience again." Selene growled in frustration as she chewed. "She's crying." The empress leaned back in her chair and looked at the time. The entire scanner project had taken an hour, with barely another twenty minutes for dinner.

"Alright, alright, I'll come by and see what she wants." The dev couldn't believe she was acquiescing to this request from a prisoner, even if she hadn't done anything beyond enter her empire. There were countries back on Earth that would do the same if immigrants came in illegally after all, the U.S. had done it before in the past on numerous occasions. That didn't exactly make it right, but it had happened.

After finishing her dinner, she got a long jacket from a closet and headed just out the front entrance then stopped. A helibot was waiting for her, but instead she decided to finally make use of the amulet she was now always wearing. A quick teleport to the small lobby and she was there without any travel time. Although it was much faster, it did disorient her a little bit. This made her feel that longer travel in any transports was still pretty useful.

"Ma'am, happy to have you here" a waiting security automaton said as it stood at attention. They both headed through checkpoints and locked doors, down two flights of stairs and finally reached the minimum-security wing. As they walked through the hallway of gated cells, most of them empty, she saw the rest of the adventurers sitting down on their clean beds with their dinner provided, eating and staring at her walking by. "Here she is ma'am."

Through the last cell gate was a dark blue short haired woman with a white wizard's robe on with a few emblems on the shoulders and the chest; it looked like it was part school uniform. Her blue eyes looked up at her in worry, then immediately put her tray down on the small desk provided and jogged the few feet to the gate. "Please, are you the warden?" she asked.

"I'm a lot higher up the food chain than the warden. You asked to have an audience, for what reason I'm still trying to figure out. Make this quick, it is starting to get late." Selene couldn't believe she was being so annoyed with this adventurer that she had just captured. She had a long week, though it was unusual that she'd be so ornery.

"Whatever crime you think we committed, you have to believe me, we didn't do! You have the wrong people!" she pleaded.

"The crime is light by most standards. You entered our borders illegally, you're being held for an unforeseen time until we can decide when to release you." The woman looked extremely confused.

"We're in Artinia, no one else is to the west of us. Which noble's lands did we trespass on?"

"You aren't in Artinia." The blue-haired woman looked dumbfounded, blinking and looking away, wondering where they had gotten lost.

"I was sure we were traveling west to the unknown valley… that was where my sister was heading…" she muttered out to herself.

"Oh, you headed west alright." She looked up at the empress and raised an eyebrow.

"Where are we?"

"You are in the Clockwork Empire, in a prison, in the minimum-security wing." Selene looked over at the panel to the left of the cell door and checked the name on it, Yelena Crowling. There was silence as she checked the profile information. Adventurer, iron rank, apparently a student of the Academy of Magic for Girls; her age was sixteen, with even her magic tiers recorded, up to tier 3. She wasn't just a magician. A quick glance at Yelena's neck and it showed an anti-magic collar wrapped around it, capable of restricting casting up to tier 6, with tier 7 hot on its trail once the research was complete by tomorrow.

"Please, we didn't mean any harm, we're just trying to find my sister. I… I'm begging you, just let us go and we'll be on our way, we won't bother you anymore."

"You didn't bother us before this, Ms. Crowling. However, the reasons we cannot allow you to leave is you'll probably blab about what you've seen here, or even what you would have seen here had we let you go on your way. I cannot afford to have that information spilled just yet."

"So you're going to keep us here?" she asked.

"At least until certain future events take place, then we'll release you."

"Please! I don't want to be stuck here for years!"

"Years? I'm pretty sure the events I'm speaking of will happen in less than a month." Yelena backed away from the cell door and stood there, trying to study the empress.

"You're going to invade Artinia!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"I've already invaded and taken quite a few towns and villages, along with two cities. The municipalities are far better off now without your kingdom mucking things up for everyone with their corruption… well, at least every place other than Paldos. That place is toast. No more slave trade."

"There's going to be so many lives lost…" the teenager said out loud.

"Actually, we've been able to take just about everything without much issue. It seems your people really hate the king and the government. It's been pretty easy to get everyone to accept my rule given their quality of life has improved by leaps and bounds, well, beyond that slave market city. Now, if you have nothing else to say, I'm going to leave."

"Wait!" Yelena yelped out. "I'm… we're just trying to find my sister! Please, have you seen… has anyone seen… I don't know…" the girl seemed to trail off as she shot her hand out with her fingers outstretched to keep Selene there for a few more minutes. There was hesitation in her voice. "A woman… long green hair… tall… uh, might have a big backpack on? She might have been asking about ruins. Kind of… well… an airhead?" she asked, hoping the empress would have some information or glean for her a tidbit that her sister was alright.

"I haven't the foggiest who you are referring to. We get a lot of travelers coming these days. Ruins? Is she some archaeologist?"

"Supposedly she's a palo… palto… p something."

"Paleontologist?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"So, she doesn't study human remains or history." Yelena seemed to furrow her brow a little and try to remember.

"I… think? I'm sorry, I just… she just said she studies ruins."

"Well I haven't heard about anyone trekking out into the wild to find ruins, not that the valley has many of those given that very little really called this place home beyond Gold Pine." The teenager's eyes lit up at that name.

"That place! She said she was going to stay there for a day or two! Please, we just came to make sure she was alright. We haven't seen her in weeks, she was supposed to come back a while ago." Selene crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight on her hips.

"Well any study of ruins tends to take months or even years depending on what was found. She's probably just dealing with lots of fossils with her crew." Yelena seemed to start picking at her fingers and averted her gaze.

"She… came alone…"

"Well, that was stupid of her. It'll definitely take years for any real artifacts lost to history to be found. Unless she's searching just for a few key things and doesn't care about the rest."

 _Some crews or individuals did go into ruins not to catalog and uncover ancient history though, they just went in to create a reputation and find special artifacts, destroying the rest. Quite a bit of human history has been lost to that form of carelessness just to make a name for themselves._

"She… she isn't like that! Well… ok, maybe she didn't think this whole thing through, but she really did want to bring to light what she finds, all of it!" the girl snapped.

"And how does she intend to do that without a crew? Logistics is a main factor. Transportation, supplies, medical, manpower, storage, tools and equipment, clean source of water, a refined form of cataloging so nothing gets lost… authorization from the empire she just entered. Does she have any of this?" Yelena looked down at the empress's feet, somewhat embarrassed.

"Look, I know my sister can be a little… she leaps before she looks… but she does have a good heart, I assure you! I'm just worried about her that's all, we weren't trying to do anything other than find her." The girl seemed to sink into herself, worried she'd never see her family again.

 _Oh, stop being a bitch Selene… what am I gonna do…_

The dev sighed and rolled her eyes. "What's her name." Yelena looked up at her.

"Erina, Erina Crowling."

"Security in Gold Pine, any visitors matching the description of female, long green hair, tall, potentially outfitted for an excursion involving digging or mining? Might have not been all that put together in the head?" she asked over her coms.

"Affirmative, seen six days ago, heading northeast through the northern forest. No contact since ma'am." That meant she was either attempting to live off the land or bought enough dried supplies to last a week or more. A quick check of the trajectory sent to her told the potential locations the woman might have been at, with two ruins that she knew about. The valley was fairly boring, beyond Gold Pine at least. It was simply uncharted territory that she landed in. There were some mythical creatures and a few monsters that _had_ lived here, with the animals being mostly left alone now, however it was just a quiet area; the land was pretty much set for a large city to expand in, provided the bottleneck between Boramar and Azaltos Mountains was protected near Glass Dale and "Steel Cove" was guarded with the shipyard.

"She was spotted in Gold Pine it seems." Yelena's eyes widened, though she was a little confused as to how the woman in front of her could know so quickly where her sister was.

"Can I see her? Please?"

"She's not there anymore of course." The teenager looked crestfallen, mulling over different outcomes of where she might have gone. "Is there anything in particular she was trying to find?"

"Just… trying to uncover lost history, that's all… sometimes it got her into trouble… or maybe it got me into trouble instead…" she tapered off and turned around, heading over to the bed to sit down and contemplate what she got herself into.

"Well, she'll be back eventually, the valley is fairly secure now. The only thing she'd have to worry about is wild animals, which aren't much of a threat really if she keeps her distance." Yelena just sat there, staring at the ground. "You'll be released eventually."

"But… what if… what if we could… what if she found something? She didn't come with a crew! Maybe… maybe if you do somehow find her, we could-"

"I'm not the police, young lady. I don't exactly have much time to go about trying to find someone from a missing person's report from a country I'm at war with." The teenager seemed to sink into her robe at being told off. Selene could already figure out what she was suggesting, to help with whatever dig site her sister had found. That would mean the other adventurers would come along as well.

Nighttime had fallen, with crickets heard outside. There was silence in the cell block as Yelena just sat there, defeated. As harsh as the empress seemed to be, part of it was just stress from work. The dev left the prison without another word, heading back to the lobby and using her amulet to get back to the palace. She decided to change out of the black dress and into some comfortable pajamas to settle in for the night, but something kept nagging at her which made her stop changing.

"Aaagh… fuck…" she growled out with no one around, mulling over the situation with the adventurers. As she sat down on her bed in just her underwear and bra, she pulled up recorded footage from ornithopters and security optics to see where this Erina had gone. What she found was the exact same direction the ruins of the small village were as well as the cave entrances to the ex-goblin hideout. The whole place had been vacant for some time since they cleared it out before, so it wasn't as if there was anything that could harm the woman. What she found just after seeing her leave Gold Pine though made her curious.

Behind Erina, leaving in the same direction, was another person with fiery red hair and a dark red cloak, carrying a large backpack. He could have been a porter contracted to carry bought supplies behind her, but he seemed to be too confident… almost acting like nobility. At the moment, there was no real nobility in her empire. Checking through different views from her automatons on both of them leaving she noticed something odd. The man seemed to have odd colored irises, red to be exact. It was probably nothing, potentially a red wizard that used fire, a pyromancer to be exact, getting some extra cash while visiting, though she couldn't be sure.

"God damn it… I swore I was going to have an easy night after the fucking scanner…" Selene grumbled out as she got up and started to don her armor. It was probably nothing, but she didn't want to have a recon team head through the area and find the corpse of the girl's sister, proving that she had come here only for bad news and to be thrown in a cell.

Walking out of her bedroom and heading towards the already waiting helibot she hadn't taken before, her Honor Guard followed her in, taking a quick trip first to the village ruins that had fallen to the supposed black plague. Once there, she checked each building quickly, looking around for secret entrances to some hidden cellar or camouflaged tunnel. With nothing found worth any interest, that now left the mountain cave network, which took all of a minute to reach. She called in a QRF to watch the cave entrances for the second time the dev would be entering those passages, in the event they had somehow bypassed the paleontologist or unknown man coming this direction. Then, she entered into the dark depths once more, this time without Bronze Team.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Erina had made camp right in the middle of the ruins, her bedroll laid out near the dais that had nothing on it. The place was silent beyond the campfire that was burning away with a small pot cooking over it. She wrote inside her small journal as her hands rolled a small fragment around, one of many, trying to decipher the carvings on it. "This has to be the place, I'm sure I found it… at least I think it is. I hope they won't mind me trying to figure out why they abandoned it so long ago…" she quietly said to herself, her voice seeming very light and airy as if nothing was really bothering her.

There was movement behind a collapsed column, with a man sitting staring at her with his red eyes. She hadn't noticed him the entire time she was there, sneaking in the shadows the whole week, tracking her every movement. Erina stood up and looked at the wall behind the dais, trying to figure out where these fragments had fallen from. Once she found the few small openings, she tried to place it neatly into the holes, with it being a little difficult pushing through the rough sides. Once they were in place, that area glowed temporarily as a ripple of soft blue light rolled away from its position, disappearing after a few feet. Unbeknownst to her, those fragments had fixed an ancient circuit.

"Oh! So… that's what that does. I seem to have found out how some of this works. If I can decipher what it says, I wonder if… this does something…" again she spoke to herself as she scanned the wall and looked around. What she hadn't noticed was the ceiling far above had somewhat opened, a massive hole rending itself partway to allow view of the sky above. The man seemed to have a malicious grin on his face, as he watched and waited. She was doing all the work for him it appeared.

The green-haired woman walked to different rooms, at least the ones that weren't caved in or blocked off, to look for pieces that might have gotten carried away by small animals or bounced off. Another fragment, then another. There were a good twelve spots that looked like they could have these placed in, though she was only able to find six. Once each was in position, the hole above was about halfway open.

"Huh, I wonder if the whole thing needs to be completed or if there is something missing on the dais. It could be there are pieces worn down to sand already…" she started to look at the writing, the unknown symbols carved in and attempted to read what she could out loud. Unfortunately, she mispronounced far too much to understand what was being said, with part of the translation being similar to elven words, misconstruing the whole wall entirely due to that.

"Aaaaaahhh! I've had it with waiting and your incessant bungling of the language is infuriating!" The man snapped out as he scratched at his head furiously, with her spinning around quickly, though not exactly afraid. She caught him looking like a madman as his hands furiously pulled at his hair.

"Oh? Who's there? Did I accidentally get one of the words wrong?" she seemed to question, not really worried that someone had crept up on her in the dark.

"You got _all_ of it wrong, you brainless mortal! This is why we look down on you inferior creatures! Scatter brained! You are food and power for our magic, nothing more! At least you found enough for those blasted fragments to open this place to the sky, enough for me to leave and come back!" he snapped at her.

"The sky?" she seemed to not understand what he was saying as she looked up and noticed the opening. "Oh! So that's what this wall does. It's some sort of control they used to allow entrance, like a door. Interesting." He stood up and stepped over the fallen support, hopping down and seeming to alter his appearance. He started to get larger, his face changing and becoming scaled. As his body warped and grew, wings expanded out in an incredible display, the cloak disappearing as he expanded into a giant red dragon. "Oh my. I don't believe your kind used to live here."

"It hardly matters. You trespass just as much as I, yet your imbecilic brain can't possibly grasp what you have found. At least you opened the way for me to come and go as I please. In time I will find a way to clear this rubble and figure out the secrets that this ancient Dragon Eyrie have kept hidden. An insignificant speck such as yourself has had minor use here, I didn't have to do much to get the door open." His voice boomed deep and intimidating… at least if it was heard by anyone else but her. She seemed oblivious to the danger. He flew up towards the half-opened ceiling and proceeded to break away the remainder of the door, with huge chunks of the seal collapsing down to the floor below. He got another third of the protective barrier ripped away, enough to allow him to easily slip back and forth through the ceiling entrance.

Erina took some shelter close to the wall, trying to keep herself from being flattened by stone and rubble. "Oh dear, I really got into trouble this time, didn't I?" she said nonchalantly, with the red dragon finally coming down and landing, the slight tremor of his weight hitting the ground sending her off balance...

"Now, what to do with you…" he said maliciously, his maw opening slowly as he slowly took steps towards her.

"I'm not sure I would taste very good, maybe we could come to some sort of-"

"Enough! I tire of your ditzy prattle! Be a good meal and go down quietly!" he snapped as he charged quick as lightning to eat her in on bite. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough.

A massive spike shot up from the ground and impaled the dragon, stopping his mouth mere inches from the draconologist, and launching it upwards to hang limply like some trophy. The empress stepped out of the shadows of the tunnel that brought her down and looked at her handiwork, **{Molecular Reformation}** proving it still had amazing use. The honor guard came up behind her, creating a small group of golden plating and regal jewelry.

Selene stood there looking at Erina. "Um… I thank you for your timely arrival. I believe that might have been the end of my research just then. I guess I wouldn't have been able to finish it here." To the dev's ears, her voice was so light and soft.

"Research? That's what you're worried about? You nearly lost your life all the way out here! I was gonna settle in for the night and… and… damn it, fucking conscience…" A piece of rubble fell from the opening high above, dropping on top of the dev who shot her hand up and caught it. A quick flick of her hand and it dropped a few feet away, with the red head clearly annoyed at the woman standing in front of her.

"I guess I didn't really think anyone would try and follow me to find this place, it has been abandoned for some time after all. Not very many people would care about these ruins, well… I guess robbers might want to see if there was any of their hoard left somewhere." The empress furrowed her brow and looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean, hoard? Was this walking barbeque grill starter after some treasure here?" Erina turned around and looked at the control wall.

"I believe he hoped that the previous occupants here had left secrets that they didn't want others to get their hands on. Too bad it is in such disrepair, I wonder why they all flew away… oh, I'm sorry, my name is Erina, Erina Crowling." The green-haired woman turned back around, pushed up her glasses on her nose and stuck her hand out to shake.

"Your sister informed me about you." Selene didn't shake her hand. There was an awkward moment between them as the draconologist lowered her arm.

"Oh? I did tell her to stay in the academy; though, I also did say I would be back a week ago…"

"The academy? Oh, that was written down as well…" Selene questioned.

"The Academy of Magic for Girls."

"Ah. Well, that would explain the emblems on her shoulders obviously. Now, let's get you out of here, I've had enough crazy shit for one night…" The empress walked up and grabbed Erina's arm dragging her slowly towards the tunnel she had come from.

"B-but! But I've only really gotten a small chance to figure out the history of this Dragon Eyrie. Surely we can stay for another few days…"

"No permit, no ruins. Let's go, shovel bum." Erina was dragged through the tunnel and up towards the waiting helibot with her feet sliding across the ground, the entire time she was trying to pull away, but Selene's grip was solid.

"I need a permit? To unearth the story of this place?"

"You need a permit granted by me, along with a crew and security restricting this place for safety. For all I know, you could have dug up the Temple of Doom or something. Until I can wind down, you are in so much trouble…"

"Oh…" Erina seemed a little disappointed that she couldn't stay. "Can I by chance apologize right now? Maybe we can come to an agreeme-"

"No" Selene responded harshly.

"But my camp-"

"Your camp was stomped on by the giant pair of red alligator boots back there." as they finally reached the cave entrance and got inside the transport with the guards piling in. She tasked the QRF to stay there until tomorrow when a security detail would keep an eye on the now known about abandoned dragon eyrie.

Once the woman was taken to the prison, she was given the chance to talk with her younger sister who cried out of happiness for seeing her again. As they reunited, the empress got a chance to head back down the hallway. "Can we speak to you again, say, tomorrow?" Erina asked as she hugged her sister. "I believe we might come to an understanding…"

"Maybe. I don't think you realize the position you're in…" She continued walking away, leaving the prison and going back to the palace. She had enough of this little adventure in her own backyard. She spent the rest of the night mostly lying outside on a lawn chair drinking wine and listening to a recorded opera while staring at the stars.

"Fucking tourists."

 _ **30th, November**_

"So, he did what exactly?" Selene questioned an automaton that had brought in two criminals from Gold Pine. The first had attempted to kidnap a child from an up and coming family in the market for ransom money, while the second… had gone around stealing women's underwear from clothes lines.

"He has stolen exactly two hundred fifty-eight pairs of underwear, your majesty" the automaton replied. She sat there on her throne staring at the man in disbelief, his goofy perverted smile showing no care that he had been caught. She didn't know whether to be angry or surprised he could get his hands on so many, that would require some impressive climbing skills to reach some of the lines on balconies for some of the newer homes.

"How was he caught?"

"He fell from a second-floor balcony. Underwear launched everywhere in the street your majesty." The thought of this man falling down and his backpack exploding in panty confetti was a little amusing.

"What was the total cost of stolen goods?"

"Seventy-eight gold coins your majesty." The empress whistled.

"You don't really care that you took all of that do you?" she asked, staring at the squat man. He looked away bashfully, probably already trying to figure out how to scale the walls of the palace to take her bras. "Showing no remorse for actions, grand theft beyond ten gold coins limit, and attempting to flee that caused a very short chase for my security. The sentence is ten years, medium security, controlled access to any items nearby. I really don't care if you're a pervert or a kleptomaniac, we'll see if this needs to be extended. Also require psychiatric testing to see if there is something… broken… in that head of yours."

The man was carried off in cuffs as the kidnapper was brought forward. "Ah, I think I read the entire report on this one. Attempting to kidnap a child for ransom money from a well to do family who built themselves from nothing in Gold Pine."

"Yes, your majesty. This man had caused severe trauma to the child and the parents with clear evidence he wasn't going to return the child after the demands were met." Donovan and Melsia were back and to her left, sitting in smaller seats and providing their opinion on different subjects while they attended court.

"This man had intended to kill the child once he received his payment?" Melsia asked shocked.

"Indeed, my dear, indeed. Though I am against needless death… this man clearly deserves it" Donovan replied sternly.

"For your crimes against Gold Pine, with clear intent to snuff out the life of someone so young once you got what you want, death… immediately. I'm not having the prison spend one more day keeping you alive." The man seemed to smirk at her, his clothing seemed to be that of a high-class bandit with a coat that might have been stolen from a previous crime. As he was carted off outside towards the waiting transport to take him back to the prison, the dev tasked the security there to prepare for execution as soon as he was off the bus. It would take one bullet to his forehead and that was it, no need to even be humane about it. He certainly wouldn't have given the child a quick death.

"What's next on the agenda…" Selene muttered out as she checked the small clipboard provided. There were some grievances involving potential theft of property that was already handled with payment required from the second party, a request for an orphanage to be opened which was granted and provided funds for, a request for a very talented artist to carve a statue in the empress's image… and a peculiar man that was found building very crude equipment in his basement.

He had created the early design of a handheld cannon, with some alchemical mixtures that weren't quite yet on par with gun powder. The weapon looked like a long stick with a flared metal tube at the end and a small opening for the wick to be inserted. It was no rifle, but it showed there were some that were technically inclined.

"Your majesty, he was found to be creating weapons underneath his home." The dev cupped her chin and leaned on her elbow.

"What were your intentions with these?" she asked him.

"Confound it! They were meant for blasting rubble I say! These could be revolutionary in helping miners! Yet everyone thinks I'm trying to kill someone! I'm an inventor, not a murderer!" he snapped out, not even caring he was in front of the ruler of the empire he lived in.

"Was there evidence that he was preparing for something?"

"No evidence to harm your majesty, however, there did seem to be maps posted of the mines near Azaltos Mountains."

"Have you been contracted with the miner's guild?" she questioned.

"Not… not yet… but this could be my chance if I'm just set free!" he exclaimed, shaking his hands with his fingers splayed out, the handcuffs clinking. The empress sighed and rubbed her forehead, her tiara shifting ever so slightly.

"You are currently working on potentially harmful equipment that if not controlled properly, could cause more deaths that are not needed in those tunnels, hell, you could have blown up your home or the neighborhood. These need to be regulated very carefully, with extensive training provided. Can you provide that training and cover those costs, the insurance policies for the wounded miners?"

The old man looked away. "I… I think I have some prospective sponsors… if I could just get the chance to show them my work I…" he trailed off.

"I see, I see. Well, you don't have the funds to take care of any of this, and it seems if your work fell into the wrong hands it could be disastrous." Selene thought it over for a few seconds as he felt like she was going to throw the book at him. "Temporary funding provided by the empire; _however_ , research will be controlled with all safety precautions in place and evaluated constantly by the government with reports every week. Once the project is complete, you are to make sure every available training is provided with limited testing of the equipment you are developing before any full production comes into effect, have I made myself clear?"

He looked up at her with wide eyes. "You mean… the empire will be my sponsor?" he asked with a small grin growing on his face.

"Within reason _and_ provided you can produce an effective design that can be patented and manufactured without issue and within safety guidelines." The old man was almost dancing as the security automaton stopped him and took the cuffs off his hands with the empress waving them both away.

"It's amazing that he can create an explosive substance that doesn't require mana…" Melsia commented in almost a whisper to both her husband and the empress.

 _Not amazing at all. What will be amazing is if he can make sure his designs don't get stolen… I'd rather not hear later on people getting shot by crude pistols… I guess it might eventually happen if I'm going to get these people into the renaissance era soon…_

The next item on the to do list was dealing with the adventurers who came across her borders. Ten humans were marched in, with Yelena and Erina standing next to each other, all without handcuffs. "Well. I guess maybe turned into yes. Erina Crowling, you entered through my borders illegally and then proceeded with an unsanctioned archaeological dig site without notifying us."

"Oh? Should I know of these laws? I'm sorry, I don't exactly know the requirements of Artinia's neighbors." She didn't seem to be acting arrogant, just very aloof and curious.

"It's technically a big deal, you were digging in my backyard and thinking anything you found was yours. That doesn't happen around here. You also got yourself into quite a bit of danger without needing to. Had I not spoken to your sister just minutes before, you would probably have become that dragon's next meal." The adventurers that had come with Yelena gasped and started whispering.

"She took out a dragon?!" they asked each other. Small conversations popped up involving dragons and staring at the empress looming above them in her chair.

"SILENCE!" the whole throne room echoed in thunder. "No crew, little supplies, what did you expect to accomplish there?" Selene asked.

"Um, your majesty is it? I was expecting to figure out why the metallic dragons had abandoned the eyrie so long ago, and maybe understand some of the magic they used there. It could help everyone gain new found knowledge of the reasons dragons exist, that not all of them are against humanity."

"You really think a gold dragon is going to care if we're humans if its hungry?" one of the adventurers asked, a bard it seemed. He blinked in surprise at the naivety of the green-haired woman.

"It's been well known that metallic dragons are usually peaceful to sapient creatures, at least ones that aren't trying to attack it. Some supposedly have been purported to take human shape and live amongst us mortals. Is it not alright to try and understand our flying neighbors in the skies?" Erina asked.

"Gryphons fly too, and yet bar tamed ones, we're still below them in the food chain. I can't imagine we're considered-"

"Enough." Selene put her hand up for them to stop arguing, though Erina didn't look like she understood they were in an argument to begin with. "How long were you in those ruins?"

"Uh, I believe one week… but I wasn't exactly keeping track of time outside very well… maybe less? Or could it be more?"

"Sister, didn't you go outside to see if it was nighttime? That's a lot of torches you would burn through unless you bought light scrolls!" Yelena chastised her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking that far." Erina seemed to bonk herself on the head and stuck her tongue out, giggling a little.

"I swear, this is why I always said to keep in touch and come back early or you'd start forgetting things!" The teenager was snapping at her with a frown on her face, her hands tipped up at an angle as if she was pushing against a desk. "Hmph!"

"Sorry to worry you Yelena, I didn't mean to."

"Ahem." Both of them turned back to the empress still sitting in her throne. "Beyond rubble and cobwebs, was there anything of value found in the little time you were there?"

"I doubt there was any treasure still left there that the dragons didn't take with them long ago, so I'm afraid your kingdom-"

"Empire." Selene seemed to take offense constantly at what she had built being called anything but.

"-Empire won't really get anything worth much inside."

 _Oh, you have no idea do you… although I'm pretty sure the Orb of Experiences was just placed there by the fallen adventurer party and goblins because the dais looked nice to hold it._

"I wasn't necessarily referring to material gains. Do you have a journal log with everything you've found out in there? Languages? Architectural design? Fashion sense even?"

"Oh! I do, at least, I had one. I think I dropped it back there before you dragged me out. Sorry." The dev sighed and facepalmed.

"So, you went in alone, how much work did you expect to do in there with a limited budget? No sponsors, no logistics… were you not going to come back to your family?"

"Yeah sis! Did you just forget us?!" Yelena snapped.

"I was going to come back. Um, why did you leave the academy? Weren't you in the middle of exams?" Erina answered with her own question, diverting the subject.

"I'd like to know how she can be an adventurer and be going to school at the same time" Selene interjected. Yelena went beet red as she tried to figure out a way to answer. Her friends nearby, part of the adventuring team, had the same uniform robes as well, though two of them had different colors, probably due to their year.

"It was a dare alright?! I… I did it on a dare and we did a small quest, that was all."

"Oh, mother wouldn't like knowing one of her daughters became an adventurer."

"You aren't going to tell her either! It was one time! I made some friends and well… one time! So, don't go blabbing! Or I'll tell her about that time you found that wannabe necromancer professor who-" the teenager yelled at her with her finger pointed up at her sister's nose.

"Alright, alright" the draconologist said as she put her hands up in surrender. "To answer the previous question, I did find something, at least some information about how they can perform large rituals with their magic." The dev leaned forward and stared at the woman with a furrowed brow.

"Their magic? It isn't the tier magic system?" she asked inquisitively.

"Oh, no, it isn't. It's called wild magic your majesty." Selene leaned back and looked around the room, almost as if she was trying to find a response to that.

 _How many forms of magic are there here? I've only been creating immunities to tier magic, this… this might be something I need to figure out and control. If I can't, then it's a threat._

"I'm… still trying to understand what the eyrie contains, it may take some time before I can decipher everything, though the rubble may cause some problems… I guess I really should have brought a digging crew with me huh?" Erina chuckled out, finding it funny that she didn't think about that.

"You should have. Well, what has happened has happened. Now… as to why you are all here beyond explaining about this entire… debacle…" the empress stated. The adventurers and girls from the academy grimaced and looked down at the ground. "Erina Crowling, for attempting an unsanctioned dig in The Clockwork Empire, illegally crossing our borders, you should be imprisoned… however… given the circumstances, I… will allow you to continue under strict conditions, one if which all findings are to be reported back to me."

 _I need to know what this is and how to keep it from working against what I've built. The easiest way is to give her a job._

Erina smiled and nodded at her. "So, I can continue then? That's wonderful, though my camp has been destroyed… oh… but I don't have funding after all to replace all of that…"

"I'll see to that" Selene grumbled out as she looked at the others, including Yelena and her classmates. "As for all of you… there are two choices. You can work with her at the dig site, or you can stay in the prison."

"Hard labor or sitting in a dungeon cell… choice choices…" one female adventurer said, a warrior it seemed.

"That dungeon cell was pretty nice, all things considered" a ranger replied with a headband around his forehead.

"It's better than death, ok?" Yelena snapped at both of them.

"That… could be a third option if you prefer it" Selene responded with a slight mischievous grin. That straightened all of them up as a visible shiver went up all their spines.

"No no! We'll help! Thank you for the offer!" the teenager yelped out as she seemed to pat at the air with her hand, grinning.

"Now then… heavy lifting is obviously beyond this team, so I'll see about getting a separate crew brought in for that to clear useless rubble that was verified by Ms. Erina here. As much as I shouldn't ask this, does anyone have any questions?"

"Um… when would we have done enough work to be released?" a male bard said, looking between his teammates. The dev sighed.

"There are certain events that need to take place very soon. Once they happen, and they will, I'll… allow you to return to your homes. Do not cross the borders of my empire without going through legal channels, immigration and customs again, usually found directly outside one of the first towns and villages close by, along my borders. This is to stop any criminal activity from bleeding over from somewhere else. If you do this again, we will consider you a threat."

"Scary…" the female warrior whispered to another adventurer. Her short light green hair had a large lock of her bangs hanging over her left eye, shifting a little as she tilted her head to speak to a friend. The group was led outside and to a transport waiting to send them to either the prison or the ruins.

"Melsia, I have a question. How many different types of magic are there around? Or for that matter, different types of abilities beyond what a normal human can do?" Selene asked as the throne room once again became boring.

"It depends on what you feel are abilities. That I know of?" the mother of Morlan and Ezra responded.

"Yes."

"Well, tier magic you already know about, then there are martial arts, which are usually performed by those who are proficient in melee, um… talents, Runecraft and finally Wild Magic."

"Oooook… what are Martial Arts?" the dev asked, cocking her eyebrow.

 _If this is about pressure points and fighting styles, then this is going to get boring quickly._

"Morlan might be able to answer that question better than we can. Involving Runecraft… dwarves would be able to tell you what it does, I'm not exactly an expert." Selene seemed to give a slow nod, as if realizing she didn't have much to go on. "I'm sorry to tell you that."

"It's… alright… what are talents?"

"Talents are innate abilities that some are born with, though may not always make use of. Ezra, for example, has an innate talent with holy magic."

"Ah, so… a talent amplifies other facets of life? What if it's a talent to wield a sword with greater proficiency and they are instead a wizard?" Melsia gestured to her with a smirk.

"There you have it; they are not always the most useful."

"Ah… ok… I think I understand now… so these talents are kind of random, they don't necessarily connect to what a person aspires to be, it's just a natural ability…"

"Correct." She went on to explain what Wild Magic was, though her experience with it was extremely limited. Supposedly, it used souls to fuel it, which didn't sound like it was very efficient. The advantage, though, was it was incredibly powerful, capable causing incredible destruction or creation depending on how many sacrifices were offered up, though the stronger the spell, the more unstable it was and capable of backfiring.

Apparently, only dragon lords or their descendants could cast that magic, with a very rare few if any beyond that could somehow harness the power outside of that heritage.

 _Sounds impressive… yet wasteful. Now how the hell do I lock it down…_

All of these types of magic and abilities needed to be researched immediately, with control groups paid for to volunteer in the experiments. Wild Magic would probably be difficult to get anymore knowledge on without getting a friendly dragon to assist, but Runecraft, Talents and Martial Arts might be achievable and even capable of being reproduced. Bronze Team was coming back with quite a few "borrowed" items and equipment for her to examine.

 _A world with Tier Magic, Wild Magic, Runecraft, Talents, Martial Arts, Arcanic's Wizardry Magic for me, Advanced Technology that I'm bringing, Steampunk, now psionics and gods with their faith energy? Oh boy…_

Selene's mind was reeling from the thought there were so many different things she was going to have to work through. Coming across Erina was rescuing her more than Yelena's sister from becoming a human McNugget. She ran her fingers through her hair, moving the tiara a bit as she tried to wrap her head around all of this, blinking profusely.

"Ok, ok… what about faith energy?" she finally asked. Melsia looked at Donovan who shrugged.

"We… don't know what you're referring to, your majesty."

"God powers." The woman's mouth fell agape as she tried to figure out what she meant.

"Do you mean… how do god's do what they do? Well… I… I don't believe we've had the pleasure of seeing one… do… anything… nor have we ever seen a god down here… well, I… I mean you seem to be fairly close to that title, not that I'm placing it upon you, your majesty."

 _The only way I'm getting an answer is talking to one apparently. These people pray to mostly idols of gold that don't have a real god, of course they wouldn't know that Elesia or Xaxara really exist… the only one who seemed to know about Xaxara was Antoine…_

"Alright, I understand. Thank you, for that… information… Melsia. I appreciate it." Morlan's parents nodded just as he and Elsei opened the far doors to the throne room, with the three of them getting up from their seats. "Ah, just the man I needed to speak to."

"What do you require, your imperial highness?" he asked as he carried a large bag hanging over his shoulder. They had just come back from shopping and staying in a high-priced inn owned by Moira, practically the whole afternoon yesterday and this morning.

"I'd like to ask you some questions, maybe get a demonstration of it as well. Martial Arts. You know any?" Morlan nodded thoughtfully as he looked at his partner.

"I have some that have taken quite a long time to hone and refine. I can show you once I've had some time to prepare."

"By all means, go rest, we can have a little show after lunch. Then you can educate me." The empress motioned for him to head to his guestroom and put down his bought items just as another automaton brought in a woman at the door. "Um, I thought we finished court already?" she asked in a confused tone.

"We have not your majesty, you were going to speak to this young woman, Delfie Alensif involving her request for starting her printing press." Delfie peeked around the automaton, her brown hair wrapped in a loose braid and hanging over her shoulder, freckles on her face and big glasses she pushed up her nose. A big grin popped up on her mouth; the auburn-haired woman could almost visualize braces on her teeth. Selene pushed on the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, realizing she had entirely ignored the last thing written on the bottom of the to do list.

"Ah, right, sorry, that was my screw up. I have a million things on my mind, didn't mean to make it awkward. Um, you're starting a printing press, correct? Wooden blocks with letters inscribed on them, ink roll? I believe there was also word that you wanted to start articles about the goings on about Gold Pine, investigative journalism?" the dev said, trying to make sure she got the reason why Delfie was there correct.

"Yes! That's right! I uh, wanted to make a sort of paper that could be given out to the people with all the news and what was happening around them" the perky woman said, hopping slightly on her feet and clutching a journal in both arms close to her chest.

"So, a newspaper?"

"That sounds even better!"

"Well it's a decent goal and I don't have a problem with it. Just make sure all the articles aren't false, make sure you have good sources and evidence to back up whatever is written. I'll see to it that there is some funding to get it up and running." Delfie jumped in the air and shot her fist up in joy. This was the best day she had ever had.

"I promise you won't regret this your majesty! Um… uh, maybe in the future, I could maybe ask you some questions?" she squeaked out, wincing at any response that was going to come out of the empress's mouth.

"You mean an interview? Sure, why not." The girl bowed multiple times thanking her, speaking a mile a minute as Selene just stood there staring at her. "Easy, slow down and take a breath. I'll wait for your first issue to be released, make it a good one with lots of articles on different subjects."

"I will! Thank you again!" the brand-new reporter was led out of the throne room as the dev sighed. She was going to need a press representative very soon. She wasn't looking forward to multiple reporters in a room as she had to stand behind a podium for a press release.

Lunch was served with the five eating while they talked about the previous night. It was also brought up as odd that the empress was not eating at a separate table given that she was royalty. "Well, technically this is my dining room, my palace, my castle. I'll eat wherever I feel like it, even in bed." That put an end to that question.

That was when Hrist and Brynhildr finally came back, the wolves running in and sitting down next to their alpha, with Luna having a blue bow put in her fur. Hrist seemed to be averting her gaze away from Selene, which confused her. "Hrist, what's the problem? You seem off today."

"Oh, she did something this morning which shouldn't have happened" Bryn replied for her as the raven-haired woman sat down and tried to be ignored. The blonde seemed to have a catty grin on her face as her eyebrows waggled.

"Uh huh, what was it that she did?"

"There was a student that wished to show off a sword technique and his skill. He was being full of himself, which prompted my dear sister here to step up and act as the sparring partner when he warned everyone that he could take on the greatest warriors with this one strike."

"I never attacked him; I don't know why anyone thinks that!" Hrist snapped. The empress glanced at her then back at her sister, a slight smirk growing on her face as well. The battle maiden was embarrassed and practically fuming.

"She blocked the strike a bit too quickly and he put all of his strength into it, breaking his own arm. To everyone else, it looked as if she shield bashed him."

"Weak little…" Hrist muttered out under her breath as a plate was provided and light insults flew from her mouth.

"What did you expect Hrist? He just wanted to show off, you could have just stood there, and he would have knocked himself out. His footwork was poor, that sword strike was the only thing he really had going for him and he would have bounced off you" Bryn chuckled out as she ate a piece of bread with some butter on it.

"He was knocked out?" Selene asked, the grin growing a little larger as she eyed her General sitting sulking at the table.

"No, but he very nearly did. He dropped the sword when his arm broke, it bounced a little as he fell to the ground and the pommel whacked him in the face coming back up."

"That was not my fault and you know it, no one is that exaggerated."

"Well he was, crying like a baby in front of everyone. He has no pain tolerance" Brynhildr giggled out at her sister.

"Was the academy nurse able to heal him?" The dev asked as she drank a little water.

"She healed him up, though nothing is going to fix his fear of how fast she shielded herself. It looked like you were going to move in for the kill with how fast you brought it up."

"Wooden sword?"

"Heavily blunted swords and padded armor, they had just moved up from wooden so they could understand the weight."

"Ah. C'mon Hrist, ease up. Don't worry, you just scarred a student for life, it's not that big a deal." The dev chuckled and winked at her, which only caused the Valkyrja to double down and pout. Morlan kept his eyes down at his food as he didn't want to antagonize the woman any further. Lunch continued without anymore jabs towards a certain battle maiden and remained uneventful up until Elsei spoke up.

"Your majesty, what will be done with the three red dragon remains?" Selene finished a bite of her food and washed it down. Hrist spit out her sip of water onto the table and stared at the empress, then at Elsei.

"Three? What's this?" Bryn asked as Hrist just blinked.

"We'll be performing some research on the biology and makeup of their body, maybe have the bones of one stripped and prepared for… I don't know, a museum or something."

"Where did three red dragons come from?" Hrist asked as she looked around the table.

"Uh, well, two were caught flying into our airspace yesterday… that was handled…" Selene started to explain as everyone continued to eat. "And… one I sort of took out when I found a certain draconologist about to become its dinner last night, at least I think that's the term to call her now that it's sort of verified what we found was a dragon eyrie..."

"The study of dragons? She was one?" Melsia added in softly.

"You did what?!"

"Good job! Less of those lizards is always a good thing" Bryn chuckled out as she carved up a few bites of her freshly caught and cooked fish from the new trawlers. Hrist just blinked at her.

"Yeah, he was a little lacking beyond being able to light up a fireplace."

"Did his breath stink?"

"He never got a chance to use whatever breath attack he had; I impaled him on a spike." Bryn's sister just kept staring at her friend sitting there and chatting about defeating not just one, but three dragons. Selene just looked up at her and thought for a second. "Oh, it was just one I handled. The other two were taken out by my air forces in the morning. I'm not going to claim that tally. I also wasn't expecting it either."

"We saw the remains being moved by transports" Elsei replied.

"You should have-" Hrist tried to say but was cut off.

"I should have called you to help? You were in the academy; I could handle it myself Hrist. It was no problem. Didn't even break a nail." The empress splayed her fingers in front of her and wiggled them, showing the manicure. Hrist just looked at her with worry. "Alright, fine, it was just one last hurrah before I get sequestered behind fortress walls, sorry."

"If there is one thing you cannot say, sister, it's that our empress is a fragile flower" Bryn commented. Though the dragon did register as a level 90, it might as well have been a level 1 in the dev's eyes.

"The fact I have seen her handle more than I have is telling" Morlan added in. There was silence in the dining room as Hrist thought about what next to say.

"At least you can say now that you have slain a dragon with your sword. I just… wanted to… be there… that's all…" she finally said.

"You just wanted in on the action" Bryn laughed out.

"Technically, no sword was used… can I consider that spike as a sword? I'm not sure. Whatever. I might have one of the heads mounted somewhere, maybe. You can get the next chromatic, if one of them is stupid enough to fly nearby again." Brynhildr laughed at that even more. The thought of seeing a dragon head with its tongue out hanging on the wall just put her in a fit of giggles.

"You really needed to get some frustration out about something, I can tell."

"Well it has been a little stressful for the week, I'll admit. I need to get an imperial cabinet or administration hired to help out… or built… plus, I…" the empress replied begrudgingly, however, she trailed off at the end. She was checking the month and realized she was at the end of it. The dev was now worried she really would have to sequester herself away for a little due to a certain time of the month making her quite… disagreeable.

A coms request was opened from a recon team near Silvinholm. "Ma'am, we have news involving potential military action and the current events involving Silvinholm. Unrest has escalated and is currently at a critical bursting point."

"Well hell, I take it the mercenaries don't like it when their jobs are taken, and the civilians are treated like shit. Are people fighting back?"

"None have taken up arms just yet against the army, the Artinian forces have received new orders."

"To leave or?"

"Unknown just yet ma'am. We're maneuvering into position to take a look at the papers." While the conversation in the room had changed to what Elsei and Morlan had bought on their trip to Gold Pine and Glass Dale, she got visual through the optics of SF Bravo Team moving in and sneaking into the commander's temporary office while the recon team held back.

"Bravo 2, copy the documents then slip back." There was movement of the camera view in her Hud towards the desk where a quick flash was seen, then it headed towards the door.

"Be advised, Echo tier 2 heading for potential intercept" recon warned as they tracked the stairwell and vibrations, footsteps and sounds coming up it. Tier 2 meant someone in command of the operation, probably the commander of the Artinian army stationed there now heading to his office. Bravo 2 was just out of the door and closing it when the commander walked up, barely missing the cloaked automaton by inches as it backed up and pressed against the wall. Once Bravo Team were out of the area, the dev checked on the picture of the documents. They were kill orders by the king. He was demanding the commander to slaughter all those who would act against the laws set by Alain, now controlling the council of nobles in the city. The orders were insane, as expected from the sociopath.

 _Son of a…_

Another coms request from Jorge popped up. "This is Jorge, we're heading back with some souvenirs for you ma'am."

"How many?"

"At least one hundred different toys and trinkets for you ma'am" Ethan commented.

"Should make for interesting R&D later on, is it possible to incorporate any of this?" Turnie chimed in.

"Unknown until we get a chance to take some of it apart, it will at least be enlightening and tell us just how the dwarves think and act with runecraft equipment given they now have tier magic. We can build a dossier on how to handle them in the future" Orlo replied.

"Jorge, things might have gotten a little complicated, at least more complicated than I was hoping for, in Silvinholm." Bronze Team tapped into the feed and saw what she was looking at, with all the intel being provided.

"Check the date on the documents, these came in yesterday" Ethan commented cautiously.

"Then shouldn't we have received a status update from the recon team on what was going on? I'd think the pointy stick wielders who think they're in charge of the city would have started dancing on people's graves by now for looking at them funny" Deacon chimed in. Selene tasked an ornithopter along with the recon team to listen in through the windows with a sound amplifier listening device. They caught the tail end of the commander talking to one of his lieutenants.

"-This isn't going to work. We can't just go through with any of it."

"We're going to disobey orders sir?"

"Do you want to be known as the Butcher of Silvinholm?"

"The problem isn't going to go away that easily though sir, he'll just send one of the Generals that stand by him to replace you and I."

"Which is why I am still debating this. Do we have any other options?"

"Martial Law isn't working well, maybe we could ease back on the patrols a little, give people a chance to actually live in their city?"

"There are no mercenary peacekeepers though! We're stretched thin as it is working the streets… damn it…"

"There has to be a way to not go through with this sir, we'll come up with something. They won't find out until the next envoy is required to head back with the report." That was the end of the conversation as the lieutenant left the office and the commander simply sat down at his desk, pulled something out of a drawer, and promptly started drinking from it, no glass. It seemed that the Artinian army stationed to guard Silvinholm were still keeping to the ideals of honor and respect, just as they did with Morlan.

The empress, unbeknownst to anyone sitting near her at that moment, tasked a brigade to stay under camouflage near the city in the event they committed to following those orders, with specialized weapons to attempt to pacify both sides without killing anyone if at all possible. The military forces inside weren't exactly the bad guys, they were being ordered to attack civilians. She also sent a request via a janitorial automaton at the academy to have lunch with Antoine tomorrow, with the notice that she was going to break her promise. She was willing to admit she wasn't very good at the whole waiting game and she already got one noble family out of there, with intel provided by the Rikters to try not to harm some other houses. With that information, there was no real reason to not go in full force.

The next few days were going to be busy, just like every day. During that time, there were security teams getting the villages south of the ruins of Paldos City under control with very little crime, rebuilding homes, and in general getting the border of the empire extended.

"Your majesty…" Jeeves spoke up at the door of the dining room. "We have… some unexpected guests at the gates…" Everyone looked at each other.

"From Gold Pine?" Selene asked.

"From… Eil'Ta Forest."

"To… see me?" The empress furrowed her brow in confusion. What were high elves way out here for? How did they get here even?

"No, your majesty, to see… Ms. Elsei." Everyone stared at the elf sitting quietly and drinking from her glass of water. She didn't say a thing.

"Shouldn't they have… been stopped by your soldiers, your majesty?" Donovan asked.

"Not if they weren't attempting to cause problems. They aren't part of Artinia, so… I didn't put a restriction order on them exactly so they would be allowed to cross my borders… I just never expected them to do that." The entire room simply stared at the blonde woman sitting next to Morlan as she just stayed silent. The dev checked on travel itineraries from any visitors that headed inland from that direction that her security logged. The elven group had traveled down to Eld Horn, then to Glass Dale, finally to Gold Pine. It was just a quick trip to the castle after that. They didn't cause any trouble the whole way here.

"Would you know what's going on, Elsei?"

The blonde elf looked at everyone in the room, finally opening her mouth to speak.


	28. Ch 27 Elven Diplomacy, Dwarven Issues

"How many are out there?" Selene asked.

"Ten your majesty, all well-equipped… for their era" Jeeves responded. While the elves might have been well armored and capable of holding their own against melee combatants, probably capable of firing off arrows and clipping the wings off a fly, this didn't exactly mean they would win against even one of the maids.

"Your majesty, I'll go see them" Elsei said as she got up with Morlanion attempting to follow. She stopped him. "Morlanion, please, this involves me and shouldn't cause issue for everyone else here." He just stood there at the door and blinked, turning around and looking into the eyes of the empress. That was when she stood up and started walking out, with the others following suit.

"Please let me handle this, your majesty" Elsei said as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Elsei, as much I would like to do so… they are technically in front of my castle. I'd like to know at least why. Personal matters are trumped by political, and they are an unknown that currently have an entire security force aiming high powered weapons at them. Most other establishments with high priority officials would have shot and asked questions later by now." The elf sighed and resigned to the backlash that might cause. The dev didn't care. Her empire, her turf, her rules.

As they stepped outside with the others staying some distance behind, Elsei and Selene stepped towards the gates as they unlocked and rotated out of the way, the blast shielding detaching and sliding into the ground. It was always impressive to those who weren't used to the technology available in the Clockwork Empire to see things like that. On the other side, fifty feet away, were ten high elves, one of which Elsei locked eyes with.

Morlan came up behind Selene who put her hand up for him to simply stay behind her, to let Elsei speak where needed and not get in the way for either of them. Both women walked forward towards the elven group, with weapons trained on them from every direction. They were still considered unknowns, potentially hostile. At least four sniper perches were already tracking their movement, though the elves didn't exactly know what the weapons they were using could do to them. Multiple auto turrets spun up, already getting ready to go hot. If they fired, not just the elves would be destroyed, but the land they were standing on would be gone. They were lucky they were allowed to get this close.

"This doesn't concern you human, just back away and let us take the woman you have captive away from here" they heard as they reached thirty feet. The honor guard came up right behind the empress to make sure nothing got near her, as well as Hrist and Bryn towering over all but the automatons.

"I'm not a slave Mladris, cast that from your mind." The brunette elf had pulled her small curved sword, what looked like it might be an elegant weapon. The dev's scanner registered her as a level 22, tracked her equipment, and verified it as all mithril, Elite quality. There were quite a few skills known, including something that could only be described as Blade Dancing. A small marker automatically appeared with the question mark asking, 'Potential Royalty?' Her armor seemed to solidify the answer, given she had a twinkling tiara draped on her forehead.

Both groups stood their ground, though Selene surveyed the elves with weapons out, each only level 15. "I'm making it my concern given you are currently standing on my front lawn. I'd strongly suggest you put your weapons away, or the castle security will light you up like the 4th of July." Mladris smirked and spit on the ground to insult her.

"Nothing a human can make could ever hold a candle to one of us. Elsei, come with us, the forest has need of you once again. Your people are waiting." They seemed unimpressed, the exact same attitude the Artinian army kept having when the empress's military would show up. It always ended the same way, that is to say quite badly, for the opposing force.

 _Brazin little bitch, isn't she?_

"Tell that to the minefield your currently standing in." Mladris looked down and saw a spider mine just chilling right in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she got ready to strike it, with Selene throwing her hand up. "I would suggest not doing that, it is a mine after all. The whole reason for them existing is to explode obviously." The little walking bomb just sat there, its optics just looking between each elf that had a weapon out. Just one of them was capable of wiping out the whole group… and they were surrounded. The castle was never undefended, after all.

"I'm not going anywhere. I told you, I've made my peace and travel with Morlanion."

"That is simply not an option right now, Elsei. We need you to come with us. It's important." Mladris motioned for Elsei to come with them, but Morlan stepped forward and got between them. Two more of the elves were about to step forward to intimidate, but spider mines popped up and started to glow.

"That means they've gotten ready to detonate and released their safeties, last warning. There won't be enough left of any of you to send back to your forest. They're directional shaped charges, so none of them will affect us." Mladris scowled at the empress, then slowly turned her head and noticed Alpha Team standing behind them, the Medium towering ten feet high and definitely acted as an intimidation factor. She had absolutely no idea how they could have snuck up on them so quietly. Laser designators tracked their chests and foreheads, ready to engage if they did one thing wrong. Shoulder mounts were ready to fire volleys of micro missiles and shotgun blasts. While their optics weren't red, they were yellow and waiting for the order to engage. Special Forces and mines, with castle security watching them. They were either very brave, or very, very, stupid.

Elsei just stood there, motionless and unwilling to help them in the situation they now put themselves. "You would stand next to these humans Elsei? What are you thinking?"

"For the second time, Mladris, I've made my peace after what happened. I live here now. It seems you haven't accepted the fact that I am not a slave, that I am not in need of rescue any longer. Inform the queen I will not be coming back. There is no need to worry about me interfering in the future." The blonde elf turned around and headed back towards the gates, with Morlan glancing back and forth then following her.

"Wait! Wait I say!" Mladris snapped. She continued on. "It's happening again!" Elsei stopped dead in her tracks and blinked. Selene and the Valkyrja simply waited. Morlanion's lover turned around and stepped right next to the empress. "We have need of your skills and experience." Morlan attempted to speak, but the dev put her hand up for him to stay silent as she did the same. This was for Elsei, not them.

"How many?" she quietly asked.

"We know not. We must make haste, there is not a moment to lose. There is a spare great eagle we have brought with us for you to fly." Off in the distance was a congress of large birds with saddles attached sitting and looking around. Twin SAM sites were aiming in that direction, with a variation of missiles ready to fire. Two VTOL gunships were hovering nearby, tracking the whole area. If they went loud, the eagles wouldn't exist anymore.

"If it is as you say, you'll need more help than even me."

"You are all that we have, we'll make do."

"You can ask for help from my empress Mladris." The brunette laughed.

"You expect me to work with them? What has happened to you Elsei?"

"I got wise about the world, Mladris; I've realized that not everything has to follow our stereotypes and racism, classicism that has plagued the aristocracy for so long. The rest of us have no true hatred towards humans. Open your eyes." The royal blooded elf gritted her teeth.

"Are you so blind to all the deaths they have caused? Their attitude towards all that are not them? They are a disease on the world Elsei! How can you forgive all that they have done?"

"Not all of them are that way. The majority of our people realize that. The Clockwork Empire you are currently standing in is completely different from Artinia. I have seen nobility beyond even us. But I guess, things will never change for our people given tradition being so ingrained in all of you because of your mother trying to stick with the old ways. You'll never learn about anything past your forest."

" _Our_ forest, Elsei, have you forgotten you are one of us too?!" The blonde elf sighed and looked down at the ground in thought. A slight wind picked up and brushed her hair past her face as the others just listened. The empress could easily end this, given she could see there was some turmoil in the elf's eyes.

"I will only go if I may ask for assistance."

"You already have it, now let us leave" Mladris said.

"I wasn't speaking of you." Elsei looked at Morlan, who smiled down at her and nodded.

"We already agreed to go wherever the other strides" he told her comfortingly.

"Morlan… I know this may be hard to grasp, but we'll need more than us this time."

"Absolutely unacceptable! The humans cannot enter our forest! Cast that thought out of your-"

"Either I am allowed to request aid from the empire that we are citizens of, or you do this on your own." Mladris was fuming and glaring daggers at her, then at the dev who just stood there, not really caring what she thought of the human woman. The other elves, the elite guard of the brunette, seemed rather aloof and bored.

"You would turn your back on your own people?!"

"I would leave the people who had not one care for the situations they put me in due to 'tradition' to their own defense. Had you all not been so dead set on following ancient law, I might not have left."

"We need you!"

"I come as a 'packaged deal.'" The brunette elf squeezed her hand into a fist so tightly that her fingers might have blood circulation cut off in the gauntlets. She looked as if she was going to charge forward and strike Elsei.

"If they enter the forest, they act of their own accord, with no help from us. Their lives are in their hands, we will not come to their rescue once they know what they are against."

"They already have experience, Mladris. They will do better than we ever could." That hint let Selene know a little of what was coming. It was either a dragon, undead… or a faith eater. Elsei turned to Selene and brought her hand up to her chest. "I know I have no right to ask this of you, your imperial majesty. I am a humble citizen now of your empire, though you allow me to stay in your palace. Though they act in poor taste towards you, even in front of your own home, I wonder if I might beg… would you assist me in this endeavor?" The empress just smirked.

"Elsei, all you had to do was simply ask." The dev took one last look at the elven group glaring at her as she just walked back to the castle gates. "By the way, if they come again brandishing weapons, the security will just end them, just saying. I'm putting up a regular rule to enforce, any form of hostilities from now on is shoot first, ask questions later."

Elsei got a little more information and disputed her mode of transportation with Mladris before following, the rest of the empress's entourage following suit. The auburn-haired woman didn't ask if the elves would be interested in staying in the castle for two reasons, both involved her believing they were massive arrogant dicks. The mines deactivated and allowed the elven group to leave, with Alpha Team keeping an eye on them until they were on their eagles. Even then, the SAM turrets kept a lock as they left.

Brynhildr caught up to Selene and glanced over her shoulder. "I believe she wasn't just asking for your help in a future battle."

"Oh, I know that. She was looking for some shelter from those who feel they are holier than thou, a friendly face that won't treat her like a tool. It seems that's what they think of her from what I can see. I never asked what she did before she got captured and turned into a slave."

"Are you going to ask her?" Bryn asked.

"Eh, if she wants to tell me about it, she will. That's mostly for her boyfriend. Everybody has their skeletons in the closet, not all of us want to show them off or dress them up."

The high elves left to their supposed "hidden" camp, which Selene now already had an ornithopter tracking the entire time. There was even footage that she didn't look at involving where their relief hole was, laundry hanging and tracked their equipment brought in their bags. One of the guards seemed to have also picked up the habit of picking his nose.

As the empress headed back into the palace and sat back down to finish her food, Elsei jogged in just as Bryn sat down. "I must apologize for their actions."

"You weren't the one who was acting all high and mighty. Don't worry about it. It wasn't as if they _completely_ insulted me after all."

"Still, it's just as you have seen from the dark elves… not everyone acts that way, most are fairly open to humans, though unlike our cousins… our leadership is much worse…" the dev took a drink and looked up at her.

"Yeah, they're disconnected from the reality that not everyone fits stereotypes, it will only turn them into isolationists or xenophobes that will keep away from everyone else… or worse, start wars. Mladris needs to really fix that filter on that mouth of hers."

"Food for thought" Elsei replied. "When are we to leave? I'm sure Mladris will want to leave as soon as we are ready."

"Do we need to leave immediately? I mean, do we even need to leave?" the empress questioned. Elsei looked confused at her then realized… she was probably already sending forces to roll in and take out the threat. Selene was a wonder to her, as each time anything seemed to be a threat, she had the full capability to send a combined arms force to take out the enemy. There was no honor or chivalry, no waiting for storms to pass or decent ground to fight on. It was always one goal, to eliminate whatever it was that tried to do harm. To that effect, her military was ridiculously efficient at their job, as shown with the red dragons.

"We… if we wait too long, there may be… casualties… innocents." The auburn-haired woman finished her food just as the others came in after talking amongst themselves.

"Alright, I didn't exactly ask this question before, but I'm asking it now. Intel. Are you referring to casualties from a dragon or what we fought at the abbey? The faith eater to be exact?" she asked as she twisted in her seat and kept her eyes on the blonde elf. Elsei looked at the others just sitting back down and staring at her. The empress had already figured out there were only two things that had recently been fought that Morlan and Elsei knew about, the undead more than likely not to even be considered amongst those two choices. She'd send the intel to 9th Brigade right after.

"The… latter… your majesty."

"Another of those? Elsei, you've fought one before? Why didn't you tell me?" Morlan asked. She couldn't meet his gaze.

"Maybe because she suffers from PTSD due to being there. Last I heard, an entire village was wiped out. That can't have been easy to cope with. What she does and doesn't tell about her past is hers to share, not ours to demand."

"I know that, I just… wait, what is PTSD?" Selene looked at Elsei who seemed to be put on the spot. She was doing her best to keep her composure, but the empress could see the stone shell cracking.

"Let's stop with the questioning right now and finish our meal, alright? It's being taken care of right now, give Elsei some breathing room." Selene reached up and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, then continued sipping her drink. The elf sat down next to Morlanion, who just watched her intently the whole time. She couldn't tell if he was annoyed that she didn't share everything with him about her past or was worried about what was going on in her head.

After lunch, the empress quietly left for the farm as she got an update about some of the mutation research they were doing on trying to get meat trees to become a real thing. What she found, oddly, wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"A… blood tree?" she asked herself as the automaton farmers continued working nearby, the large plot set aside for the specialized trees allowing four of them to take root. Large sacs that looked like giant pomegranates hung from the branches, seeming to almost glow due to the light, like giant hearts. "Well, this isn't quite how it should have grown…"

The modified dendron seemed to produce the blood as a waste byproduct, not so much as a fruit. One thing she did notice was each produced O-, the universal donor type for any transfusions. It wasn't exactly the universal type for platelets or plasma, but for anyone bleeding profusely or needing an operation, it could be a lifesaver for the hospitals. Even though these trees weren't what they were trying to create, they'd still be quite useful, especially if they could modify the mutation a little to produce AB+ and AB types.

Surprisingly, and to her relief, they were not carnivorous, taking in nutrients and water from the soil. Their roots were massive though, showing that each would need their own plot to extend and thrive. "Have these transplanted to separate plots" the dev commanded as multiple farmers got to work sorting the dendrons to larger spots in the super farm. While the blood would be mostly useless for those who were not immune to magic, it could help with those who could not have a heal spell cast on them, or potentially for those that had to receive transfusions. There could be other uses as well, such as being used in her own custom-built WHO facility for diseases and vaccines.

As Selene left the farm and headed for the research lab, Elsei stopped her just outside the doors. "Hey, you need something?"

"Thank you for stopping the questions. I do not yet know how to answer most of them without… without becoming upset." The elf took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure.

"Oh, well, sure. Take your time, speak your mind when you feel you're able, not every secret needs to have a light shined on it."

"I appreciate that. I have spoken to Morlanion. He's… worried." They both headed to the corner building set aside for high end R&D. The empress stopped outside and leaned against the wall, even though she was able to just go inside. Elsei did not have access at all, what she would see might blow her mind too much.

"Aaaand… you got him to calm down?"

"I explained what I felt I should, the rest… will come when I have the courage to let another know. My past isn't exactly… er…"

"Sunshine and bunnies?"

"Yes." The dev chuckled and nodded at her response.

"There are things I've done in the past which I am not proud of, not because I was ruthless, but because they are simply embarrassing or painful to tell" Selene told her calmly. There was silence between them as they understood it was golden at that point. Snowflakes started to fall down, very lightly coating the landscape.

"Well I'll be, this is nice." Elsei and the empress looked up and saw the flakes flit around, landing where they could. Everything was very peaceful, despite the automatons now covering up the outside gardens near the palace, placing portable heaters to keep the plants alive.

 _I'm dreaming of a white Christmas… just like the ones I used to know…_

Selene checked her calendar in her Hud, looking for holidays that might coincide with the 24th and 25th. None were seen. It was a little disappointing, even though it was just a way for companies to sell more toys and trinkets.

 _The season of giving my ass, you bastards just wanted to make more money…_

Elsei just stood there and shivered a little. "Ah, you should probably go inside, you'll catch a cold if you don't."

"I will. I had just one question that wasn't answered just yet. I know you are most likely sending your forces to Eil'Ta Forest, but… are we leaving for it as well?" the elf asked as snow fell on her blonde hair.

"I thought I did. Again, do we really need to leave? They'll handle it and head back."

"Mladris is going to not stop until we head there. You… may need to have another argument tomorrow with her about what you are doing."

"I really don't give two shits about what she thinks given her attitude. Look, I promised I would help, and I am. However, things as you have seen work differently around here, especially when my full-time military can easily handle the situation. You're worrying over nothing. They get their assistance; we don't take a trip just to hear royalty bitch about humans being in their forest… at least not yet. Besides, I uh… kind of want to enjoy the first snow" the dev said while pursing her lips together in concern. "Besides, if we did go, it'd be by air fleet, maybe at worst by royal train." Elsei raised an eyebrow.

"You have an air fleet?" she asked, never getting the chance to see it or the _Majesty's Grace_.

"Two actually, with a third being built. I don't rely on just small craft in the air, land doesn't restrict these ships. I probably could create some landships as well, a land carrier of some capacity." This made Elsei's eyes widen a little before she tried to regain her composure. She hadn't yet seen with her eyes just how effective the empress's soldiers were in a fight beyond the honor guard, only hearing about her 'fighters' taking out dragons. A part of her really wanted to go anyways, just to get a view of what 9th Brigade could do.

"I… see."

"You think I want to not talk to your people. It's not that. The high elves aren't allied with us, no non-aggression pact, no contracts. I really don't want to speak to them just yet until I deal with Artinia, so I have at least some more cards on the table, show them not all humans are dickheads. I'm almost positive they'll think we're all alike given how our screwy neighbors have made enemies of everyone." Elsei seemed to smirk ever so slightly.

"They won't act properly until they understand you aren't trying to be hostile. We are all stupid as you have said."

"At least until we understand what we're doing. I'm more worried they'll think I'm invading their forest and send their own to try and fight the 9th. Better send a nonlethal order to them for any elves now that I think about it…" Elsei moved a little to get under the overhang for the armored sliding door. The empress was already thinking of adding a covered hallway between buildings.

"What if the ruler of the high elves, Queen Ynshael, decides to make an appearance here?"

"Oh god… I really don't need her coming when I'm already dealing with enough as it is. One issue at a time, one annoying ruler at a time."

"But if she does request a meeting, will you allow it?" Selene sighed and nodded.

"I'd probably need King Weren and Princess Silara here for a little assistance, despite Silara still being unwary of me. They've had at least a little time to get acclimated to being in the empire now."

"Understood. Thank you for answering my questions, your majesty." Elsei bowed to her and left for the palace, walking back into the warm home of the empress. Selene chuckled and opened the door to the labs, checking on the testing for the newly designed battle maids, each unique. They weren't quite ready yet, still needing their design to be different from the others. There were also no names ready to give each one, so only testbed prototypes were up and running to see how they handled situations in the battle rooms.

"Why do I get the feeling what she just said was a warning…" Selene said to herself.

 _ **31st, November**_

"This is unacceptable!" Mladris exclaimed, staring at the empress, now allowed to enter the palace as long as they kept their weapons sheathed at all times. Failure to do so… they wouldn't get told again, just fired upon. Selene sat down and read a small article that Delfie had wrote up that would go in the first edition of her brand-new newspaper. It involved the funding that Stafinson had put in for public art to sponsor muralists and sculptors. Surprisingly, it was at least halfway readable in English, even without placing it in her inventory to translate. It seems the journalist had been going to the public school provided to the people.

"It's unacceptable that Elsei isn't being stolen away by you, even though we ended the faith eater threat in your forest? Seriously?" Selene said, raising an eyebrow. "I swear, there's just no making you happy. We fix your problem, you aren't content. Bitch bitch bitch…"

"Elsei is needed back at our palace."

"I will not marry him, Mladris, that is simply out of the question" Elsei said as she drank from her coffee. Morlan glanced back and forth between both elves and seemed worried.

"Wait, what? Marry? Who?" he asked.

"Do the what now?" Selene commented as well. Her eyes didn't seem to leave the article once, only halfway listening to things around her.

"My brother is the prince, Elsei! Why would you turn that away?"

"Because he does not feel the same way, nor do I have any bond to him." Elsei's lover looked at the dev for some help, but she kept reading the article.

"Your mother had said to-"

"My mother had hoped that I might find love, maybe with royalty if it does happen. She said nothing about an arranged marriage." Mladris looked annoyed, as always.

"You were going to marry the prince of the high elves?" Morlan asked.

"It never happened, and events changed how I live my life, you are among those events. It is simple. Besides… it would have never worked out. Mladris, this is over, her imperial majesty has removed that which was threatening your forest." The brunette made to speak again, closed her mouth, and stormed out of the dining room. The empress didn't even notice for a minute.

"Oh, she left. Good. I was tuning her bitching out." 9th Brigade had sent an eco-team to collect samples of plants in the forest to bring back, as ornithopters had detected exotic herbs… the exact same ones that Selene needed for her elixirs. A few seeds were harvested and sent back immediately, followed by the brigade pulling out of the area to not annoy the elves or let Artinia know of their presence. Due to the cold weather and season, she was still missing some key ingredients for the elixirs, but this brought her much closer to the goal of not using potions anymore. In the future, it might be possible to buy some from the high elves if they had a shop somewhere.

Juliet called the empress beaming with pride. Half of the first mass driver was already installed, with video footage shown of the automated process. Most of it was done by robot arms attached to a massive gantry on rails, with very little if any interaction from automatons. The whole process was done quite smoothly as plates and wiring was rotated up and away into the huge diagonal tunnel they had made, with giant electromagnets being hefted up and latched into place. To combat any heat buildup, the system was designed with the walls and magnets expanding out like someone running their fingers on piano keys, depressing and coming back into place once the payload was past that point. Cooling systems were layered into the walls to diffuse heat extremely quickly, allowing multiple shots to be fired.

"We're on schedule for the whole thing to be finished ma'am, just need finalization on some parts produced, testing then installation."

"Good, maybe by the end of the week we can get a pod up there and start getting a small station built" Selene replied over her coms.

"I have a team specialized just for that ma'am, ready to be the first astronauts of our empire."

"Mark down their drone numbers, I want those to be memorialized. I know they are just drones, but still… they are making history here. The first launch will just be a test flight, the second will actually have production of our first station." The design for the first habitable piece of space junk was going to be very similar to the old International Space Station, though much larger to allow future creation of other new designs. The plan was to get it up and running, wait for the space elevator to be built after the second mass driver, build a second small station, then finally get a habitat on the moon.

Once each was completed, she'd finally get a much larger station built along with a mining facility package sent to the asteroid field, with the two smaller stations acting as placeholders to build around then recycle. If everything worked out, she'd be able to shut down almost all mining operations in her empire and let those asteroids pour all those juicy resources back home.

"9th, on your way back, there's an Artinian village just below you on the map. Take it in my name, will you?" There was no need to send Brynhildr out for such a small invasion of their neighbor's territory, as having one of her Generals oversee the battles would only be needed for large operations such as Silvinholm in the very near future.

"Yes ma'am." The order sounded so casual, as if she had asked them to pick up some milk from the grocery store.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"I'm telling you, no, I'm commanding you! Follow your orders!" Alain screamed at Commander Alfred Dalonas as he just stood there leaning over his desk and checking through paperwork.

"We will not attack those we have been sworn to protect!"

"You have executed those who go against the rule of the king!"

"Because they were attacking my soldiers and rebelling already! We were containing the chaos they could have caused!"

"This could cause even more!"

"Slaughtering these people will destroy the city! Have you gone mad?! The entire place could go up in smoke due to these actions! You cannot fix this if we start!" Alain was fuming and looked as if he was going to pop a vein in his forehead.

"How dare you ignore my commands!"

"I don't take orders from you! My orders come from the king! I have already sent a messenger explaining the situation is under control! He needs this city to continue running for the trade it provides!" The noble looked as if he didn't know what to do, twitching and fidgeting as multiple thoughts, one of which was to try and strike the commander, flowed through his mind.

"You'll regret this."

"Noted." The fat noble stormed out of the office, flustered and angry that the military wasn't kissing his shoes. Alfred just sighed and sat down as his lieutenant took some steps from the door.

"Sir, he's going to send his own envoy to the king… we have to stop him somehow…"

"He'll do it regardless of what we attempt. Damn those nobles! Don't they see what will happen if half the population gets exterminated? Open rebellion! Word will get out that we assaulted one of our own cities! We'll have a civil war on our hands! We still don't even know what keeps taking out the towns to the west, and now they want internal strife?! This is the end of the kingdom… I just know it…"

"Sir… what if we… ambush the envoys?" the lieutenant asked, coming up with a plan. It was for the good of the people after all.

"Are you mad? We can't just… we can't… th-those envoys are… could we…?" None of the men sent out to speak with the king were his beyond the first.

"If we can get a group of ours ready, we can have the checkpoints alert us when someone is heading towards Aureos. That should give us a chance to catch them and end that threat."

"He won't send just one, he'll keep sending them as often as possible until we get replaced."

"We could forge a document from the king that he accepts our actions as noble. It will take time, and it could get the mercenaries that are out of work on our side, potentially getting some to sign up with the contingent of men we have." Alfred rubbed his long beard and nodded.

"That sounds good. If there is any hope of success, it's in this plan. Let's get to work."

 _ **Midnight**_

Selene received a knock on her door as the honor guard had allowed someone to wake her up. She rolled over and got up. "Who is it at this hour?" she grumbled out as she put on a robe and slowly walked to the entrance to her royal quarters.

Elsei was at the door once the empress cracked it open. "Oh, hey, what's wrong?" she asked quietly. The others were asleep, bar Morlan who was up late and talking to his parents. The hallways had turned off all normal lights in the palace and swapped to low powered LED strips embedded in the floor and ceiling, giving up a cool and peaceful atmosphere, intentionally trying to help anyone who lived there to rest well and not have eye strain.

"I'm… my apologies, I've woken you far too late, I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm sorry I requested your honor guard to let me pass and speak with you."

"Elsei, you've already got me up. Just tell me." The door opened fully as Selene motioned for her to come inside and sit down. The guards at the door closed it quietly as the elf kept her eyes averted from looking at the auburn-haired woman while she sat on her bed and waited.

"You may be wondering why they followed us all this way to your castle."

"Well, it was a little surprising they tracked you this far. I didn't tell my soldiers to keep an eye out for your kind and it wasn't as if they were on a watchlist, given we aren't at war with them." The blonde shifted on the couch and lightly touched the luxurious throw pillow next to her.

"That question was brought up." The empress exhaled with her mouth puckered and looked up at the ceiling, wondering how to answer.

"I was curious as to why, but if you wanted to share, that's your prerogative. The way I see it, helping your people against that threat might have gotten me some brownie points, though that might be pointless given your nobility are arrogant dicks that look down on everyone not them." The elf looked up at her.

"You know that Mladris is royalty?" she asked.

"I had a hunch, given her armor and the tiara." Elsei looked out the window and watched the snow still coming down. It continued for the past day, off and on, turning the valley into a winter wonderland. While it was cold, even with new clothes that the empress made sure both of them had received, they could always come back into the nice warm palace. While the elf didn't really show it emotionally, to her, this was far better than anywhere they had lived. She still didn't know why her empress allowed them to continue staying here, even though they just toadied along when she traveled. Selene herself didn't feel the cold anymore with her cold resistance being incredibly high, well past one thousand now.

"She is the princess of our people. Her mother, as you may have guessed already, is Queen Ynshael Silverleaf. To answer the next question, yes, they are alike in attitude towards others they deem below our people… at least at the beginning. Ynshael is… odd, compared to Mladris. You would need to speak with her to know what I am talking about. She does not have the same… understanding… of the outside world." Selene let out a dry chuckle.

"I had a feeling that was the case. Does the whole of the nobility act that way?"

"To an extent. There has never been a change in the casts… at least… until one hero of ours showed up."

"Hero?"

"Yes. My mother… she is the one that defeated the first faith eater."

"Ooooooh… I see…" the picture was coming together for the empress. "I can see why they wanted you to go back and handle this one. Well, everything is taken care of, so your mother can sit around, though I guess she wanted to see you?" Elsei let out a trembling sigh.

"She's… the hero that is locked away, frozen in a crystal of unknown creation."

"Oh, you said something about that once before. The… oh what was her name… there was an A in it…"

"I am… sorry to say… unaware of what that might refer to." Selene cocked an eyebrow.

"You mean to say you don't know your own mother's name?"

"She went by many names from what she had told me, traveling abroad before settling down. I really only knew her as mother, that was what I called her, and she always answered to my voice. I believe the name she used was Mitsuri. There is no A in that name." The dev shifted on her bed and pushed back some stray hair dangling. Despite what most might think an empress would look like as she woke up, Selene seemed unkempt obviously, with her hair in disarray.

"Oh… so, maybe there was more to this than meets the eye? Did they want you to go back and maybe, I don't know, see her, or, hmm, pay your respects or something?"

"It is possible. Given what I have needed to do in the past, they might believe I could try again."

"I'm not sure what you're saying."

"My… calling."

"Calling? You mean, your job class?" Elsei nodded to that. "Ah, so, what, a warrior, ranger…"

"Guardian Priestess."

"Oh. Does the halberd factor into that?" The elf shook her head.

"It would have normally been a mace or staff… I… chose to use anything other than those now that I am alongside Morlanion." The dev waggled her eyebrows a little and blinked, sniffing to clear her nose and help wake herself up a little more.

"Well, um, you are what you make of yourself after all, you don't need to be a priestess anymore in my empire if you don't want to."

"I thank you for that."

"Well… I… take it since you fought one, a faith eater… wait, hang on, your mother fought one as well?" Selene asked, her brain waking up to that question rolling around and finally passing her lips, swapping thoughts mid-sentence. Elsei nodded to answer.

"That I know of, this would be the third time one has shown up. The last time was… about one hundred years ago." That made the empress's eyebrows raise as she blinked at her.

"Sheesh, well, it seems they might be rare at least… a century ago, wow… so you're…"

"I shall admit, I am one hundred eighty years old by your standards."

"I doubt I'll live that long for this joke to work, but I hope I look as good as you at that age." Elsei gave a slight grin at that.

"As I have seen, many things are possible, even a much longer life, or immortality, if you strive for it." Hrist twitched in her bed while clutching one of her prized plushies as if something poked her.

"Yeah, well… who knows, right? So, your mother took one out, and… what… how did she get imprisoned in the crystal?" Elsei tried to remember all the details as it was so long ago.

"She used a… sort of… artifact if you believe it as such; I am unsure though how it did that to her. The artifact was supposed to drain all power from a creature, mana, everything. It… might have reacted to the energies the faith eater used and… trapped her." The elf looked slightly distraught at remembering those memories that she had cast from her mind so long ago. She had seen it with her own eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that happened. Did you use the same artifact on the next one? Probably not, right? I mean, you aren't stuck in a crystal…"

"I was very nearly in the same prison as my mother."

"Oh. Shit… um… how did… how did you manage to escape?" The blonde moved the pillow behind her back and straightened up a little.

"I stopped using it halfway and proceeded to sacrifice the trees in my name to crush it and keep it still."

"Wait, with the fog?"

"The trees absorbed all of it to protect me, killing them in the process, then used their fallen to contain the creature. Once it was still, I harnessed as much divine magic as I could muster to destroy the creature, severely weakened as it was."

"Wow. You managed to do this on your own?" Selene was surprised a level 35 had done it solo… if she was even a level 35 at the time the battle took place. They had a raid the last time and people were dying constantly. Hrist and the dev hadn't gone all out for that, but it was clear these things were no joke.

"There was… some help… a boy that liked me was willing to lead the puppets away from the area while I dealt with the eater. Once it was defeated… I… was confused, incredibly dazed. I was not in the right state of mind, not thinking clearly at all. I wandered off, just barely to the edge of the woods. There were slavers ready to capture any who showed up, I didn't have the strength or the mind to even fight. The rest… I'd rather not tell. That is a story only Morlan would know about."

"I'm sorry. That must have been harsh." Elsei seemed to smile a little.

"Well, there were some bright points. I was supposed to… would have… been betrothed to the prince once I returned, as you have now heard."

"You said something about this during breakfast. I take it you didn't want this, from what was already explained." The elf cocked her eyebrow.

"Perceptive. Yes, it was an arranged marriage. It would not have worked out."

"Didn't like him?"

"It wasn't that… you'll see it if they ever come here. I'm… sorry I woke you to explain this, I simply knew you'd be confused if there was another meeting. I wanted to make sure I was not… what is the saying… leaving you in the dark?"

"I can pick up pretty quickly on the hints once they rear up, though thank you for the abridged version. Hopefully Miss "I'm better than you" won't come stomping around again for a while." Elsei chuckled, the first time the empress had heard her do that.

"I should let you get back to sleep."

"Elsei." The elf stopped getting up and looked at Selene.

"Are you afraid to go there? Is that why you are telling me all of this and wanted me to help?" The blonde hesitated for some seconds before answering.

"I… am… worried they hold me on a pedestal in the forest, since the last time I defeated a faith eater and my heritage. I… would think that I have changed too much from their view of me before… and… I don't want to open past wounds. Queen Ynshael may ask for… she may ask to reengage her son to me now that I have been found again. My heart belongs to another obviously. The other issue is… they may hope I might be able to free my mother somehow from her prison. I tried once before… and I failed. I do not believe it is possible to shatter that crystal, ever."

"It's not as if she can force you to obey."

"I'm worried she will not take no for an answer."

"And? It doesn't matter if she doesn't take no for an answer, she has to deal with it or deal with the consequences. Me" Selene told her calmly, a smirk playing onto her mouth.

"I'm afraid Queen Ynshael will not see the power that you wield and blunder into an event she cannot get out of, just like Mladris. As I said, she's… odd. I fear that you may need to resort to a show of… force…"

"I'll try and make sure there are examples if she makes an appearance." The dev exhaled and wiggled her left foot, ready to climb back into her bed already.

"Do you still have that artifact?" the dev asked, a slight questioning wince popping onto her face.

"I do not own it. It is closely guarded by my people, and… I dropped it during the battle. They must have retrieved it since then, once they surveyed the destruction and attempted to find survivors."

"I see… well, that's interesting to note. Thank you for sharing all of that with me. I… I don't know why you did it, I wasn't pushing for any of it, but thank you."

"This was simply to make sure if she does travel this way… you are at least somewhat informed. I was not intending to tell you my entire past. Sleep well, your majesty." The elf got up slowly then bowed and turned around, heading for the door to leave. As she left, Selene just huffed at her bangs and climbed back into her bed, hopefully getting back into the dream she was in.

 _ **Morning**_

Selene got up and headed down for breakfast only to see Elsei staring at her, blinking. "What's wrong?" she asked. The elf averted her eyes and pointed at the front door. A quick check from her security and she noticed they hadn't raised the alarm involving a certain form keeping its distance from the castle, just watching. "Oh hell, god damn it… well, you did warn me…" she whispered. The queen of the high elves had shown up, with other forms coming up to her side, her daughter included.

The empress headed back upstairs to get changed quickly into some more regal attire, tasking security to head out and escort them to the gates and into the palace. The elves didn't unsheathe their weapons after being approached by the automatons, which was at least a good sign.

 _I really don't give a damn about the armor right now; I'm going in with a gown. I doubt intimidation or flashy gold plates will help anyways._

She put on a black steampunk Victorian dress and boots then headed downstairs to her throne room. Elsei sat down next to her with Morlan at her side, while the Rikter parents sat to the other side of her throne. The queen and her daughter, now also with her son Prince Ralyf, were led inside and stood there, surveying the throne. The queen seemed to noticeably gulp, as if she didn't want to be there and was worried about something. Then, just as quickly, she put on a mask of stone, with no emotion showing on her face. The clothes that Ralyf wore seemed… unbecoming of a man, given he instead decided to wear something that looked like a modified sailor scout outfit. It might have looked normal if he had a bust to fill out the chest, but he didn't.

"Priestess Elsei Ironbark" the silver haired elf responded in the middle, her small crown glinting. "Why did you not answer our request?"

"Queen Ynshael Silverleaf, my name is-" Selene started to introduce herself but was cut off almost immediately.

"I did not ask you to speak, human, nor do I care what your title is. It means little to me. Elsei, I say again, why have you ignored our summons?" The empress glared at her in annoyance.

"Excuse me?" Selene asked, her voice sounding cold and collected.

 _How… dare… she… in my home… is this what Elsei was warning about? Her being odd?_

"I said, I do not care about your title, are you hard of hearing?" Ynshael said, no emotion showing on her face. Morlan tensed up. Shit was about to go down.

"Your majesty, please, she does not-" Elsei tried to calm her down as the empress stood up slowly and walked down the steps from her throne. The honor guard stationed at different points throughout the room all turned their heads and looked at the queen. Selene stood right in front of her, a few inches taller.

"You dare insult me, inside my own home? I kept my cool when your daughter acted unprofessionally before, but coming from a queen, what the hell are you thinking?" she asked, a look of disdain washing over her face. Hrist and Brynhildr came up next to her. The elite elven guard pulled their weapons at the invasion of personal space for their ruler, being incredibly stupid in their actions. They dropped from rapid taps done by the honor guard, dead before they even hit the ground. The automatons weren't taking shit from anything; the elves drew their weapons, after being told not to.

While the royal family was at first unimpressed before, believing these mechanical soldiers were just slow golems that the dwarves used, just more advanced knock offs, they now realized this empress was far from what they expected, their weapons leagues above what they thought possible. Mladris was in shock, with Ralyf soiling his pants at the sound of the machine cannons firing. It took all of two seconds for them to lose their escort, the honor guards tracking them carefully. The paneling in the pillars dropped, with auto turrets engaging and aiming straight at them. The three remaining elves were surrounded. A small swarm of spider mines crawled in and sat, ready to leap and detonate.

"Apologize, or your next. I'm done with people being giant douches when in or near my castle. I'm not taking this bullshit anymore." Ynshael's eyes were wide with fear, not sure what to do. "Very well then, ready, aim-"

"Wait! Wait! I… will apologize for my error. What is your name? Please… reintroduce yourself."

 _I wonder if I should extend my official title just to fuck with them now…_

"I am Grand Empress Selene Cordell of the Clockwork Empire, Goddess of this Golden Valley." Mladris's mother seemed to be twitching her lips around, trying to form words but no sound was coming out. "Empress Selene should suffice if you can't remember all of that. By the way, you should use your imperial majesty to refer to me beyond my name or title… given I clearly outrank you." Her last words seemed to drip like venom from her mouth, her voice hinting she was holding back a little malicious intent.

"I… I…" was all that managed to come out of the queen's mouth. Lightning arced from Selene's dress twice to drive the idea of her being a goddess home, despite not actually becoming a real deity just yet.

 _Did I break her? Serves her right._

"Mother! You… you could use that… that… use wild magic on her!" Mladris said, trying to snap her out of it.

"Hoooooooold up. Wild magic?" Selene asked as everyone went dead silent, the honor guard moving in carefully. "From what little I've heard about it, that takes souls… does it not? Are you sacrificing people?" the empress asked, with the three elves in front of her now realizing what they say next could end them right there and then.

"Be silent Mladris! That is only for ending an impossible threat and the utter destruction of our people!" Ynshael yelled at her, fear etched in her eyes. She jumped and winced a little at being chastised by her mother. The dev was right in her face, mere inches away and smiling. Ynshael could almost see the fangs coming out of her mouth and the glint in her eyes.

"Care to explain? For the record… you currently are facing an impossible threat." The queen was sweating bullets. At that moment, she wasn't even sure if wild magic could save her.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Commander Alfred stuck to the envoy like glue heading for the checkpoint that would allow him to leave Silvinholm. Despite Artinia taking full control of the city, a city that already belonged to the kingdom, it tended to act as its own fiefdom away from the rule of the king. While Alfred didn't want to create a bias towards either side, being simply in command of the men and women stationed here, he did believe the orders they were given were insane. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the king's rule was wrought with issues like this for some time.

The well-dressed messenger checked around him, not to see if he was being tailed, but to find out which street he needed to go down next. The commander continued after him, following right behind easily despite the crowd of people flowing throughout. As he got closer, he readied a knife covered in poison and reached his target. There was a side street that didn't usually have anyone constantly walking through it, which gave him the chance to strike.

The blade nicked the hand of the envoy as he recoiled in pain and held the arm, looking at him in the eyes in complete confusion as the poison quickly set in. As much as he hated doing this, there was no way he could afford the king finding out there would be no slaughtering of innocents. He couldn't imagine what would happen to the city if he went through with his orders. The place could become abandoned, causing trade to split away to nearby towns to take up the slack, probably destroying the economy. It could take decades, maybe centuries to rebuild what was lost due to such shortsightedness.

The envoy quickly fell to the ground, his heart stopping before he even hit. There was a scroll case hanging from his back which Alfred grabbed and pulled away quickly, checking the rest of the body as fast as he could to make sure it was what he was going for. The seal was correct as he stuffed the case in his cloak and slipped away immediately, with almost no time to lose just as a few people turned the corner and saw the messenger lying there… and ignored him. It was possible they thought he was drunk or passed out, except his eyes were wide open.

The commander headed back to his office and unraveled the scroll, looking it over and seeing what he had dreaded. It was warning the king that the commander was not going through with his orders, to send someone loyal to Silvinholm and remove him from command. "Damn you Alain… damn you for making me have to do this…" he whispered as he used a fire starter to burn the scroll, dropping it in his wood stove heater. There would be more in the future, with the nobles wondering why no response has come from their ruler. It took on average five days via horseback to reach the capital, with another five to come back with news.

It could take even longer for them to find a replacement commander or General to come with extra forces, so he had at least some time to send his own messenger informing the king that everything was going along smoothly. He didn't know how long he could keep this up, at least until the citizens calmed down and accepted the military as the policing force. The mercenaries were not taking this well, with a hefty chunk of them either leaving for other towns or becoming adventurers to receive some coin to eat and have a roof over their heads. Some were offered a chance to work in the army, to regain their old jobs with a lower pay.

Alfred checked the drawer of his desk and pulled out the bottle. It was already two-thirds empty. This whole plan was going to work on his nerves, he was sure of it.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

Selene sat back in a chair while the queen of the high elves begged for mercy, her hands clasped together and shaking. She had explained the reason why they had come here, what little information that she had involving wild magic, the one single spell she knew to cast, and why they needed Elsei. "You're bad at diplomacy if this is the way you come walking in here. Your cousins were a hell of a lot better at this when I saw them to the south." Mladris made to speak, but her brother put his hand up to not get their mother in trouble. "Ugh… that smell…" the empress muttered out as she realized that Ralyf had soiled himself. He did his best to stand as still as possible.

A quick cast of **[Scrub]** on him and he didn't need to take a bath or get new clothes. The prince no longer looked like he would start waddling with a payload, though his makeup was washed away as well. Despite being feminine in appearance, there was still the main signs of a male jawline and broad shoulders, just crossdressing fit into the equation. "So now you have everything I can tell you, your imperial majesty" Ynshael said in a pleading tone.

"Elsei, it's just the aristocracy that does this, right?" Selene asked. The blonde elf nodded. The dev sighed and leaned forward. "You need to learn some manners, Queen Ynshael. I would have been a lot nicer if you had just shown respect where it is clearly due. You have obviously no experience in going anywhere outside your forest. You're lucky that I even allowed you into my palace, given the previous actions of your daughter."

"M-much apologies… Empress Selene…" she stuttered out.

"Mother…" Mladris said, almost attempting to goad her into standing up to this human.

"Ah, you still want her to use that wild magic. So, if my information is correct now, that would have sacrificed a good chunk of your people for… what? Harming me? You'd do that just to go after someone you weren't at war with and start something that would end in your entire forest wiped out? That's foolish, Princess Mladris." Ynshael and Ralyf both glared at her, trying to show they didn't share the same mentality. The princess was oblivious up until now about what using that magic system would entail from her mother, the cost of her people. Now that she had that bit of knowledge, the look in her eyes showed she was extremely hesitant about her words and actions now.

"So, let me get this straight as to why you are here. You came to get Elsei, in an attempt to marry her to your son, so that afterwards said new royalty can meet with the dwarves and negotiate mining rights for mithril?" the dev asked.

"That's… correct… your imperial majesty…" Ynshael squeaked out, almost looking as if she would start hyperventilating any second. The empress sighed and stood up, with all three elves tensing up in front of her. She simply walked behind them and looked at the bodies of the rangers that had come with them, lying on the ground. "Do you have a purse of gold on you?" The queen looked behind herself and immediately pulled a small purse hidden in her dress, handing it to the auburn-haired woman. "Good. No way I'm spending my treasury on bringing them back."

With swift placement of two coins on each pair of eyes, she cast **[Mass Resurrection]** to bring them back to life, also informing Jeeves and the maids that the carpet would need to be shampooed. The fibers themselves would repel the blood that had spilled before and push it to the top, drying quickly in a thin film and scrubbed away without any effort, if any stayed after the resurrection. The empress wanted to make sure her throne room would not be in any way close to the king of Artinia in aura, behavior or feel.

Something Selene noticed was that the Ferryman looked straight at her after bringing back the souls of the guards, almost in an odd questioning glance of " _Why am I bringing back those that you just ended?"_ It seemed despite being what he was, he did get confused and probably had a sense of humor.

"Hey idiots, don't start anything. We can just as easily return you back to the land of the dead. Your weapons get relinquished immediately." With that, Selene quickly turned around and tossed the purse back to the queen, no longer needing it. The rangers all looked highly confused, wondering what was going on. Mladris begrudgingly ordered them to keep from looking threatening in any way, now realizing there was no way to fight back. "Follow me. Also, let's make one thing very clear right now. Elsei is my citizen, my subject. She has freedom to pick and choose who she is with, no arranged marriages happen. Don't like it? Tough shit." The elves were unsure what just happened, but now they were ordered to walk behind the human woman to a small meeting room with a long table. The dev requested some tea to be brought in and some documents, very special documents, to be placed in front of her.

"What… do you want?" Ralyf asked quietly, his voice sounding lilted and a little high as she wrote down the race in a blank spot on the papers.

 _Huh, I know it doesn't work all that well, like maybe one percent of the time, but my gaydar is going off for him._

"Here's the deal. You've clearly come into my home and pissed me off. My guard killed your guard, I was ready to end your lives. You threatened to use wild magic, which from what I can see, is kind of like threatening to use Weapons of Mass Destruction. That's fact. You came here to take Elsei, my subject, and nearly force her into an arranged marriage. I'm just reiterating here; in case anyone has forgotten. Last time I checked, that's pretty much declaring war if you aren't aware. At least I'm considering it declaring war." Prince Ralyf looked as if he was going to soil himself again and faint right after.

"What… can we do to stop this?" Ynshael asked her. She was pushing her pointer fingers together, trying to keep her eyes focused on the table. She had gotten her people in a real mess now.

"Sign these documents saying your forest is annexed into my empire. You'll be entered into it, treated fairly and respectfully, just like the dark elves. You'd be surprised how little we'll interfere in your forest, just like your cousins, though they've been with us all of a week. They seem to like not worrying about slavery or indentured servitude, the safety and security we provide, the trade that is offered, capability to travel anywhere… too many benefits to name. I can request that King Weren and his daughter, Princess Silara, come here to attest to this if you need."

"You… want me to sign our surrender?!" Queen Ynshael said in utter shock.

"The other option is you don't sign, and we go to war, you know, the whole us invading thing. My army will be on your doorstep by the end of the day, probably nonlethal weapons… probably. Your people won't put up much of a fight, bar that wild magic you might think of using, and that will kill them instead of saving them. You'll still surrender, though from a military conquest standpoint, that will mean internment camps, holding your subjects for inspection, martial law, the list goes on. It won't be nearly as nice as just signing on the dotted line, heading back to your people and informing them of the situation. It's a lot smoother, they go back to their lives, just now a part of my empire. You'll still rule, I don't want to deal with untangling your traditions and elven law just yet, provided it doesn't cause a conflict with my own. I have enough on my plate as it is."

The three elves of the royal family looked at each other and blinked, unsure what to really say. "Don't do it mother! There's got to be some way we can-" Mladris started mouthing off, her overconfidence in their superiority dwindling by the word that escaped her mouth. While the high elves were in some ways better than the humans of Artinia, these humans they were speaking with were a whole new type of scary. What they didn't know was that the humans in that palace were special compared to the civilians in the towns.

"Shut up Mladris! You have always attempted to try and prove yourself against the humans! This time it will end in our destruction!" Ralyf snapped at her. "Far too headstrong!"

"Mladris, there is another of royal blood that seems to act just as you, or at least did. I'd suggest you do what she did and go on a cruise provided by Sweet Water" Elsei commented calmly.

"I would never be bought by… by… … dolphins?" she shifted gears mid-sentence, her voice suddenly sounding innocent. The princess, unlike Silara, had a glint in her eyes as a dream arose. It was as if her personality had performed a 180-degree turn. The thought of going to see cute sea creatures made her change her view of the empire that quickly. That surprised the dev.

 _She acts like an angsty teenager, then turns cute and bubbly! How old is she?!_

"Dolphins" the blonde elf replied. Mladris went from arrogant and haughty to smiling giddily and lost in her dream of swimming with them. The mountains closed them off from the ocean, with the Kaldanas peaks extending in some cases to well over 20,000 feet, making flying on an eagle an adventure.

 _Good to know, elves like sea animals and being tourists. Oh god, I just got that picture in my head of seeing them with fanny packs and sunglasses, zinc on their noses and taking pictures of everything with magic cameras… Sweet Water might turn into a tourism spot…_

Ynshael picked up the fountain pen and steadily wrote her name on the documents. There were tears building up in her eyes as she knew she was surrendering due to blustering into Selene's home, not realizing they couldn't intimidate anyone in the empire. This was not Artinia, not by a long shot. "It's… done…" she said, her lower lip trembling.

"Good. Now with that out of the way… you said you need mining rights for mithril. Let's see what we can do for that." The Silverleaf family looked surprised. "You're now my citizens. We do this. Now, _why_ would you even need to have Elsei show up as part of your royal family? I'm seriously wondering why this is even a thing. Couldn't you just send an ambas… sad… or… oh… yeah…" Selene realized she had just told the queen that she was really bad at diplomatic negotiations. "Alright… well… that would explain why they didn't want to talk to you…"

Ynshael, despite being a high elf and probably as old as King Weren, was about to break into tears. "I'm not good at speaking to other races! It's not my fault! They always act mean when they meet with us! They called me names!" Her silver hair flowed as she started to sob, with Selene and Elsei confused and glancing at each other. A quick move of the empress's hand and the documents were removed from the drop path of her tears.

"Uh… wha… uh… there there… uh… it's… well… I don't know if I should say it's ok… damn it…" Selene watched as her son and daughter tried to console her as she brought a finger up to her eyes and push away tears.

 _What a weird family…_ _very odd idiosyncrasies…_

"Look… I… we will speak to the dwarves… obviously it will be easier than letting you do it…" Selene told her as she winced from the wailing and sniffling. Ynshael stopped sobbing and looked at her.

"You… you'll do it?"

"Yes… though it might not be immediately."

"B-but… we need it, to… to…" Ralyf started to say.

"You humans are disconnected from the rest of the world that you don't realize there are other threats to civilization!" Mladris snapped. The empress looked at her with a half-lidded gaze.

" _We're_ disconnected? Look who's talking, Miss 'I can take you all on.' If you are referring to Artinia, yeah, we're handling it. We already dealt with the faith eater, by the way. 9th Brigade already reported in; the thing was turned into Chile Con Carne." The whole battle had taken a mere few seconds, as the creature had enough time to see a heavy tank knock over a tree, mulch the bark with its treads, turn its turret and fire. The fog didn't give it any help at all with the vacuum vehicles rolling around sucking it all up. If the fog was alive, the evaporators in the vehicles made short work of it as well.

"I wasn't meaning them! I mean the Drow!" That caught Selene off guard a little as she raised an eyebrow and was interested a bit more.

"There's an entrance cave from the under dark to your forest?" the empress asked, remembering what it was called when she had to do research for any fantasy game contracts. Ralyf nodded rapidly, his pigtails bouncing and the pink tassels in his hair flailing around. The whole motion looked rather weird coming from someone she knew was a man, even if he looked very feminine.

"The dwarves would allow us free mining of mithril in their mountains in exchange for trade of jewelry and clothing. It's surprisingly difficult for them to grow anything that can be used for cloth under that stone" Elsei informed the dev as she leaned in. It seemed logical to have that kind of relationship between them given they lived so close.

"They've cut us off, closed the doors to the forest. All attempts to speak with them have been met with… uh…" Ralyf tried to explain.

"Annoyance? I think I can understand. So, the whole half-brained idea of marrying Elsei was to get someone who actually knew how to speak to others. Oy. You could have just asked her to be an ambassador, bypass the whole thing. She goes to help; you don't need to do much other than reward her." All three of the royal elves looked at each other, realizing their plan was a little over the top, with Ynshael starting to cry again. She wasn't very good at coming up with plans for emergencies like that just yet, she always turned up her actions to eleven to fix a situation. That clearly was going a bit overboard more often than not.

 _Whose bright idea was this?! Wait, I don't want to know, I really don't, I don't want to figure out how this even came to be…_

"Ma'am, when you're available, we have something we should tell you" Jorge said over coms. They were still traveling back to the castle after their long-term surveillance mission.

"We'll deal with the dwarves, though it's not as if you really need them anymore; I'll send some of my military to the entrance of the under dark, if there really is an opening. In the meantime, I… _we'll_ send a shipment of mithril from Olva'lore Forest. I doubt you'll even need it for weapons, I'd strongly suggest you use it for tools and the rest of your people. You're now in my empire, now you get to see what happens when my soldiers _defend_ my empire, given how quickly they took out your escort." The empress glared at each elven ranger behind them and shook her head slowly. Each one fidgeted.

The royal family carefully thanked her for figuring this out so efficiently, though technically, they were just conquered. "No guarantees for opening diplomatic negotiations or treaties. We're just talking, nothing fancy. It's not as if you need them anymore." The empress just looked at the group sitting there in silence. None of them spoke for a minute as the grandfather clock in the corner ticked. "Ahem, now that this is under control… erm… I need you to head back to your forest… we'll be in touch. Prince Ralyf… talk to your people instead of your mother. Princess Mladris… don't… don't start anything… with anyone… at all. Just… just go see dolphins…"

Queen Ynshael and her children stood up and thanked her, excluding Mladris who just crossed her arms and scowled. "One last thing, when I show up later, and I will to get a tour of the city there, I'm going to show you how to act when visiting. I expect the same professionalism from now on." As they left the front gates, Selene leaned in to whisper to Elsei. "How old is Mladris?" she asked quietly.

"Last I was there, eighty-five to be exact, though that was three years ago. A teenager in elven eyes."

"Well that explains a whole lot. The queen seemed to also act a bit… emotional…"

"Her husband, King Alfael, died prematurely from a magic immune disease at roughly four hundred, very rare" the blonde elf told her.

 _I knew it! I knew planning ahead would save people from shit like that!_

"Huh, so she had to handle everything he did. So… you uh… you know about Ralyf…"

"That he does not dress like the rest of us? He is not intimate with the same sex, if that is what you are referring. He just… likes… to wear women's apparel… and pink… lots of pink…"

"Ok… my gaydar is officially and completely broken then…" The blonde elf thought carefully on her choice of words to say next.

"She's… she may hope for grandchildren to be sired. As Mladris seems… prone… to rash engagement, it might be possible she would like the bloodline to somehow continue. Trying to get me to be a part of that plan was… ill thought out… we do not have much in common, beyond… similarities in clothing choice…" The empress giggled as the family left the castle gates, heading for the giant eagles. "What is gaydar by the way?"

"A sixth sense people have to determine if someone is… um… homosexual. Mine I'm willing to admit doesn't work most of the time… or at all now."

"Ah."

"Does she really know wild magic? That explanation seemed dubious at best."

"I'm… unsure on that, your majesty. It's not as if she has ever shown it before. It may be a lie to ward away those who wish to conquer the forest in case of emergency, a last-ditch effort to protect our race. Fear can be a powerful force, even against those who are stronger than you."

"But doesn't that mean she'd kill, like, half the elf population just to cast it or something? Seems like a total scorched earth policy instead of an emergency, denying the enemy of even making use of their citizens. She's honestly lucky she faced off against me instead of having anyone else to contend with. If Artinia somehow figured out it was a ruse or not, or even decided it was worth the loss of men, they could get swarmed."

"Hmm. It is possible things were meant to be." Elsei bowed and left to go with Morlan outside, with the dev sighing and getting back to the task at hand. Selene quickly swapped to Jorge in her coms and asked him what he needed. Hrist and Bryn arrived, flying in from the academy to see something interesting that Skuld had found in the mountains after some hiking.

"The gates were sealed, but we managed to get out in time. We caught wind of a few issues that were happening inside the fortress, we don't know if you'll find them interesting."

"By chance does any of it have something to do with Drow?" she asked him.

"One of them might have been that, they said something about a large tunnel dug out by something other than them … how'd you know ma'am?" Turnie questioned her.

"High elves pulled something here, they are now part of the Clockwork Empire. The royal family is… interesting…" she replied, still wondering if that was the right word to use to describe them.

"Congratulations ma'am, another part of the continent the empire has expanded to" Ethan commented.

"Yeah, well, they said they were having some issues with the dwarves and Drow. I'm wondering if they're sharing the same problem."

"We were unfortunately trying to get out of the gates unnoticed, we only stuck around for the reconnaissance mission. We could infiltrate a second time if you want us to ma'am, though it might require damaging the gate…" Orlo informed her.

"No, that's fine. Come on back, bring me the souvenirs so we can get some work done on them. By the way Orlo and Turnie, is it possible for you to get a project done on wild magic?" Orlo was silent for a moment as he talked to Turnie in machine language. Using the research stations in her inventory required an object to put into them. Without any physical evidence to test, they were useless in this regard.

"What did you have in mind? Be advised, we don't have anything to go off of, we'll be starting from scratch with no evidence, just theories and hypothesis" Turnie asked.

"I might have some information involving that. So, Dungeons & Dragons had a form of magic called Wild Magic as well. It was unpredictable at times, similar to what I'm hearing about for this, at least at the higher levels. Do you think they are the same or share a similar design?" she asked him.

Wild Magic had been a thing that she had researched long ago when brainstorming different features for games that were to become RPGs. Yggdrasil was no exception to the rule; it was to make sure they didn't intrude on any copyright claims. Unfortunately, she hadn't introduced it into that game as it wasn't quite fleshed out well enough, the rules were too vague. There were too many variables they had to work through, so it was left on the cutting room floor even after her contract had ended and the main game was released; the dev had never heard about it being picked up again, even when she was offered new contracts to help with some gacha drops to work with NDA features while she worked on another game. It might have been introduced in an expansion, but she wouldn't know about that either way.

"I can't really say; we'll need to do a lot of experimentation. The problem is, experimenting will be difficult to perform without a known fuel source here…" Orlo replied.

"Tier magic, and for that matter, your magic system, use mana ma'am, so it's not as difficult to get immunity films researched and designed. It's a tried and true mobile source coming from anyone who has a mana pool. We'd need to get a stable fuel line up… that could… that could cause some ethics concerns for you… this might not go off of souls, but it could… well… it could turn some areas into hazard zones for testing" Turnie told her. The empress cursed slightly as she remembered there were 'wild magic zones' that tapped into something called "The Weave" for wild mages to learn to harness it anywhere. For all she knew, those might not exist, or creating one might damage the landscape. They'd have to make a testing facility far away from the castle to do any of this.

"I'd like some basic experimentation done on it first, like is the fuel source souls as a fact or is this not as… invasive… towards living creatures. Let me know what you find, we'll deal with ethics concerns later once we reach that point. If it is souls, then at least we'll know this isn't the same wild magic that I know of."

"Yes ma'am, we'll get to it once we get back to the castle." The coms ended and she sat back, thinking about runecraft right after. The design of runecraft here might be similar to what she had seen for tabletop games, with a certain rune symbol casting a special spell that doesn't cost mana. That would make an impressive counter system if armor plating had this added in, potentially acting as a reactive armor paneling against explosives or other high impact strikes that didn't require replacing charge blocks. That was if it worked the same way, as there were many different runecraft systems in a lot of games, with one in particular having two different versions of it, pissing off the players quite a bit.

"So… that was a thing. Are we going to see the high elf forest in the future?" Bryn asked her.

"I have no idea. That was… very interesting. I'm pretty sure I just got my eyes opened to others not always acting in their best interest when it comes to diplomacy… I'm now suddenly worried if it will get much worse for the animal folk and orcs" Selene replied, blinking rapidly as she drank some of her tea.

 _ **Midnight**_

Elsei came to Selene's room once more, knocking on the door and requesting to enter. The empress opened it and let her inside, tired as usual as she woke up. "This really shouldn't become a thing, seriously." The elf looked embarrassed and kept her eyes on the ground.

"I'm terribly sorry, your majesty. I can leave if you want me to." The dev sighed and shook her head.

"No, just… if it isn't an emergency or involving something that could turn into an emergency, can it at least wait until morning? Really, I'll be all ears when the day starts."

"I'll do as you say." The empress sat down on the bed, waiting for another stint of information sharing. While she didn't pry, and frankly wasn't caring too much about her past, with the very strained meeting involving the aristocracy of her race it made sense to listen to her. People didn't need to feel like they should share their life stories, and frankly she would rather send them away if they tried to. Half of it was usually boring crap anyways, she didn't need to know the circumstances of their birth or what star they were born under.

She debated on using a spell to wake herself up, as she'd be going back to bed hopefully soon; if it took longer than expected, the dev would finally accept there wasn't going to be much sleep tonight and just get on with the day. Jeeves would have something to say about that, along with Turnie.

"Now, what did you need to talk about?" Selene slipped her legs back under the bed covers and leaned back against her pillows.

"I… would like to be the ambassador to speak with the dwarves… if you would allow me to…"

"You mean you'll head over there with Morlan and see about opening up the mine again? Well hell, I was just gonna see if there could be faster trade between Eil'Ta Forest and their southern cousins. It would make more sense to cut out the middleman as it were and get a rail line set up."

"You mean just ignore the dwarves entirely?"

"Well, yeah, sort of. Why? Do we need them? They aren't a part of the empire."

"It could be helpful to have them as an ally, or perhaps join?"

"Why? I can't think of anything they can produce that would benefit us; it's just going to be more laws we'll have to sort through, differences in opinion, I'd have to get some sort of weird council thing going for each race to have some sort of say for their people, the list kind of goes on. We're still integrating everything with the dark elves, now we'll double up with the high elves too. Adding dwarves into the mix is going to make a lot of people angry with the change in government. Not everyone agrees with everything, I'm expecting at least some malcontent civilians not enjoying the enforcement of my laws."

"It is not that… we do not yet know what is ailing the dwarves right now to close their doors to my people. If it is Drow… could it not be a threat to the empire that we are overlooking? Would it not be in our best interest to open diplomacy with their kind?" Selene leaned her head against the plush pillows and crossed her arms with her robe half covering her nightie.

"This is going to slow down what I was planning though."

"What were you planning, your majesty?"

"Silvinholm. I talked it over with Antoine. We're taking it. He even wondered why I took so long. Brynhildr wondered why I was holding back. The only thing the professor wanted was for me to look into showing mercy for some nobles, not to win them over politically. Basically… I screwed up my interpretation of what he hoped for, now I want to shoot guns and scare off the bad guys. Life is simpler that way."

"You're ready to push forward and alert them to the empire's presence?"

"Already have troops on station ready to hit the towns and villages to the north and south; 9th took a village on its way back from your forest, got eyes on a massive fort that is probably used to build up soldiers for pushes into Eil'Ta Forest. Once those are taken, Silvinholm gets conquered by the end of the day. I guess we can hold that off at least until we know the dwarves aren't up to their necks in under dark creepies. Besides… maybe the Drow might be a threat I don't know much about. Ugh… fine, we'll temporarily hold off and see about opening negotiations with the dwarves." She yawned and looked at the elf sitting straight up on the nearby couch.

"That might be best. I understand if you wish to continue with the assaults, though having your armies ahead of a force arising from the underground…"

"Oh, that wouldn't be much of a problem, I have reserves after all, and security forces would keep things in check. That's kind of why they're there. But I guess we can hold off one day or two, it's not like we couldn't take Silvinholm if anything bad suddenly happened, including that weird order from the king to kill off half the populace." She was trying to maintain a military size equal to anywhere between one percent and ten percent of the civilian population, which would be roughly five times as high as the U.S. military at its peak. Granted, the Clockwork Empire didn't have a high population quite just yet, being estimated at around eight million, including the dark elves and high elves now being small minorities.

That would increase by as much as a million once they took Silvinholm, though there were no fixed numbers that Selene was forced to stick with, given that her soldiers were built, not drafted or volunteered. If there was all out war with someone capable of harming the empire, she'd throw those numbers to the wind and gear up fully, probably exceeding the civilian population if it was needed. With her capabilities right now, the military strength she had could be considered a peacekeeping force.

"Thank you, your majesty. I know I'm asking for this… sorry you are accepting my request to go through with it."

"No no, it's fine. The fact of the matter is I do need advice once in a while and you seem to think this might be a problem we need to look into. It could also show the dwarves that… well, not every elf acts the same way as Queen Ynshael." Selene rolled her eyes and softly shook her head at remembering the silver haired elf.

"She's… never had to deal with outside forces before, her husband performed any negotiations that our people needed. She isn't incompetent, she just… things happened quickly and she's trying to keep up with all of it."

"How long ago did he pass away?"

"Fifty years ago." The dev blinked at her.

"Fifty years is considered quickly for elves?"

"Not exactly. Those years were used to rework our economy, she is quite good at that. It's just that… Queen Ynshael has not had the chance to really work on her negotiations skills."

Selene let out a dry chuckle. "I can relate sometimes. Alright, tomorrow we'll take 1st Air Fleet in and try to open diplomacy with them. We'll do it after Morlan shows me a few of the Martial Arts he's been hiding. I'll hold off on Operation: That's My City, No Touchies. You wouldn't per chance know any of those moves, would you?" Selene asked her, an eyebrow raising as she pushed some of her hair away from her face.

"I… do not… mainly because I am not normally one of the warriors of my people. My calling doesn't allow me to use Martial Arts."

"Oh! Right! You said you were a… a… what was it… Guardian Priestess. So… holy magic?" the empress said, snapping her fingers to remember what she had said her job class was.

"Some, yes. Mostly protection effects, a light number of healing spells, a great deal of exorcism and cleansing. There are a few others that… I try not to use all that often… not exactly magic…" The dev waggled her eyebrows a little. The elf probably did more to keep demons and evil creatures away than truly fight, warding off creatures in an area instead of combating them directly. There was silence in the room for a moment as Elsei didn't continue explaining the other abilities she hinted at.

"Ok… ok so I remembered that… sorry, I'm… *yawn* ready to get back to sleep. We'll worry about the dwarves tomorrow, see what's going on, then get back to taking out Artinia. While we're there, we might be able to take a slight trip up to Eil'Ta Forest and, I don't know, figure out what their afraid of. Might have a new cave entrance or something that makes them think Drow will climb up. We could close it up for them… seriously surprised they don't do it themselves… all it takes is a good engineering team…"

"That's… possible, your majesty." Elsei got up and bowed to her, heading for the door.

"Elsei. Remember what I said, if it can wait until morning… please do so."

"Yes, your majesty." Elsei left her bedroom and slipped out the doors, allowing the empress to get back to sleep.

 _I swear! Do elves not sleep or something?!_

 _ **2nd, December**_

1st Air Fleet left without a single hold up, carrying the empress's entourage to the Kaldanas Mountains and to the dwarven fortress. Elsei and Morlan were astounded by the amazing capability the airship had, being a palace in the skies to them. Donovan and Melsia both joined as well, having experience with negotiations. Donovan would assist Elsei while Selene hung back and sat with the others, not wanting to cause problems. Hrist and Bryn both relaxed in street attire, not needing to armor up at all. While Hrist watched a recorded play on a small video screen that popped out above the couch she was lying on, her sister sat back with a good book and some bourbon.

"Did you bring the gift, your majesty?" Elsei asked. She stood in front of the dev as the auburn-haired woman looked her over. The clothes she was going to wear along with the armor were much higher quality than she ever wore, as the empress wanted to make sure she represented herself properly and with elegance. The blue and white armor on top of the grey uniform was supposed to give a sense of peace and tranquility, that they didn't mean any harm to the dwarves. Both Elsei and Morlan both received multiple different colored uniforms, for quite a few different meetings, some of which were to convey irritation and potential war if the people they were meeting with didn't play their cards right.

"Of course I did, this is for a king, correct?" Selene replied. She pulled out the wooden case from her inventory, a bottle of scotch from her brewery. The aging process was simply done with **[Time Dilation]** cast on the barrels. The spell, despite being dimensional magic, was finicky, capable of causing more harm than good if not used properly.

"That is correct, your majesty. Now, you said you'll let me speak on behalf of you?" the elf said.

"Yes, I probably shouldn't speak much unless I absolutely have to, give them a chance to realize you would rather show some respect unlike the royal family. You know, I could just stay up here and out of the way, there's no real reason to come with you."

"That would not be the best course of action. They'll want to see who they are dealing with, regardless of me speaking for you. First impressions are always done not by the messenger, but by the crown. You hold authority, I am simply going to be the voice of that authority" Elsei informed her. The dev put her hands up in surrender.

"No worries, I'll go with." Morlan laid back on a curved couch and just relaxed. He had spent two hours pushing himself in the morning to show the empress just what his Martial Arts could do. **{Shatter Point}** caused his weapon to pierce armor and give a good chance to break it outright once he removed the blade, though it only seemed to work on material a few tiers above what he was using. Steel didn't do anything to Carbyne, but it definitely did a lot of damage to mithril and took a chunk out of adamantium. With all defensive systems functioning in tungsten steel armor, minus external defenses such as shields or reactive paneling, the steel sword cut into the first layer of metal, but that was about it. Beyond that, no other damage could be seen, the armor was still fully functional. This was proving everything she had originally used against Hrist was holding its own long after it became obsolete.

 **{Grand Strike}** was a wide swing that could sweep a good ten meters of space in front of him, bypassing most of the weight from anyone defending and launching them back… if it didn't cleave them in half first. The problem was Selene offered to be his target dummy with the steel sword. His attack rammed into her shield and stopped right then and there, with the warrior vibrating heavily and incapable of keeping his feet stationary, nearly breaking his arms in the process. She had to cast some healing spells on him in case there were any fractures to his bones. Provided he had better equipment, that might have knocked the dev off her feet… maybe. All she was doing was standing there and using her shield to block, no special abilities in use such as **{Move A Mountain}**.

There were a few other attacks he used, all of which were somewhat impressive for him to strike out with, but none of it seemed to break or even damage her defenses. They were just special attacks similar to magic, but made for warriors, as they didn't have mana. There were more than likely Martial Arts that could be used by rangers and archers, monks or thieves as well.

This seemed to mean that while these abilities and special magic were powerful, they had limits just like everything. Wild Magic, if it did in fact use souls, had a finite amount of fuel, with a high chance of instability. Dragon Lords might be able to cast it without using souls, or at least far more efficiently, though it seemed easier to just use tier magic and let this system die off. Using something just because it caused more damage at the cost of killing oneself or destroying that which they cared about looked to be incredibly foolish in the empress's eyes.

"Are you sure you do not wish to simply push for the dwarves to join the empire, your majesty?" Melsia asked as she sat next to her husband and read a book brought from the royal library.

"Give them a chance to see things are better if they join, and they'll offer it themselves. Besides, we're here to negotiate the doors to be reopened and trade to recommence with their neighbor, not to force them to bend the knee." Selene sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, smirking. "I hope we don't get a repeat of what happened with your people Elsei. Just about everyone seems to underestimate us, and it always ends badly, even when we're trying to be friendly."

"They don't know about an empire to the west, your majesty. Unknown compared to known. Artinia is the only human government they understand, which is to say, humans are… uh…"

"Dickheads that don't know what they're doing?" Selene questioned, a grin crawling onto her mouth.

"You said it, your majesty, not I." Elsei did her best to keep a smile from erupting. The trip was fast and quiet, with _Majesty's Grace_ providing a luxurious area to relax while they traveled to the Kaldanas Mountains. There wasn't really a need to use teleportation just yet, as the time on board allowed Elsei to practice questions she thought the dwarves would ask, with Donovan reading over old books on what the dwarves had as tradition and customs. Selene would simply sit there and look pretty, answering only when she needed to.

"Ma'am, I have a slight update on the Wild Magic while you fly first class" Orlo chimed in over her coms.

"Go ahead Orlo, what did you find so far?"

"Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" He asked.

"Mmmm… bad news first, good news puts a band aid on it after."

"I'm sorry to say ma'am, but it does in fact use souls, though it may even use, well, experience as an alternative fuel source, though that is a tentative hypothesis." The dev sighed and closed her eyes, accepting it was a different system.

"Alright, so it isn't what I thought it would be. At least we have a foundation to work from. Is it still unstable?"

"It… is ma'am. Oddly enough, it becomes more stable with the temporary wild magic zone we created to the north. It lasted all of four hours before dispersing." Selene's eyes flew open as she blinked in surprise.

"Whoa, it dispersed? As in, it's gone right after? Wait, you didn't experiment where we are planning to place the space elevator, did you?"

"Yes and no ma'am. The tear sealed itself up slowly. It was only a one-meter long opening; we were quite careful. The hazard zone was in fact just off the coast on a small holm, if you could even call it that."

"Huh… well… ok then. So… the emissions from a tear zone stabilizes this type of wild magic… wait, hang on, how did you test this? Where did you get the souls?" she asked, worried they had done human testing somehow without her knowledge.

"Animal testing ma'am, we're… sorry if that goes against your ethics, we know we didn't ask you. Wild creatures in the area, one of which was a captured mimic, another was a bear with rabies. Does this… disturb you? We can stop if you want us to."

"No, no… just… that scared the shit out of me. I thought you were doing open experimentation on people. A mimic is fine obviously, the bear… eh… kind of wish we cleansed the disease instead… let's not fuck with the wildlife too much, at least the animal side, alright? Mythical creatures are mostly ok, preferably without screwing with the gryphon nests. What did you test to get this much research done in a day?" There was silence for a moment as Turnie clicked in.

"Ma'am, we didn't actually test a spell per se, given we don't know any; we just… we attempted to rend the soul from the body via necromancy magic using the orb you gained from Silvinholm. It's in a sealed and controlled environment, incapable of taking hold of anyone. Afterwards, we sort of… well, we launched the souls at the tear zone."

"You launched souls? Like… like a potato cannon?"

"Very similar ma'am" Orlo chuckled out. A comic strip played through Selene's mind at the thought of her two automaton researchers aiming a cannon at something and blasting the souls of two creatures out, with the look of the souls seeming to resemble a flaming skull from a very old fps game when they were first created.

"How much damage did they do, if any?"

"Given it was just for testing… we scorched the terrain, then extinguished the flames to keep a tree from burning down. We read through the journal of Erina Crowley at the dragon aerie and noted that it was believed anyone below a dragon lord would have high difficulty casting without repercussions. We didn't cast to be exact, and what we did was in fact just raw ejection of the power we collected. It's… well, we have a theory beyond what we were going to experiment right now."

"That theory would be?" Selene questioned.

"Storing souls in some sort of container, then filtering them into whatever tier magic or dimensional magic we can get it to work with, maybe equipment more advanced than what we just used. If it functions in that way, we believe that Wild Magic itself is simply a primal form of those systems, but without aiming towards a specific goal."

"I'm not sure I follow" the dev said, furrowing her eyebrows while everyone else relaxed in the living room aboard the ship.

"Alright. Say we cast a **[Greater Heal]** spell on someone. That uses mana, correct? Now, imagine someone using wild magic for the same effect. This system doesn't have a spell like that, it just focuses the energy produced to heal, probably also causing a cleansing of all disease and acting just like **[Growth Spurt]** for the vegetation in the area. It's the intent that seems to matter, not the specific effect."

"Except this intent uses souls and sacrifices to get the job done. The saying 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' really holds true here. The ends clearly do not justify the means to heal one group of people at the cost of another group." Selene stated.

"Therein lies the issue with this system, at least if our hypothesis involving experience falls short and theory is proven true for the magical connection. There is also the very real issue of never being able to create the same effect as tier magic or dimensional magic, as there is a specific and detailed goal for each spell. This… this just goes off of what you're hoping for and letting it fly" Orlo reported.

"How did you get this done so quickly? I mean, I expected this to take at least a week or so just to tell me what the fuel source was…"

"The initial research on the faith eater helped ma'am, along with the journal, as well as reviewed the log from the recording bot in the throne room when you interrogated Queen Ynshael about the spell she supposedly knew; most of what we've just said was just what we are planning to test; the only things we've nailed down are it uses souls, and it has similarities to the other form of wild magic" Turnie told her. Selene's eyebrows raised in worry.

"Is wild magic connected to faith energy?"

"No ma'am, it isn't, at least initial results show it being completely different. There is a similar diffusion of the energy from both types, though wild magic's fuel source seems to be a one-shot use, with extreme results. We haven't done any experimentation with faith, as… well… we can't produce any of it."

"Oh… because… you're… uh…"

"No ma'am, not because we're mechanical life. The issue is we can't measure how much faith a person creates. We tried by asking someone who, uh… well… worships you. He was all too willing to do whatever we required, so we simply requested he pray. We couldn't tell if what we were measuring was an ounce or an ocean of their faith with the cobbled together sensors we built, it was all over the map. We can't tell if that was because of the sensors or if his faith was fluctuating in you, or any other number of complications. We also don't know how it is used, just that if someone was able to harness it… it doesn't go away without the death of the follower."

 _So, a god can be incredibly powerful as long as their followers stay safe and secure, never running out of the fuel for their abilities or killing those who worship them. Now I'm seeing how Elesia was barely able to protect those at the abbey… but what the hell is a faith eater then if it hunts down the faithful… this also brings up the question of if one god controlled the whole planet, could they theoretically build a utopia, as well as keep the sun from ever extinguishing?_

"Basically ma'am, closest analogy would be souls to gasoline and faith to powerful solar panels. You get the burst of power from igniting the gas, but then it's gone, and you need more. As long as the sun is shining, those solar panels will create energy, at least until the sun goes down" Turnie explained. The report, despite answering at least the basics for wild magic, created even more for faith now. They'd have to double down on experiments once she had all the details for this project. "Are you going to make use of this type of magic, once we get it figured out, ma'am?" The healer bot asked.

"No… it seems by its very nature to be evil, at least from what I can see for someone who doesn't have innate control of it. I might be wrong about that, but I can't accept it as anything but harmful to anyone who uses it, excluding dragons maybe. Even if it is powerful, the fuel source is what worries me." The empress exhaled and leaned with her fingers holding up her forehead. "Besides… I don't like using that necromancy orb artifact for experiments. I don't like using that type of magic either. It shows a mindset against life itself. Do we have defenses to protect against it?" she asked them.

"Given what we've done, there will need to be far more extensive experiments, preferably with someone who can actually cast with it. However, given what we can so far see… I believe Turnie and I are in agreement that our technological defenses should provide ample protection. Fortunately, and here is the good news, we have reason to believe your resistances and immunities will hold against this type of magic, at least with preliminary analysis. You have multilayered immunities now, which would cancel out the effect of any magic with penetration qualities. Someone would need to cast multiples of the spell just to harm you. The rest of us… shields should hold, most defensive systems can tank nuclear blasts…" Orlo replied.

"We got to start somewhere. Ok, at least that answers starter questions. Now… given what you've learned so far, in both of your opinions, is this a threat?" Turnie shared a small mini discussion with Orlo, then returned to the com channel.

"At the moment, given how rare it would be to find anyone who can use it, as well as the fact we have counter measures and quick response weapons to eliminate whoever is casting… not to mention the instability and potential for the caster to kill themselves… not at the moment. It may never become a threat ma'am, and if it did, we have reason to believe whoever casts it would be taken out quite quickly. While it might be beneficial to research new defenses for other uses, this might be making a mountain out of a mole hill" Turnie informed her. Orlo gave her an example that looked, for all intents and purposes, very similar to a sniper unit from a very old RTS game made by a company over one hundred years ago launching a nuke with a laser designator. It had a time before it landed, meaning someone could find the unit and kill it quickly before the WMD landed, which nullified the drop.

 _Seems like I should agree. The new defenses coming from this research might be useful for others though, maybe diplomats I send to other nations… anti poison barriers or maybe protection against time stop, specific spells potentially…_

"Alright, good work you two, glad you found all of this so far. Continue working on it, it could help in other avenues, even if it doesn't look like someone could rampage through the empire on a killing spree. Seems Queen Ynshael was just using it as a scare tactic to keep others from attacking her forest, I doubt she'd really sacrifice most of her people. Now that I look at it… I can't really blame her. Smoke and mirrors keep the wolves at bay."

"Yes ma'am. We'll delve into this a little more and see if we can't get some more detail on runecraft afterwards. Faith energy might be on the back burner for a little bit though. Might I suggest creating a dedicated research team while Bronze Team is out performing our duties?"

"That's fine, these are immediate issues, and we did just take out another faith eater in Eil'Ta Forest. Keep up the good work. I'm already working on getting that issue dealt with, might need to get a group of scientists crafted… and probably spies… and probably a mayor and administration team for Silvinholm to deal with that mess once we take it… thank you, both of you." Orlo ended the call, leaving the empress to her thoughts. It could be possible, if she put some effort into it, to combine multiple abilities together, such as Martial Arts and Runecraft if she could get some more information on both. While not especially powerful by themselves, the combination of those two along with decent training for wizards in tier magic to help not just for combat, but for policing a town or city, even with firefighting, would finally make magic beneficial for everyone. Instead of having a firetruck or hydrants, just lots of people with runecraft armor and wizard barriers running in grabbing survivors, then using something similar to **[Unending Flow]** to douse flames.

She looked at the time, being almost noon, and checked in with Hrist who was in the middle of watching the recorded play. Her noise cancelling headphones allowed her to ignore the world around the Valkyrja. A quick tap on her shoulder and the raven-haired woman removed what was cutting her off from hearing from the room around, looking up at her. "Hey, lunch in a minute." She nodded and got up, with the group heading to the dining room.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Alain sat with a cup of wine in his hand and a steak in front of him, watching some dancers on the other end of the table entertain him. A subordinate came in and stood nearby, waiting to be acknowledged.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm eating here."

"I'm sorry, my lord, but urgent information is being brought to you. The envoy heading to Aureos was found dead in an alleyway." The fat nobleman started to slowly laugh as he put the goblet down. "My lord?"

"I guess he doesn't realize there are more than one heading from many directions. Nice try commander, I planned ahead." The fat noble simply laughed as the actions of the Artinian officer seemed to be in vain.

 _ **Aureos**_

Three dead. Three more wizards were dead after attempting to figure out how to use the artifact the king had provided them. The wizard's academy was pouring everything into figuring out this item, however each time they attempted to divine what it could do, their experiments ended in failure, sometimes with disastrous results.

"Damn it, this can't be that difficult to figure out! We've lost how many now, Dragalos?" the head of the academy snapped out.

"This would be up to twelve now, sir." The headmaster slammed his fist against the table, causing an alembic to topple over. Part of their time wasn't even spent on researching this artifact, it was finding new wizards with ideas about what to do, then cleaning up the mess their corpses made from whatever unstable magic it was using to reflect, harshly, back at them. One of the wizards didn't even have a body to clean up, just vaporized.

"This can't be this difficult to figure out! The king is depending on us to understand how it was created, and somehow harness its power!" An apprentice walked in shyly and looked around. Both Dragalos and the headmaster turned around at his approach and looked at him. "What is it apprentice?" he asked.

"They… we… we… we got… he… somehow managed to…"

"Calm your thoughts, boy. You're an apprentice of this academy, act like it!"

"We were able to find a manual with the artifact's symbol on it, sir. It changed hands so often we thought it was all but lost. Somehow a trader managed to get his hands on it. The cost was… exorbitant." He pulled out a scroll case and opened it. Inside was completely filled with almost a tome's worth of papers. The headmaster walked forward and snatched the case from the apprentice, pulled out the parchments inside and placed them on the table. None of the writing made sense. "They… said something about four languages used for it, sir."

"Four? Whoever made this clearly did not want others to decipher the meaning."

"Yes sir, it seems that was the clear intention. One of the languages though, at least what the trader said it was, is… something rumored to be called… Katakana?" the apprentice explained, hoping he got the name of the first language used.

"Katakana? Hmm… we'll get the scribes on this immediately, check through the libraries for anything that matches. We have much work to do. Our king will have access to this device, we swore to make it so."

 _ **One Hour Later**_

A single helibot landed carefully just outside the massive gates to the dwarven fortress installed inside the tallest peak of the Kaldanas Mountain range. No one was outside, not one single guard seen. "Huh, the queen wasn't lying when she said they closed up shop" Selene quipped as they looked around a little, a recon team being brought in with them to survey the area.

"It appears so, your majesty" Elsei replied as she started to walk up to the gates and knocked on it. No response. "Should they not have an opening to look outside and see who is there?"

"You mean a peephole? Probably." The empress cast **[Light Orb]** and flitted it about the area, hoping to catch the attention of a scout or anyone spying on the front doors. "Maybe they're ignoring us intentionally." They stood around for a few minutes, waiting and watching for signs of life.

"I get the feeling we're wasting time right now" Bryn commented as she sat on the ramp of the helibot. They waited another few minutes before the dev patted Elsei on her shoulder and pointed at the transport.

"Maybe they're eating lunch and we came at a bad time. Let's come back a little later." As the elf and empress walked back to their flying taxi, an explosion blew off a chunk far up the mountain, creating a hole that launched rubble in all different directions. Both of them looked at each other. "I'm a little behind on my dwarven culture. Is that a normal thing to see?"

"I've never seen something like that happen before. This might be-" Elsei didn't get a chance to finish as another explosion tossed stone into the air. "Yes, this is definitely bad." The group ran towards the gates, with Selene and the Valkyrja pushing on the massive doors, the honor guard assisting to the sides. They could hear something cracking and breaking on the other side, not quite sure what it was before both doors were open enough to allow them to enter. The sound was actually the massive wooden bars on multiple levels of the doors snapping like twigs from the strength of the team pushing them in.

The place was chaos with debris strewn around and destruction everywhere. A few bodies of dwarves were lying on the ground, though most were just wounded. There was no sight of anything that could have caused the damage though, no Drow or creature that came from the under dark. The dev ran to a critically wounded dwarf on the ground and cast some healing spells on him, then pulled a few healing potions she always kept in stock for the hospitals, handing them to Donovan. A guard ran over from a pushed open door.

"Hey! What the hell is a human doing in here?!" he snapped, then looked at the gates. "Oh." She helped the now healed dwarf off the ground as smoke flowed through the area, with the others doing what they could for other survivors. "Leave him alone, you shouldn't be here."

"I'm just trying to help, go check on the others."

"No, you need to leave… now!" He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she immediately shot her own up, grabbed him by the neck and lifted. His axe tried to slam into her side, without armor. Unfortunately for him, her clothing now was made of Carbyne fibers and a micro foam padding layer underneath, making the imperial regalia she wasn't wearing just a look to intimidate others. She dropped him on the ground and stared at him with a finger pointed.

"Go. Help. Others. I seriously hate repeating myself. The longer you wait, the more die. Now." He got up and ran for another wounded soldier on the ground, with a cord breaking on a cog that held the arm of a crucible in place. Another snapped, then another as survivors were gotten out of the area, until finally the arm started to swing across the massive room. The crucible was supposed to be moved across crude rails above to deeper parts of the fortress, with a massive core seen heading down to the mantle of the planet. There were myriad pathways in all directions, multiple massive hollow pillars with stairs coiling up the sides and even having lit windows along the way, making the whole place look like a labyrinth to the empress. She half expected to see some of the stairways to be upside down.

The honor guard were commanded to run around the room while using simple healing spells, with their very visage nearly scaring the dwarves they were attempting to assist with their size. At the moment, the entire plan was to safely contain the situation, and using all available assets. That included sending the empress's protective detail to save lives away from her.

One of the dwarven women was just getting up, holding her side and bleeding badly. Selene jogged over to her and helped pour a potion into her mouth, healing the wound within a few seconds without a bad taste she was used to; she thanked the dev and ran away. "Look out!" Hrist yelled at her as she looked up and saw the crucible slam into the side of the room and tilt, pouring molten metal all over her. "SELENE!" she screamed as the area was covered, hissing as it cooled… very quickly.

The metal hardened and darkened as the material chipped away little by little, with Hrist watching in horror for a moment, before the entire shell of her empress's bubble cooled and blew off. The auburn-haired woman had created a stone cover with **{Molecular Reformation}** around herself, looking at her body and clothing just to make sure she really wasn't harmed. Her resistances had kept the heat from incinerating her on the spot, her biomimetic barrier not even touched. The Cryokinesis she had used to fast cool the metal, along with the telekinetic blast wave she used, had caused some of her hair to glow golden as an after effect, as if she had temporary highlights strewn throughout. In Hrist's eyes, she really did start looking like a goddess. "Ok… that was very nearly a brown pants moment there… life was flashing before my eyes… gonna… gonna take a breather for a sec…"

A rail cart fell off a destroyed rail line and slammed down on top of her, filled with raw ore. The empress kicked that off, clearly annoyed now. "Oh, come on! That's two! There better not be a third!" she growled out loudly as she looked around above her with a raised eyebrow and a grimace, waiting for something else to catch her off guard. Even though it seemed like an inconvenience to her, the view of her shrugging off hazards that should have killed her to the dwarves still nearby was shocking. This human did not die to events that should have obliterated her body. A pillar fell over just behind her back, with a quick middle finger flipping up from her hand at the inanimate object.

Military models rushed in behind them and sprayed fire extinguishers on patches of flame, with the dev casting a quick spell to get rid of the smoke. It allowed her to see a lot more of the fortress going straight up and straight down, with homes even lining the edges of the deep core surprisingly.

"Who are you?" a dwarf guard asked, awed by what she just did. She sat down and took out a handkerchief, wiping down her face a little from any soot and smoke, not wanting to use a **[Scrub]** spell and remove her high-end makeup.

"She is someone who needs to speak with your king immediately. We have provided assistance in your… time of trouble, we request a simple meeting provided" Elsei informed him as Hrist checked Selene over.

"I'm fine Hrist, that was just a… real wake up call to this place…" she said as she tried to wave her off.

 _Come with me… and you'll be… in a world of OSHA violations…_

The guard started to walk off, passing by a troop that had come in to evaluate the situation. They watched the automatons secure the area around their empress, not allowing any of them to go past their perimeter.

"Is it just me, or is it a little hot in here?" Morlan asked, pulling on the collar of his uniform.

"That's how all super forges are kiddo, part of being near dwarves" Brynhildr replied with a chuckle, sitting down next to the dev. "You said you nearly had a brown pants moment?" she asked.

"Nearly."

"But it didn't really hurt you at all."

"Doesn't stop the psychological effect of having molten metal poured on your head, does it?" Bryn chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that would cause anyone to panic a little." The empress blinked rapidly as her eyes got used to the darkness in the area, bar the massive braziers and the constant glow from the deep core forge. A quick pull of a water bottle from her inventory and she was gulping down ice cold water with a **[Frost Finger]** cast, the mindset of her somehow still in the searing liquid metal still taking a little hold of her. Her resistances had kept her clothing from being burned away as well, otherwise she would have immediately pulled a cloak as well to cover up.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Moving Mountains)**_

The guard returned, motioning for them to follow him. Selene got up and walked behind Elsei as they wound through the fortress for what seemed like an hour. Once they stopped, there was a large circular room with geometric shapes carved with runic symbols throughout the area. It looked like a reverse coliseum, with concentric circular seats surrounding a giant pillar in the middle. It didn't seem like the seats were meant to ever look at each other, maybe made for different facets of the government to deal with issues instead.

There were epics etched into the walls of long-ago battles, the history of the dwarves unwinding before them as in each pair of character eyes was a set of glowing gems. Some of the sculptured stone reminded Selene of Scandinavian designs, with interwoven lines and eyes mixed in, though there were surprising hints of another culture with Maori or Polynesian tattoos on a few of the heroes in the art on the walls. "No seats… and I don't see anyone ready to meet us yet" Morlan remarked. The empress raised multiple chairs up out of the ground made out of stone, then pulled some pillows from her inventory and tossed them to each person in her group.

"Then I guess we play the waiting game…" she muttered out as they sat down for what she thought was an hour, taking the whole room in and studying what they could. Her clock in her Hud showed close to an hour and a half just sitting there.

"Why do I get the feeling we are being watched?" Melsia asked.

"Maybe because we are. I wouldn't doubt they are observing us, wondering why we are here and what they need to do with us" Donovan stated. "Given we just assisted them back there, it is possible they are thinking if our intentions are good or ill."

A nearby door opened as a line of dwarven nobles entered and took their seats, with the king walking in right after with his son to sit on top of the pillar, with the younger generation having a much smaller beard. He cleared his throat and looked at the empress, then at the Valkyrja. "You have entered our fortress unannounced, destroyed our gates and assaulted one of our guards. What reason do you have for coming here? Speak quickly, your actions show of ill intent."

 _Ill intent? We just rescued survivors from that explosion! I swear…_

Selene sighed and looked at Elsei, waiting for her to start speaking. The elf stood up and walked forward, looking at each noble sitting in front of her. "Noble dwarves of the Kaldanas Mountains, I speak on behalf of Grand Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire, sitting before you. We came under the premise of gaining an answer to a question that you have created, that is to say, you have closed your gates to the high elves, now a part of the Clockwork Empire."

"You broke through our gates just to ask us this?!" the king asked in an annoyed tone.

"We broke through your gates after seeing unknown explosions erupt from the top of the mountain, then rushed to aide those who were wounded lying around. That might have been omitted from the report you received, your majesty." The king seemed to calm down and glare at the nobles, some of which were attempting to undermine his authority and cause him to show poor form in the eyes of others.

"I see…" he responded, rubbing his beard and tapping his fingers on his large stone throne. The hair on his face seemed well kempt, not looking in any way like Selene would expect. The entire idea of dwarves being dirty and not taking care of themselves with scraggily beards was a stereotype that clearly did not set for these people. The king's beard looked almost straight and silky smooth.

"We have brought a gift, in hopes of making sure this is an amiable meeting, your majesty" Elsei spoke up quickly, looking towards Selene behind her. The dev pulled out the wooden box with a latch and handed it to her, which caused the nobles to start whispering about how she just shoved her hand into nothing and pulled an item from thin air. The golden highlights had still not worn off yet in her red hair while she did so, making most wonder if she was in fact more than an empress. The elf walked carefully up the steps and handed the box to the king, the guards wary of her actions. Once she was back down the steps, he opened the box to find a bottle of scotch waiting for him nestled in some straw.

"Ha! Well, this may be a fine gift indeed… if it is up to my standards of course… should have probably brought a keg though…" he said as he motioned for a glass to be brought to him. A servant ran in with two cups and he poured a small amount, sniffing the liquid and having the servant taste it from his own, in the event there was poison. The servant nodded to him as he started to drink from his own glass right after, enjoying the rich taste. "Impressive, fit for a king. This flavor makes it worth the small amount provided. It must be highly expensive."

 _That's the lowest mark made in the past month, buddy. Anything lower gets sold to Moira as piss water for the tavern. The good stuff I'm saving for a future ball or to reward Brynhildr._

"We are happy it is to your satisfaction, your majesty. We also hope for good health to those who were wounded in the forge beyond the gates." The king raised the glass to the empress and nodded. They seemed to come in good will, even if they were a majority of humans. Elsei did inform him that they were from a different government than Artinia, it must be why they were far more professional in their actions while meeting him in his own home.

"Now, to the question you have asked of me. I know… that the high elves believe we have cut our ties with them, to keep them from gaining their precious mithril. This is not the case. The gates were closed to bar a creature of immeasurable power from escaping, to cause unspeakable destruction beyond our mountains." Elsei looked back at the dev, wondering if she should continue speaking for her. Selene just kept her mouth shut, not unless asked to speak. Even if she knew she was a far cry higher on the totem pole than this mountain king, she was in his fortress and would attempt to show some respect. Elsei was already doing a good job anyways.

"Is this creature a… race… or is it only one singular threat, your majesty?" she asked. The king laughed.

"You think that Drow would come for an assault of the surface and go through our stone? What do you take us for? Shalebrains?" he asked, laughing some more. "Drow have never been able to make a tunnel to our homes, we embody the stone, we are of the mountain more so than they are of the under dark. No, we are not fools; if there was a tunnel or cave newly created, we would have known and closed it easily."

That information visibly made Elsei sigh in relief, happy that the evil cousins of her people were not creeping out of the stonework. The elf continued asking questions as to where the explosions came from, that immense damage to the super forge. At that moment, Selene received a message from 9th Brigade.

"Ma'am, we found the cave entrance that Queen Ynshael had mentioned. We've investigated deep below the surface and found nothing to explain there is a presence of Drow here. What we instead found was a giant turtle that had burrowed up from the ocean." A picture was sent to her showing a massive turtle sitting there, just looking at the automatons. Its skin seemed to be made of stone or metal, she couldn't be sure which one due to the lighting. There seemed to be two glowing antennae on its head, along with some glowing blue bulbs on the back of the shell.

 _It isn't hostile, so this was all just a false alarm. Well, at least we can all calm down now. Guess Operation: My City, No Touchies can go ahead as planned._

"Understood, see if you can close off the cave entrance at least, maybe leave a small hole for air flow. It might have just burrowed up a little too much and realized it screwed up, or maybe just needed air brought in. We don't want anyone disturbing the docile creature's lair." She was still surprised the turtle did that, not just basking on a rock. The size of it was easily fifty meters in all directions. The fact that some sea creatures could tear through stone to just to make a nest was impressive.

"Then I apologize on behalf of my empress, your majesty. We were worried your people were under attack by a foe that lives much further below all of us. We are happy that is not the case."

"No, young elf. We deal with a foe that flies through the skies. We deal… with a dragon." He explained the situation in such a way that he hoped to get surprised gasps from the group. Donovan and Melsia, as well as their son, both were shocked at this new information. Hrist and her sister along with the empress, however, just sat there, unimpressed.

 _Three red down, what's a fourth? I need to start getting some research done on the bone and scales, see if there is anything that can be used from those exotic reagents._

"Did you not hear what I said, empress? It is a dragon."

"I heard you. We have had dealings with dragons in the past, not necessarily friendly." The king stared at her curiously, stroking his beard slowly with his right hand. It clearly took more than learning of a giant flying lizard to get any sort of rise from the empress.

"Perhaps… it may be possible to provide some advice about the situation to you, your majesty" Elsei said, looking between both of them. "My empress has dealt with a red dragon… personally."

"A dragon slayer? Her?" one of the nobles spat out. The rest of the senate started to talk amongst themselves.

 _Yes yes, I'm small and fragile looking. Yuck it up at my expense, whatever. It doesn't change the fact I still turned that thing into a purse._

"Enough!" the king snapped, slamming his fist down on the armrest of the throne. "We do not require advice from you, empress. While you may know how to defeat one above ground, fighting in confined tunnels and away from the sun is quite different." Selene looked at Elsei, with the elf averting her eyes.

"I am well aware of that, your majesty. May I ask if you know why the dragon is here to begin with?" the dev said calmly.

"We know not, though it hardly matters. From the reports we received, it struck fast and true from an outside cave entrance, though we have since sealed that opening off from the outside world. Now, it is simply finding its lair and ending the threat once and for all. My apologies to you, Empress Selene, that you came all this way for a fight you won't be a part of, looking for ghosts."

"Better safe than sorry, your majesty. Then we shouldn't bother you anymore." The king nodded, seeming to conclude the meeting. As the nobles stood up, waiting for the dwarf to walk down the steps, Selene stood up and looked at him. "Might I ask… what type of dragon it is?"

"Mmm, yes. From all reports, it seems to be a iron dragon."

 _A metal dragon?! They aren't normally hostile and don't fight if they can avoid it! Like, they're usually neutral alignment, at least from what I read they are! Something must have pissed it off! Oy, you dwarves did something to make it angry at you. I'm getting the idea those reports are false as all fuck._

"I see. Well then, good day to you, your majesty. We should take our leave. Hopefully this will be addressed soon, and you'll be able to open your doors once again. Thank you for seeing us." The king left the room with his son, the nobles following right after. The empress and her entourage were escorted out of the fortress and watched as the gates closed, damaged as they were from their forced entry before.

"So that's it then" Morlan commented. "No Drow, no real threat. The dwarves will stop the dragon from causing anymore harm, and the gates will be reopened once the threat is neutralized. Everything will be fine it seems." Selene started walking away from the gates and heading down the mountain range, ignoring the helibot waiting for them. "Your majesty?" he asked her. She didn't answer immediately.

"Your majesty, where are you going?" Donovan asked her as they followed.

"To find that tunnel entrance where the iron dragon entered. Something isn't right. If this thing is as I think it is, then the dwarves did something to fuck with them. If it isn't… we take care of the threat and get the dwarves on our side. Win-win regardless." They were going to take a hike along the ridge, looking for this dragon's lair now sealed off. It was a dangerous move, at least for the three humans and elf in the empress's group. The two Valkyrja, on the other hand, wanted to see what the dev had in mind once they had met this massive creature.

A plan was forming in her head, one that she didn't quite yet know how to explain to the others. Morlan looked bewildered that they were heading off to find the lair. "C'mon Morlan, where's your sense of adventure?" Bryn asked with a chuckle as she walked backwards staring at him with her arms outstretched. "We've got this." He sighed and followed. It wasn't as if there was a shortage on people in the group that couldn't handle the dragon with little to no help.


	29. Ch 28 Not What Was Expected

The empress stopped after an hour and just stood there, running her tongue along her canines as she mulled over the information coming from her ornithopters, recon teams, deep mining control teams and satellite surveillance to try and find whatever cave entrance the iron dragon used to get into the dwarven underground territories. Everyone else, on the other hand, just watched her stand there blinking while the intel flew around on her Hud, the dev trying to make sense of all of it.

A potential dig site was marked about twenty miles ahead of them, though there was some heavy forest for at least the last three miles keeping everything hidden; dense woodland was interspersed in between right next to the mountain side, making use of a helibot to land treacherous at best, at least until a daisy cutter bomb was used to clear a landing zone; that was something she didn't really want to do, as it would be showing the elves that the empire was not intending to ravage the lands and build wherever they wanted to. Having an explosive go off just to allow easier access to an area they may not visit again would be poor form on her part. There were some smaller markers further beyond, but this was the best choice to at least start with.

A heavy tier VTOL transport dropped off three VLRV vehicles, little more than fast moving four wheeled buggies. "Donovan, Melsia. I'd hazard a guess you'd rather not come face to face with a dragon that might not be… well…" Selene tried to find the right words.

"Unfriendly? I understand, your majesty. In this case… we might get in the way. We'll head back to the palace and read through what we can about the laws the high elves use" Donovan replied, looking to his wife for approval. She simply nodded her head at that idea.

"Actually… speaking of my race…" Elsei started to speak, looking between them. "Your majesty, I… as much as it might be an impressive view to lay eyes on an iron dragon, we do not yet know if it will communicate beyond slinging slurs at us… and… we are close to Eil'Ta Forest. I was wondering if Morlan and I, as well as his parents for that matter, would be allowed to head there and… see how things are being contained by the queen, now that they are a part of the empire."

Melsia looked up at her husband and elbowed him lightly. "It would mean we could get access straight from the high elf royal libraries, give us a much better idea of what might need to be addressed in the future."

"Mhmm, it could give us a chance to firmly connect the economies without any issues. Your majesty, could we?" Donovan asked. Selene looked amongst her group, with four of them wanting to head to the new addition to her borders.

"Well, I mean… sure, I guess. Didn't you say you weren't ever going to go back there? Also, I would have thought some of you would want to get a chance to see a dragon up close, like… still living. As you've said, there is no guarantee they are friendly. We might not see another if they do decide to attack on sight. Are you sure?" the dev questioned, wondering if Morlan might actually stick around. It wasn't as if Elsei and her lover were attached at the hip after all.

The elf looked up at the large warrior as he fidgeted, placing a hand gently on his elbow. "It's alright if you wish to stay, they are my people after all. I'll make sure no harm comes to your parents."

"If any harm does come to them, they'll have more than Morlan to deal with" Brynhildr chimed in, looking at the empress. Hurting any of her citizens, especially those in her arbitrarily small administrative cabinet right now, would mean she'd come down on them like an asteroid on a snail. Morlan glanced at the empress and nodded.

"I would like to stay. I have slain some drakes in the past… two, to be exact… I've yet to see anything beyond that age range. It would be an experience I might not get again in my lifetime."

"Good, because frankly speaking… I'd like to go with Elsei" Bryn added in.

"Why?" Selene asked her, furrowing her eyebrows. Surely, she'd want to stick around for the meeting with a potential great wyrm or even older?

"I've seen my fair share of dragons already, your majesty. I… kind of want to see if I can get my hands on some elven wine… I can keep an eye on these three as well. Elsei can act as a tour guide for us, there's bound to be some things to see that she'd enjoy showing the group." The elf had a small smile grow on her face as she looked at the Valkyrja. There had to be some sights she wanted to share, some secret grotto or shop she enjoyed visiting.

"I would be honored to show you around, however, I want to tend to a few things as well. This is not a trip without business, and, I did say I would not come back… though that was before the forest was integrated. Now… I believe there is nothing to fear; I believe you handled quite efficiently what was keeping me from ever seeing my people again. Queen Ynshael would not dare cross her new ruler after she decided to attend to their troubles. Besides… someone needs to tell them they do not have to fear Drow incursions."

The empress threw her hands in the air and shrugged. "Oh well, guess it's just Hrist and Morlan with me for this little adventure. Just the same, I'll send some escorts with you." Elsei nodded as a transport came down from above, allowing them to board it. An escort frigate airship was pulled away from 1st Air Fleet and would be used to get them safely back to the palace quickly after their business was concluded in the high elven capital.

Morlan looked at the fast-moving buggy that would be carrying him to their destination, the driver being an automaton. The fact the soldier was wearing a visored helmet worried him a little. "So… this is the way we're heading there…" he spoke, wondering how the four wheeled vehicle was going to move so quickly. The last few times he had left the palace was on horseback, a few of the purebreds bought from Werelosil in the event there were visitors who were too afraid to ride in something more advanced, or those who were equestrians.

"Yep, they're small enough to weave around the trees, fast enough to make twenty miles feel like nothing, and I don't really feel like flattening the woodland just for a trip to see a giant lizard" Selene replied. She walked over and picked up a helmet, tossing it over to the man. His eyes showed he was unsure this was the right idea. Hrist, on the other hand, picked up her head protection and immediately put it on, stepping into the reinforced seat and strapping in. She was going to ride with the empress, the Valkyrja wasn't afraid at all. The raven-haired woman did ride Asterion practically on a daily basis.

Morlan sighed and realized what he had gotten himself into. Sticking around with the empress and her general meant doing his best to keep up with them as well. Even her honor guards had smaller ATVs, though they looked a little comical with their bulk sitting on the four wheeled one-seater. They reminded the dev of seeing a circus bear riding a tiny motorcycle; all they needed was a fez cap on their heads and to try and do wheelies.

He resigned himself to sitting down in the buggy, strapping the seatbelts down tightly, and trying to figure out what deity would answer his prayers to safely get him to where they needed to go without injury. As Selene got into the driver's seat of her vehicle, Hrist tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "May I… attempt to drive when we head back?" she asked her. The dev glanced over her shoulder.

"Well… it is a little complicated. Are you sure you want to?" the auburn-haired woman questioned as she placed her helmet on her head, flipping the visor up. Hrist nodded.

"We Valkyrja are quite quick to adapt to new forms of travel." Selene waggled her eyebrows for a moment and blinked. It seemed logical that they would be able to understand all the ways of getting from point A to point B.

"Ok, we'll see how it goes." The buggies started up as the empress drove a little forward, getting used to the fast-moving vehicle's controls. This was her first time getting to use her Driving skill and she was a little nervous. There was no real need for a driver's license back on Earth anymore due to all the self-driving cars or copters. Any place that still had a truck or wheeled transport that didn't move on its own was considered backwater and not many people lived there anymore.

 _ **(Recommended Song: District 78 – Shy Boy)**_

The other buggies pulled up next to hers along with the ATVs, the honor guard ready to chase after her. Morlan looked at Hrist and the dev and seemed to fidget heavily, holding onto the straps and keeping his head pressed against the seat headrest.

Selene revved the engine, engaged **{Evel Knievel}** , and slowly eased into drive. Within seconds, due to the skill, she was almost at maximum speed, shooting between the trees and dodging around boulders. "Tree! Another tree! Rock! Roots! Big ju- OH BOY!" Morlanion shouted out as the convoy zipped around the forest quickly, the suspension and hydraulics shifting and tilting to add better control to the four wheelers. The tires seemed to segment and slide to allow a far greater movement range than was expected for the transport.

Hrist just laughed as the empress shot through the woodland area without a care, rolling two wheels up over an incline while the left side was still below, providing a chance for the buggy to slip between two closely packed trees. For the dev, it was almost like riding a roller coaster with a dive headset. The buggy landed back on all four wheels and launched over a hillock, landing effortlessly and continuing on. One of the ATVs jumped her buggy and swerved to the right around a tree, keeping up with them even though the honor guard had about the same mass and weight as all three cars combined.

Things were going so fast for Morlanion as he tried to keep his eyes shut where possible, with the empress's buggy drifting just in front of them. "Look out!" he shouted in panic, the driver ignoring his words and following right behind, with each vehicle not even touching each other. The wheels bounced over what seemed to be an array of potholes and gopher piles, then dipped into a large divot with roots arcing multiple times just over their heads. The divot curved and wound a few times then carried the mechanized group out and near the mountains again.

The forest patch opened up a little to allow more freedom of movement and less haphazard twitch responses to the steering wheel, though the view above was completely covered in the mushroom top of leaves from the huge dendrons trying to get as much light as possible. Selene drove right alongside a small river, hopped it with a controlled use of the hydraulics, racing towards the first cave entrance. Deer ran away as the buggy continued right past them, with Hrist noticing the panic in their eyes, before they parted ways and raced off. Morlan was sweating as the automaton driver just kept on going, not even slowing down once as a tree suddenly fell, its roots giving out from rot and barely missed them.

"Yahoo!" Selene cried out in joy as they launched a second time, happily accepting any chance to get the buggy airborne for more than a few seconds.

They finally arrived at the cave, or what was left of it, now sealed shut with boulders and dirt. Her buggy skidded sideways and nearly performed a 180-degree turn, switched into reverse, and backed up a little more to park her vehicle next to a fallen tree. Morlan's buggy came up next to them, with the man just sitting there as the empress and her general got out and took their helmets off. "Morlan? Hey, Morlan!" Selene asked as she tapped his shoulder. He was breathing and his heart was still going, but his mind was still trying to take in the speed he was going just a minute before. "Oh, come on, that wasn't that fast, we didn't even get past 200 mph."

The man shakily unlatched the seatbelt harness and took his helmet off, pushing his hair back a little and looking at her, blinking. "This is normal to you, right?" he asked. She looked at Hrist, who seemed very relaxed after the jaunt through the partial forest.

"I take it you aren't used to going faster than 50 mph? You gotta understand, going that slow doesn't get you anywhere on this continent, let alone on the planet." The warrior slowly stood up and got out of the buggy, his legs vibrating and tingling still. He massaged his thighs and looked around, feeling a little embarrassed; just as quickly, he tried to hide behind the buggy, with the dev wondering for a split second why he didn't want her to see what he was doing. "Oh. Ah… you uh… had an…"

"Don't say it… can you… use that spell you used on Prince Ralyf?" he asked in a pleading tone.

"Right. Sorry. Hopefully you'll get used to the speed later. I'll… I'll see about getting a landing zone opened up nearby… if you don't want to ride back…" she responded, wincing a little that her idea of protecting the environment from damage caused him to have a bladder problem. A few trees cut down shouldn't hurt the forest too much and she didn't want to make one of her entourage suffer due to her need for speed. What she had just effectively done was force him to travel in a way he was unaccustomed to, and now he was more than a little embarrassed.

As she cast **[Scrub]** on him, cleaning his clothes as well as his body, the empress let out a light sigh. She was already so used to fast movement and advanced technology now that she didn't realize others in her cabinet weren't so up to date with how she travels. Just a few months ago she was lower level than Morlan and would have thought his Martial Arts abilities were incredible; now, he could be a level 100 and it wouldn't impress her. He did have his strengths though, as his honor and morality made her trust him quite a bit.

Morlan walked up to the front of the cave, with the empress feeling a little guilty about putting him in a position where he had to follow her mode of transportation. Her eyes wandered the collapse of the tunnel, with the whole entrance completely sealed. "You can at least say the dwarves were thorough" the man commented, his hands on his hips as he glanced at his empress over his shoulder, still a little self-conscious.

A minor coms request popped up from security just past Olva'lore Forest, with a picture appearing in the report sent. Selene did her best to not squeal in cuteness overload as she got her first view of a catgirl, with a long black tail and black ears popping out of her raven hair. She was peeking over a hill at the defensive emplacements the automatons were stationed on, with what looked like a large pack strapped over her shoulders. There was another picture of yet another coming up to her to help run away from what they saw, looking to have pure white fur and heterochromia, a green and blue pair of eyes. Both looked to be in their teens and looking for reagents, a few herbs in their hands now seen.

 _SQUEE! I wanna pet those fluffy ears! Wait, that would be improper of me… I'd_ ask politely _if I can pet their fluffy ears, then probably do it regardless of a yes or no._

The empress seemed to be lost in thought with a goofy smile on her face as Morlan waved his hand in front of her, trying to tell her something. "Empress are you alright?" he asked. She snapped out of it and shook her head, looking at him with a slight red tint of embarrassment.

"Uh… I'm fine, really. I uh… let's… lemme just get this cave in removed…"

Her hand rose and aimed at the entrance, massive in size compared to their small forms. The iron dragon must have been incredible in his dimensions. The boulders quickly started being pulled away and piled neatly to the side with her psionics and telekinesis, removing the very well-made barricade. They noticed some of the rocks had to be dislodged from mortar that was layered in, keeping all of it together. The whole act took no more than five minutes, with a constant flow of earth and stone flying through the air and landing in a makeshift pyramid. The tunnel behind was dark and foreboding. The automatons that were coming with them, including the honor guard, switched on head and shoulder lights so that Morlan could see. A small spider mine converted into a walking lantern kept in front of the man as they started to head in.

"Stay together, the tunnel branches a few times up ahead" Selene informed them as a V Light helibot flew above her head unarmed, just there for sensors and scanning equipment. The trek down the cave network was going to take an hour, almost mind numbing it seemed for everyone. Hrist had a small satchel hanging from her hip, which she started carrying around with a stash of sweets. Her gloved hand snuck in and grabbed some taffy, offering a few to Morlan as he accepted them. Meanwhile, the dev checked on a few reports in her Hud to see what her security around the empire had to deal with.

A man was caught in Sweet Water demanding Nia return to Artinia and claim her rightful place next to her brother, crazy as it sounded. He built up a small cult that took up a picket line outside the mayor's home, in which Gilford had to have his police break it up. Some even stated they would force her to head back. As far as the empress was concerned, that was treason. While she wanted to leave most crimes to the police now being well trained in the towns and cities, things like that required her security to show up and take them into custody. Most, if not all, attempted to resist. They were caught and killed immediately, to most of the people's relief. The empress would not tolerate that, not ever.

Of the three villages below Paldos City that were taken, one decided to attempt to "recapture" lost slaves and wanted to somehow secede from the empire back into Artinia, just because slavery was abolished. Most of the citizens didn't even work, expecting their previous slaves, now freed, to do their jobs. A quickly thought out response that would be sent via a V Light recording automaton was dispatched to warn them if they attempted to break away, the next military action in the area would wipe their village off the map. For the first time since they were created, a Very Heavy automaton, a quadruped walker, was tasked to sit just outside Olva'lore Forest and aim at that municipality. She didn't want to be a tyrant and kill her own people, but if they attempted to disobey and continue in these acts, they wouldn't need to secede. She'd disown the village and allow the walker to shell it into the ground.

 _I never said I was lawful good in alignment. I'm more than willing to do what I need to do to keep the empire productive and make sure the people are free to attain their dreams, excluding trying to force others into working for them to achieve that goal. Those slaves are free, those assholes don't get the right to try and kidnap them._

Production queues were cleaned up in her inventory, with new 3D printers and fabrication systems added along with a design lab to help create new specialized automatons. Selene was starting to notice there were some shortcomings in what she was building; her military, despite being quite diverse in capability and combined arms, still had too much of a cookie cutter design for her standard soldiers. Her Strategy and Tactics had shown her that having a customizable kit for each soldier in a fireteam, platoon, company or higher would increase their capability to respond to more emergencies. The variants of weapons were too high to just have a platoon with one of each type of damage, let alone the new external equipment that Orlo kept coming up with.

The lab itself would give her a generalized aesthetic of what the automaton would look like for each job, allowing her to simply add or remove new tools or features. Some spots were just labelled "variable" to give the soldier a bag, latch or belt to carry whatever was required for the mission, whether it was fighting on the frontlines or digging an irrigation network. This also allowed her to have completely different vehicles in the same tier, with heavy tanks having multiple different packages for long range, medium range, short range and rapid fire, akin to the difference between a Main Battle Tank and a Tank Support Combat Vehicle. They both had the same chassis usually, just one had wildly different weapons and features to assist other tanks.

Before she knew what was happening, a fork appeared in the tunnel. "Let's sit here for a minute while recon gets the lay of the underground" Selene told them as she sat on a hastily built stone bench brought up from the ground. The automatons split up and moved in different direction, with the only mechanical soldiers staying behind were her honor guard. They waited ten minutes before she got two separate reports… the tunnels split yet again, now turning into four tunnels sinking deeper into the mountains.

Each tunnel seemed to have signs of pickaxes used, though a few had claw marks. This only told her that the tunnels were partly made by the dwarves, with some of the new paths created by the dragon, probably for defense. No one is going to split their forces too much as they go into unknown territory just to find something that seemed like it didn't want to be found. Multiple escape routes, multiple ambush points, lots of ground to cover. Morlan just sat there and sighed after she decided to give them both the news. "It could take days to find the dragon, we don't even know if it is inside its lair right now" he sighed out, wondering if it was pointless to even be there in the first place.

"If we don't find it in the next hour, we'll head back. Just let my recon teams do their jobs and-" the dev stopped mid-sentence and noted a marker that was given to her by a scout. They had reason to believe the lair was just up ahead. "Never mind, we might have lucked out." The empress stood up and stretched, making sure Hrist and her escort were prepared. The son of the Rikter family got up and followed her down a good twenty branches of tunnels, forgetting which direction to go just to get out. If he ever got disconnected from the group, he would be lost forever, or at least until she could send a rescue team.

The caves eventually opened up into a wide underground dome, with even more openings lining the edge to unknown areas, probably further escape routes. There were mounds of dirt and stone everywhere, looking like a subterranean hilly plains' biome. Somehow, though she couldn't figure it out, there was grass growing on a few of the mounds, even without sunlight. There were a few bones strewn around the area, nothing alarming beyond what they expected from regular meals to a massive winged lizard. There seemed to be a few wisps, at least what she thought were wisps, floating around and tending to glowing mushrooms, probably the grass as well.

The fungus growing in the area was verified by her Hud to be the last ingredient for the elixirs she was trying to brew. A quick snatch with her hand, barely seen by Morlan, and a good couple of handfuls were placed in her inventory, waiting for the auto farmers to use a hopper and plant them.

There was slight movement on the far side of the area, the sight of a tail in the dimly lit dome.

 _I just realized that if this thing isn't friendly, Morlan is pretty much a snack. What does the iron dragon use as a breath weapon? Lightning? Or was it poison… crap, there were so many references I had to pick through, I don't know what type of damage it does!_

Before the male warrior could take another step, Selene crafted a few quick lower quality tier items and pulled them from her inventory, grabbing his arm and draping an amulet over his neck, a few rings on his fingers, and a sticky emblem on his pauldrons, to his immense confusion; his arms were held out palm up, wondering what she was going to attach on him next, an eyebrow raised. A medal was clipped to his belt, adding in a huge boost to resistances in all forms. While they didn't exactly protect against physical attacks, the concern was for large area of effect attacks that could catch him off guard behind them. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he just got out of a really weird Mardi Gras party.

A pair of yellow eyes opened in the darkness, staring at her. They started to come closer, slowly, as they slightly bounced up and down from the gait the dragon had. As it reached the halfway point, it stopped, a wisp floating near the head as it stood ready to attack, lips pulled back and showing teeth. "I know not which town sent adventurers, but this is your only warning. Leave, or you will become a crunchy meal."

"We're not here to fight you, at least not without provocation. I'd rather talk if you would allow me to" Selene replied as the now known male stopped baring his teeth at her. His scales looked to have slightly tarnished coloring, though that could have been from anything. From what she could research, metal dragons tended to have darker colored scales at younger ages, though the color for this one could have been from a great many reasons, one of which could be he hadn't shed recently. His size, however, was definitely impressive, easily dwarfing the red dragon the dev had seen at the eyrie. They looked almost like ants compared to his looming stature.

"Talk with your kind means very little to mine. I will not give up one thing from my precious hoard, you can be assured of that. That is why you have come, yes?"

"Not really. We just spoke with the dwarves. There is an iron dragon in these mountains that has been attacking them, took over part of their mines for its lair. Are you the one who has done this?" she asked. The dragon chuckled.

"They act as if they own the entire range. For such an insignificant race, they have been quite a nuisance." The empress's eyes surveyed the landscape, her sight raking over the underground lair for signs that there might be others. The place was large, too large, for one dragon to consider its home. She noticed that there were a few broken scales near his rear right leg, a few scars from healed wounds just above them. The dwarves weren't exactly just a nuisance if they could harm him.

"The problem is you've taken over their mining tunnels in this area. Don't they have claim to that which they built?"

"These tunnels were abandoned long ago, the main veins already dug up by those specks. A shame, I would have hoped for more sustenance found here." Selene shook her head slightly in confusion.

"Wait, you eat metal?" The huge creature sat down on his haunches and stared down at her.

"All dragons can supplement our regular meals with a material that embodies us human. How do you think we are so… diverse?" he replied, amused at her poor knowledge.

 _What the hell do red dragons eat? Rubies? Lava? Gold in glass creates a red color, do they eat that?_

The dev tried to get herself back on track with the questions. "The dwarves have sealed themselves away from the rest of the world in order to keep you from escaping. They are working to annihilate you."

"Ah, yes, that would be why they sealed off the cave entrance. It matters none, it's not as if I am averse to eating their people as well." The dragon tilted his head a little and seemed to almost furrow the scales over his eyes as if they were eyebrows. "What do you hope to gain from informing me of this? I will not provide a reward."

"I was hoping that you would be willing to find another place to live." There was silence in the lair, the dragon studying her for a second and blinking once. A light chuckle erupted from his throat that eventually turned into full laughter.

"That is very funny, little human, to even suggest that. Your kind have always been good with jokes."

"That wasn't a joke. We've noticed there are other caves you could build a lair in; we could probably transport whatever hoard you have to it. It's not as if we want anything from it either, so you wouldn't have to worry about anything being stolen." He laughed again… until he realized she was serious.

"And why would I do that? I care not for the issues my lair creates for their people, little human. I also do not trust you to keep your word with my hoard. Touch it and I will smear you on the ground."

"Because if you don't, they're going to find you, they're going to come in force, they're going to figure out a way to end you. To think otherwise would be foolish given the damage I see on your leg. The problem is, they'll have an incredible casualty rate in doing so. I'm trying to get this done peacefully without bloodshed." The iron dragon stood up and sauntered over to them, a massive tower of scales and muscle, his wings folded in yet looking like an old battleship's giant sails. He leaned his head down in front of her and looked the woman in the eyes.

"And what do you get from doing this exactly? There is always a political motive involved when it comes to one race interfering in the affairs of another." Despite he more than likely eating large animals, his breath didn't reek of any left-over meat stuck in a tooth. There was a distinct smell of iron though, the tinted metallic aroma almost akin to blood. Selene sighed and slowly nodded.

"You leave, they open their doors. The elves mine mithril, and if you aren't interfering, everything goes back to the status quo. Involving moving your hoard, I can guarantee you nothing would be lost, I'd even add a little extra for your troubles. I seriously don't need anything from it." The cost of a few thousand gold and silver was a pittance compared to a resurrection for a dwarf that died without a good cause. The lizard looked at each member of the group… all seven of them, with Hrist standing in her peculiar clothing style that only the empress understood as stylish. He couldn't see the cloaked automatons keeping their distance, just the honor guard next to their empress. As of yet, he hadn't yet done anything to cause concern. There was a long pause between them as he decided on what next to say.

"My loyalties are to myself and myself alone, I owe nothing to those specks you call dwarves. However… I am not against negotiation, especially when it involves coming out ahead. The problem is, I cannot do as you have asked. My clutch is here, hidden away. I cannot move them."

"You have eggs?" she asked, taken aback by that information. She was debating whether the deep male voice was actually… female.

"Yes, my mate was killed long ago, and it has fallen to me to await their hatching." He shook his head from side to side as if to dry himself like a dog. His head lifted up and again looked down at the ants below him. "There is no need to explain what had happened to her. Needless to say, the eggs cannot be moved, as they have latched to the ground. If there was an ample supply of iron, they could hatch… quite late it seems."

"Wait… so, the eggs, what, bathe in the iron?" she questioned.

"You clearly do not know anything of dragons, do you?"

"It's not as if any of your kind attempt to educate us on how your people live. By all means, enlighten me on your culture, if you would be so kind." The dragon chuckled.

 _I seriously probably know more than I should honestly, the problem really is… how much have I read that really can be connected to these dragons from this world? Reading about elves from fantasy novels is different from what I've seen here for instance, and I haven't met the orcs and goblins just yet either._

"I am not just willing to give up the secrets of my race to you insignificant beings" he said, clearly thinking he was the superior creature in that room. He had no idea he was staring at a group that had a Valkyrja amongst its number, that had fought against a particularly powerful undead abomination well beyond the capabilities of this iron dragon. "Moving on, there is no way I will leave my clutch, and given there is no large amount of iron to bring them into this world, I remain. These dwarves will just have to accept I am here to stay."

Selene raised an eyebrow and shoved her hand into her inventory. A quick swap of some extra resources and packing, a little quality control, and there were massive shipping containers brimming with iron ready to bring out. The iron dragon watched with interest as her hand seemed to disappear into nothing, recognizing that move from others long ago. A large portal opened nearby with a container, inside holding exactly what he wanted and didn't expect. "Would this be enough?" she questioned. He was silent for a minute as he inspected the cargo, glancing at her occasionally as if formulating a plan in his head.

"This… will do. Perhaps I will allow this. I tire of the specks attacking at inopportune times." A large clawed paw lifted and pointed towards a far tunnel entrance. "If you want this to be over with quickly, I'd suggest bringing this to my hoard. Beyond it is the secret entrance to my clutch."

 _Why is he allowing us suddenly to just walk near his eggs or hoard? Shouldn't he want to just take the iron and bring it himself? Something is wrong…_

"Then our business will be concluded once this transfer is complete" she said as the container started to hover next to them, the group walking across the dome and reaching the tunnel pointed at. It was dark for the most part, leading on for another ten minutes before widening. There was a line they barely passed on the ground that seemed to have curved metal running along the edge.

Inside, sitting in the middle of the brand-new dome, the iron dragons hoard sat right in the middle. Piles of gold, gems, weapons and treasure chests reached towards the ceiling. There were pieces of armor, equipment, even magical scrolls and potions littering the floor. Morlan was surprised there was so much. Selene, on the other hand, was more interested in the fact the walls were completely covered in an as yet unknown bronze metal, with runic etching that did not look dwarven in the slightest. There were waves noted in the coloring of the bronze, looking almost like Damascus Steel, with structural bracing seen every five meters completely surrounding the dome.

 _This doesn't look draconic or dwarven… someone else made this… and why do I get the funny feeling there are no other tunnels attached to this…_

Just as the container passed the opening, a wall slammed shut, trapping them in. "Son of a bitch, I should have trusted my gut…" Selene swore and sighed, immediately bringing her hand up in a facepalm and shaking her head slowly. Morlan's head snapped to the now closed exit with his eyes widening in fear.

 _Dumb, dumb, dumb. I knew something was off, we should have sat at the front and dumped the cargo in or something… welp, contingency plans are around for a reason…_

"Damn it! That bastard trapped us! There was no clutch of eggs, he played us all!" the warrior snapped and ran back to the door, striking at it with his fist. The empress put her hand up to calm him down. Hrist charged at the wall and tried to strike at it with her sword, seeing if she could somehow pry the metal down enough to get a hand in and push. The dev was surprised that the metal was resisting so well, then observed each strike the battle maiden attempted on a particular point. The armoring of the dome somehow was ignoring every hit. There was no way the material was stronger than Carbyne, not unless the technology was much higher for whoever created this place.

"Damn it!" Hrist growled out in frustration and backed off. Her strength should have completely shattered the armor and probably would have if it was anything below tungsten steel. The honor guard aimed their weapons at the door and lit it up, their weapons doing almost no damage to be seen… it did allow the dev to see small flashes, ripples emanating from the points of impact. The empress stepped forward and brought her hands up, using both her psionics and **[Molecular Reformation]** ability to attempt to rip apart the metal. Morlan turned around and headed around the side of the hoard, staring at it as well as surveying the area. There was no other tunnel connected to this room.

The armor paneling was resisting her attempts to break through, not because it was incredibly strong… but because it was actually causing her to have a migraine. What damage she thought she caused quickly settled back into position almost as if it was semi malleable and sealed that opening, the size of a small dog if even that. The armor plating seemed to use the structural integrity of the whole dome, not just the point she was attempting to break through. There could have been extra layers she couldn't see yet that were adding extra protective strength. The whole thing didn't seem to act like a vault, more like… a bunker.

 _That material was causing me significant strain. Granted, I'm not using any amplification equipment, given I haven't done much research into that just yet…_

"No way… empress… you need to see this…" Morlan shouted out as the two women turned around. The man made to touch the hoard sitting in the middle of the room… and his hand went right through a goblet.

"Phased out of the physical realm to stop others from taking anything. Smart" the empress commented. It was a good security measure; she was already thinking of doing the same with the royal vault back at the castle. Morlan started walking along the edge of the dome they were now finding themselves trapped in, looking for any seam or rivet that wasn't set right. His hands dragged across the metal, hoping they would somehow find a crack they could pry open.

"Are we really trapped in here?" Hrist asked her quietly. Selene simply shook her head and closed her eyes for a little bit. She had made sure there were a great many contingency plans in place just for such an occasion, requested by none other than Bronze Team. If she should ever find herself captured somewhere that she couldn't get out of, there were tools ready for those eventualities.

"Morlan, can you come back here please?" the auburn-haired woman asked. The man turned around and did a double take in the direction he was heading, resigning himself to head right on back to her. "Everybody put your hand on my shoulders. I'm going to see if we can't teleport out of here." She started to cast a teleportation spell, bringing both Morlan and Hrist, as well as her honor guard, with her if it was possible. The spell failed almost immediately.

 _And there is a teleportation block grid in the metal. This proves it, it isn't the material that is doing this, it's magically enhanced somehow… but this is even past tier 10 magic, hell, it's even beyond super tier magic… the only reason I was able to get something like this was because Orlo figured it out with weird science and a whole lot of steampunk tech. Is this dimensional magic that is reinforcing the dome?_

Her next attempt was to use her amulet, which… worked. Selene appeared in the castle, with Jeeves turning and gazing at her. "Madam, are you alright? You just appeared." Hrist and Morlan, along with her honor guard, were nowhere to be seen.

 _Well, shit._

She reused the amulet and went right back to her previous location, sighing in frustration. "Damn it, can't travel in a group using that with my amulet. Guess we resort to an emergency plan."

"There are restrictions in place just for those who try and teleport" a male voice said from inside the hoard pile. The group turned around and peered at the glistening gold, iron and precious gems, only to see a man sit up and look at them. Half his body was still hidden by the phased treasure, but from what they could see, he was incredibly disheveled.

He had somewhat shoulder length very dark purple hair with one light purple streak from his bangs through the middle of the parting near his left temple, and an even darker full beard, though it was possible that was due to how long he had been trapped there, just like them. His clothes, while looking as if they might have been considered elite quality at one time, were little more than worn from what Selene observed with her scanner. His level, however, was what interested her, as he was a level 90. She had thought no human could reach above the high thirties, but this man was an exception to that rule it seemed. Though most of his face was covered in hair, he did look a little gaunt. "Trust me. I tried." His age registered as 22.

"So it seems" Selene replied to him, her automatons turning and aiming their weapons at him; she put her hands up for them to calm down as she walked up to him, the man slowly standing up and stumbling a little. He looked like he wasn't filling out his clothes as much as he should have. "So, you couldn't find a way out I take it?" she asked.

"The material the vault is made of diverts the energy you aim throughout the structure; that also causes any… oh what was the word my teacher used… coordinates, yes coordinates, it disperses all of that around so that you can't teleport either, probably took a hefty ritual to get it done too. I don't have the power to diffuse enough destructive force right now to pop it. I doubt there is a spell right now that can be detonated without killing myself in the process, at least without some extensive defensive spells that I… sadly… haven't quite worked on well enough I'll admit. I take it you were caught just like I was? He seems to like gather living creatures as toys if he can sense the power they wield." His voice had a British accent, though the fashion he had didn't look like it was from Artinia.

"Or he's afraid of us enough to let anything trapped in here simply to starve to death" she replied. A dry chuckle came out of his mouth.

"Sure enough, I nearly did just that. You would have found my corpse eventually in a few days, hidden under all of… that."

"How long have you been here?"

"I'm pretty sure that comes after introductions. My name is Gabriel. Gabriel Turkanos." He put his hand out for her to shake, dirt and grim caking it. He thought carefully after seeing how disgusting his fingers looked and cast something she never expected to see anyone else use. The **[Scrub]** spell was cast, a dimensional magic spell. She had already learned that tier magic and dimensional magic were repulsive to each other, and she hadn't attempted to teach anyone anything beyond **[Nutrient Replenisher]** , which failed and was replaced with a tier spell of likeminded nature instead.

 _There is someone from Arcanic's Wizardry out there!_

He put his hand out for her to shake one more time, but she looked at him as if he was an alien. His eyes glanced at Hrist and Morlan, who were both wondering what she was thinking. "Where… did you learn how to cast that spell?" she asked calmly, making him feel awkward as she didn't accept his shake.

"I… I… learned it from… my master, another wizard. Why?" he questioned, taking a small step back. He looked a little worried now.

"That was dimensional magic, do you know that?" His mouth dropped open for a second, surprised she knew it was different from tier magic. Selene immediately activated multiple features in her scanner to look for something, anything that told her he was casting dimensional magic. One such feature she had overlooked before that could be enormously useful was verifying if someone had the registered title of "player." It could also tell her if something was brought over from Yggdrasil, like an NPC or equipment. She hoped it would work on Gabriel.

As the feature came on, the dev was greatly confused when it didn't register him as a player or NPC.

 _Is he a native from here? Who the hell is his master?! They have to be a player that was brought over! I have to learn more about who this man is, maybe meet his teacher._

"Umm… yes? Look, I know we're all stuck in here, but if we can just remember I'm not the enemy… that the big scaled living weapon is the reason we can't leave, I think-" Gabriel started to stammer out.

"I can use dimensional magic as well." She opened her pocket dimension, his jaw dropping. Apparently, this was a spell he hadn't learned, more than likely due to not figuring out how to control the dimension of reality to create it without disintegrating everything inside. His eye kept jumping from the portal to her over and over.

"My… m… Master Teagan could do that… b-but how… we had th… we had thought that no one else around could do what he could. This… this is… who are you?" he asked her.

"I'll explain inside, given it might be our ticket out of here." She ushered the group through the portal, waiting for every being, including her honor guard, to file through. As Gabriel stepped in, he was greeted with a cozy home with a newly installed garage, a few vehicles and a small warehouse to store an assortment of gear and items. Selene walked in and left the portal open, heading towards the door of the house. The entrance swung open to show three automaton maids waiting and bowing to her as she walked in and stopped, waiting for everyone to come in after.

Just as the last guard entered, the empress stepped right back out and let the door close. "Wha… what?" Gabriel questioned, wondering where she was going.

A muffled "be right back, going to ruin the dragon's day" was heard outside as the dev headed to the warehouse. A trailer was pulled out with what looked like an unarmored cruise missile strapped to the top. A truck was backed up and hitched to the front, allowing it to be carried to the portal and driven out. Once the vehicle was parked, the auto crane picked up the munitions on the back and carefully lowered it to the ground.

As the woman stormed over and activated the decoupling of the safety locks, effectively arming the low yield thermonuclear weapon, she grumbled something about trying to play nice with the iron dragon and all it did was get her stuck here. Now he was going to pay the price. Remote detonation was prepared, with the signal able to be used as long as she was outside of her pocket dimension. That was the only issue with her plan, however that would be sidestepped with incorporating part of another plan.

Hrist sat down on the couch in the house and waited as Gabriel just walked over to the dining room table to rest his weak legs. Just as he sat down, they both heard the truck and trailer pull back through and park, the door slam shut, and the empress come right back inside. "I still feel as if I gave you more information than you are willing to share with me, my lady" he commented, looking at her with raised eyebrows and blinking, waiting for a reasonable response. His brain was still trying to grasp what she had just done or had used outside.

"Ah, right. Sorry, busy getting revenge in order, hope you understand. My name is Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire." She was expecting him to say something along the lines of he had never heard of it, but the apprentice just sniffed.

"Your… majesty, is it? I… appreciate the… hospitality of the chairs here after sitting on the hard ground for so long… thank you." There was a long uncomfortable silence as the clock in the corner ticked and the maids got something ready from the kitchen.

"Right. So… introductions aside… um… let's see…" the empress looked over at the kitchen, expecting the maids to bring out some food for him. One brought a small basket of soft bread, in which he grabbed a slice and immediately started eating. His face looked like he was in pure bliss, despite there being nothing on the bread. "Easy, slow down, there is more than just that, something more substantial." He stopped eating and put half of the slice down, his cheeks filled. A glass of water was put down for him to drink, which he eagerly drained to wash down the food.

"Her eminence is generous with her food, you're a miracle to arrive when you did. I was afraid I'd have to start eating… well... there are spells that can create food, though it isn't exactly that appetizing. My digestion is the very reason I was ready to perish due to starvation."

"It's perfectly fine, don't worry. Now, when did you arrive?" A plate of spaghetti and meatballs was placed in front of him with a small salad to the left. His left hand shot for the fork and proceeded to stuff his mouth.

"I arrived in the month of November… some… somewhe… scuse me…" he muffled out in between bites.

"Slow down, you're going to kill yourself like that." He looked as if he hadn't eaten in two weeks. That was probably quite close to the truth. The purple-haired man calmed down and carefully swallowed after chewing well, waiting for his mouth to be empty.

"I'm very sorry, your majesty. I just… my rations were exhausted more than a week ago, at least I think it was a week ago… what day is it?" he said, picking up a napkin and cleaning his mouth and beard.

"The second of December" she replied. He seemed to blink at her in incredulity for a moment.

"Oh my. I've been here for a month then…" Gabriel seemed to be lost in thought for a little bit. "That would explain how difficult it was to keep my food and water rations from disappearing. Blast it, here I am constantly telling my master that he should always plan ahead, and I didn't pack well enough this one time…"

"You carried enough food and water for a month?" The man reached to his side gingerly and grabbed a small bag and slowly expanded into a decent size satchel. "Whaaaaaat… that's a bag of holding!" she chuckled out, realizing what that was.

"So you know of it? Of course you do, you're an empress. You probably have all sorts of artifacts available to you. Most people tend to look at it as if it was a gift from the gods."

"It takes some effort to craft one of those, but no, it isn't something given by a deity."

"This one was made for my master supposedly, by a god. I'm not arguing with you, your majesty, just explaining." The dev paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling above them, trying to figure out if any of the gods here would provide something like that. Then it hit her. There was a quest in Arcanic's Wizardry that gave an endless bag as a reward, from a sea serpent deity. The avatar was so large most of the body couldn't be seen, given it stayed coiled through an underwater mountain. It was like that because the dev leads couldn't agree on the aesthetic design of the god, so they hid most of it inside coral and rock. A long sigh escaped her lips as she realized her mistake. "Endless like the ocean" was the catch phrase she remembered.

 _His master is a player. He has to be. I've got to find him._

"I didn't actually carry a month's worth of rations. You'd be quite surprised how long you can stretch three days' worth." He continued eating his meal provided to him, not really causing concern to the empress as an autodoc in the house gave him an all clear. Once he was finished, he put his hands on the table and looked at her. "Well, thank you for the meal, your majesty. Now… I'm a little worried we're all still stuck here, however."

"I'm dealing with that right now, no need to worry. You should know how a pocket dimension works though, don't you? That we aren't really stuck here?" she said to him, a slight hint of a grin curling on her lips. His jaw dropped a little as if to say something, then thought long and hard as his hand went up to his chin to rub his scruffy beard.

"Master Teagan had once said… what was it… oh my studies always passed over the spells I hadn't needed to learn just yet… ah… a pocket dimension had the capability to store vast amounts of anything the mage required… no… entering and exiting required a portal and a connection to the real world…"

"You're getting warmer."

"Hmm… oh my…" he exclaimed as he looked up at her, his eyes widened. "A pocket dimension has a secondary exit in case of emergency. Where is your secondary exit placed?" The spell itself was quite complicated, requiring a ritual for each sphere crafted. This was one of the few dimensional spells that required reagents other than mana as well. The more resources funneled to create it, the larger it could be, theoretically capable of creating a Dyson Sphere, provided an extreme amount of materials were used.

The main fact that Gabriel was trying to get to, however, was that there was a spare exit portal attached to the pocket dimensions' anchor point, created and placed wherever the mage wanted to have it. This was to allow the mage to jump to their home if unwanted pvp ever happened, so that they could escape and not deal with gankers. Those same gankers could try and camp outside the main portal, waiting for the mage to leave and ambush him or her. The anchor point was made to allow someone to easily get back to a hub city or town, completely bypassing those who wanted to grief and thwart their plans. It wasn't considered teleportation, as there was a set exit point that could be moved where needed, similar to such things as hearthstones or resurrection waypoints for ARPGs. The anchor was never allowed to be blocked or interrupted, with the lore being a tear in the fabric of space and time always allowing egress.

"Where is your anchor point?" he questioned.

"Back at my castle. The main issue will be once we leave, we'll be a good distance from the Kaldanas Mountains, away from the dragon. Once we're out, I'm going to deal with our would-be kidnapper."

"May I come with you? I'd like to have a very stern talking to the beast as well, probably with a few of those words connected to some spells." The dev giggled at the thought of that.

"I'm sorry, but it won't be a very eventful conversation. Besides, you've been trapped for a good deal of time. Rest at my palace, as a guest. I'm also going to have a few questions right after involving your master. I'd like to know where he learned how to cast dimensional magic. It's extremely rare after all."

"Hmm, quite. We've been the only two able to understand it, or maybe it's because he said I don't follow in the same… oh what did he say… gene pool? I think that was what he said, I didn't go down the same path as everyone with tier magic."

"That seems to be the main issue noticed. Tier magic and dimensional magic are mutually repulsive" she replied.

"It appears that way. Well then…" he coughed a little and looked at the two others watching him. After a long pause, Selene stood up and introduced her colleagues. "A pleasure to meet both of you. Now, I'll admit, I really should say this will be my first time using the back entrance to a pocket dimension. It will be invigorating to see where it lets me out."

The empress walked down a small hallway and down a short flight of steps to a door that would normally go into a wine cellar and grabbed the doorknob.

 _Please work, please work, please work, please work, please work… don't make me look like an idiot here…_

As the door was pulled open, they could see the grand foyer awaiting them. The dev sighed in relief that the anchor point held. No magic was allowed to block leaving the pocket dimension, just as it should be. As the group walked out, Gabriel's eyes were jumping from one spot to the other, his head on a swivel as he took as much as he could in about the aesthetic design. The empress's home was bright and clean, warm and had large windows compared to the thick walls of other castles.

"Well, I knew I was walking into a palace, I just didn't expect it to be so… grand…" Gabriel commented as he turned around and walked backwards, his purple eyes checking out the chandeliers and molding along the walls. The dev had to take note that this was yet another color difference from Earth, what with magic having an effect on genetics now. "So, how do you plan on responding to the forced incarceration placed upon us? Steal the clutches of eggs he has?"

Selene stopped walking and stared at him. "I thought that was just a farce he put up. There are actually eggs?" Gabriel nodded.

"I saw them myself, once. I'm almost positive he moves them around to keep them well hidden. There were many clutches, some looked to most likely be not of the iron brood. It appears he might be more of a thief than a warrior. Strange, I had heard that iron dragons tended to be a bit more brutish than normal… not that I had any experience with them, mind you."

"Huh." The empress walked down a few hallways and brought Gabriel to a guestroom. "Here is where you can stay, don't hesitate to explore a little bit, but the top floor is restricted. I'll have a doctor come to see you in a few minutes, give you a checkup. In the meantime, I'm going to put my plan into effect. If you'll excuse me."

Selene walked away without another word as the man just stared after her, blinking. "I get the funny feeling that dragon bit off more than he can chew."

 _ **One Hour Later**_

The iron dragon lifted its head inside his lair and heard something walking down the tunnel towards him. He carefully peered down through the darkness; his dark vision was useless as he could see nothing approaching. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Selene appeared, decloaking herself, and alone. "Impossible! There is no way you could have broken out of the vault!" he roared, disbelieving his own eyes.

 _I'm now pretty sure that was a bunker, not a vault._

"Oh, we did, it was pretty easy after all. You stupid dragons think you have everything figured out, but I guess you didn't take into account someone stronger than you showing up. You know, breaking my trust is a great way to lose everything you have; your hoard is one of the things you've already had taken away." The dragon scoffed, but he ever so slightly looked over his right wing back towards the vault and hesitated once, then twice, his breath catching in his chest. She couldn't have.

"Don't believe me? You aren't the only thief out there, stealing away that which is precious to others. How many clutches are there, stashed away? How many other broods did you piss off? I can now see why you hid with so many escape tunnels, and I can also tell you didn't build that vault." The creature was getting angry, which was what she was hoping for.

"I'll tear you to pieces!" he roared as a clawed paw shot out to strike at her. The dev's right hand came up and blocked it, not even moving an inch, **{Move a Mountain}** kicking in and amplified by her levels and strength. Rubble and dirt blew by her form as her hand just held him back easily, her hair flailing a little then resting finally. He struggled as she just held him back, unflinching and unmoving. That was when he looked as if he might attempt to cast something.

 _Wild Magic. I have to see if I can't stop him from using it. My defenses will keep up, but I'd rather not know_ where _he's getting his fuel. It's possible it doesn't sacrifice anything, but if my idea is correct, he stole those clutches just for this._

Selene immediately cast **[Silence of the Void]** , an especially powerful anti-cast spell used for dimensional magic. It was akin to using an interrupt for most MMOs, except this sealed off an entire dimension of magic from the mage for a good hour. It normally took a healthy chunk of mana to use, though with her pool, it was lower than 1%. She hoped against hope that it would work, just like all other magic.

The wild magic backfired from the interrupt, the dragon backing off immediately and surprised she could even do that. The empress sighed in a relief, as the entire thing was a gamble. Orlo and Turnie's experiments intel on her defenses working paid off. "How… you can't…" he snapped out, some of his scales bristling off his body as if electrified. She simply stood there, staring at him, just as he unleashed his breath attack, pure lightning arcing its way towards her. It connected hard, though her resistances never got a chance to block it, the energy absorption system into the portable capacitor she had hidden under her clothes sucking up the electricity like a lightning rod, her personal shields not even phased. He had given her a power boost for future use.

The iron dragon was flabbergasted at what was happening, then cut and ran in the opposite direction towards the bunker… right where she was hoping he would go. Selene followed him, just far enough away to keep him running and not slowing down to look behind, her recon team keeping track of his direction. As he entered the vault, the door closed behind him as he laughed.

 _Hook, line and sinker._

"You never touched my hoard! I knew it, a pathetic human like you could never manage to get all of this out… not while… not while…" he trailed off as something was beeping in the middle of the pile… something ready to detonate.

 _Fuck your hoard. Fuck your lair. Fuck your stupid race, you overgrown purse. ARE ALL OF THESE DRAGONS LIKE THIS?! GOD DAMNED KLEPTOMANIACS! I had hoped that at least some of them were different! This is supposed to be a metal dragon, one of the good guys!_

The empress ordered her soldiers to back off with her down the hall as the bomb exploded, shaking the whole mountain as the vault did everything it could to contain the nuclear fission inside. The tunnel leading to it collapsed with a massive cave in, large boulders and stalactites falling throughout the rest of the network. The dragon had a split second to realize he was played before having his flesh ripped from his bones. The treasure hoard unphased as soon as the explosion ended, the dragon wiped off the face of the map.

As the area settled, the dev saw much further down an entrance that was previously sealed off being picked at from the other side, tools breaking through and dwarves piling in. Hrist and Morlan could be seen running far ahead, straight towards her. The mountain king walked through and stood there, confused as to why the empress had shown up. "What the… why are you here?" he asked sternly as guards took up positions near their ruler, weapons ready, though fearful of just how strong Selene was.

"I was attempting to negotiate the dragon leaving peacefully so that you would open your doors once more. Unfortunately…" her eyes glanced back at the now collapsed tunnel behind her "I hit a snag. The dragon is dead now." The mountain men started to whisper amongst themselves as the king pushed through his escort and stood in front of her, all four feet of him in all directions.

"We didn't ask for your help. Last time I checked, I distinctly said fighting underground is different from above."

"Yes, you did; I just figured doing this was quicker to get the mithril flowing again." Two miners walked out towards the cave in and looked back.

"Your highness! This will take time to get through!" one reported. "I'd give it a few days, maybe a week just for this alone."

"Indeed. Get to work. As for you, Empress Selene… you are trespassing on our mines. Don't expect a reward from us just because you have slain a dragon. This is our property you are standing in; we ask you to leave." The king crossed his burly arms over his chest and glared at her sternly, however there were no nobles behind him. It seemed he had more than enough courage to stand with his men in the face of a dragon invading their home.

Morlan attempted to speak, but the dev put up a hand. "There are clutches of dragon eggs that are hidden in here. It seems the iron dragon had been stealing them away from others. I'd like a chance to get some research done, if you wouldn't mind getting an R&D contract going between our people." The king was shocked, looked back at his son and advisors, then split away to speak with them in private.

"Good, at least we can walk away with those given the way the vault was destroyed. I wonder if his hoard survived whatever it was you used back there; it might be possible there are some magical-" Morlanion started to say before the dwarves finished deliberating and walked forward.

"We will not allow you to perform any research on those eggs."

"What? But Empress Selene-"

"These are our mines. You trespass when you are not wanted, then expect us to give you things that are on our property. The dragon, the hoard, the eggs, they are ours. Now… leave, your majesty. I do not want to sour relations between our two nations further. It would be the same for you in your lands and we would respect that." Morlan glanced back and forth between the king and his ruler, hoping she would ignore his demands and simply take the eggs. She certainly had the power. There was absolutely nothing the dwarves could do against her might.

"Fine." Hrist kept her mouth shut as the empress walked back down the tunnel heading out, both of her team following.

"You're just going to let them have those dragon eggs? I mean, that could be a powerful force if you took them, your majesty" Morlan told her, his arms gesticulating wildly while he walked next to her.

"Those clutches don't really concern me, if they want them then it's fine. I mostly wanted to just get historical research done with Erina."

"But, your majesty… having your own dragons, if just for the intimidation factor…"

"Do you have any idea how much work goes into raising any sort of creature, Morlan? Now figure in waste disposal for I don't know how many dragons, then food, cleaning, training. It just wouldn't be worth it."

"Waste disposal?"

"Yes. You have any idea how much shit a dragon would produce in a day? Multiply that by however many eggs are back there. The dwarves just asked for way more than they bargained for." Morlan admitted, he didn't see the logistics of raising them, and also knew that it wasn't like the empress needed them in the first place.

"Why are you so dead set on her having them, Morlanion?" Hrist questioned him. He sighed as they saw the light outside.

"Would it not be better to have those clutches in the hands of the empire than of the dwarves? I mean… you're handing them military strength… and you could be considered the mother of those dragons, I guess…"

"I believe the term you're referring to is a force multiplier. The problem with that is if they can even figure out how to hatch those eggs, then raise them, then get them to fight for their kingdom. That's a lot of ifs. Far easier to mass produce fighter jets with automaton pilots, or my air fleets" Selene replied. She didn't want to explain that at best, those dragons would also only reach level 100, maybe a little more, if that; experience points would be a premium to get any of them to become strong great wyrms. The capability discrepancy between her military and living dragons that may or may not listen to her was not worth the effort in her eyes. Morlan chuckled a little as he rubbed his nose for a second. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just… it would be interesting to see a new title for you, your majesty. Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire, goddess of the Golden Valley, ruler or mother of… whatever broods are back there…" he thumbed backwards down the tunnel they had just came from.

"No thank you, I don't need that kind of bullshit. If anything, I'd have some research done on the eggs, see about the life expectancy of the creatures, I dunno… throw them in an incinerator or something afterwards." The man was shocked.

"You'd destroy the eggs afterwards?" he questioned, wondering if she was joking.

"Look, so far, it's been dragons doing stupid stuff in my borders. This one attempted to hold us captive, trophies. After finally meeting one, a metallic dragon which I thought might be at least cordial, I've now come to the conclusion negotiations with them is pointless. They're assholes, really big assholes, that do not care about anything but themselves." The team exited outside and looked around, the transport above already picking up the buggies.

"We're going to teleport back, just to make sure the magic that was imbuing that vault didn't disperse outwards and contaminate the area, turning it into some sort of hazard zone." Selene grabbed both of their hands and cast her spell, bringing her back to the castle without issue. It was still a little disorienting to perform, finally realizing sadly that she did suffer some light vertigo effects. They might disappear if she used the spell judiciously from now on, though she'd still rather just not get nauseous in the first place and use standard transportation. The buggies were picked up long ago, given the expedited nature of returning back and forth. Hrist didn't get the chance to test her foot on a gas pedal.

As they arrived in the palace, Jeeves took the empress's jacket as she continued on, leaving Morlan in the hallway watching her receding form, Hrist by her side. He couldn't provide any advice on what she was now talking about, with Orlo and Turnie showing up to discuss material composition from the vault. He barely heard them say something about a quantum refraction mesh that was created via mana, before they turned the corner and were out of sight. Most of what they were talking about was simple theory, no concrete evidence as they couldn't perform any tests just yet with no samples.

He turned his head and glanced around him, noting there was nothing but two automaton guards at the doors. The warrior sighed, hearing nothing but his own breath leaving him, silence overwhelming the area. The man had no effect in anything involving this adventure, other than providing healing potions to those wounded dwarves in the forge… all of which were provided by his majesty. He didn't know any healing magic, he had little negotiations skills, other than talking with his sword. For all intents and purposes, he was just there for the sights, to finally see a fully-grown dragon, the whole time being protected by his ruler. It should have been the opposite.

While Elsei had a job to do in Eil'Ta Forest, he was just puttering around until the empress decided to bring him along for another trip. "What am I doing…" he muttered as his hand rose into his vision and he flexed. He used to be a hero of Artinia, praised for his capability. At the moment, he felt more like background scenery.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Alfred was writing some missives for his soldiers to carry out orders and continue to track any messengers leaving the city of Silvinholm. His hand was flying across the paper, copying what he had written twenty times already. There was an empty bottle to his left; he had hoped to somehow get it refilled at the same still and brewery.

A quick scratch at his goatee and slicking back his brown hair falling into his eyes before another one was finished, and he was onto the next sheet. A knock at the door sounded out as he looked up and sighed. "Come in." His lieutenant walked through, looking shocked as if the end of the world was happening. "What's wrong?"

"G… g… General Galdin is here… sir… just outside the gates…" he stuttered out. Commander Dalonas looked up at him with his eyes going wide.

 _Why the bloody hell is he here?! Is he passing through with his army?!_

"It's possible they are resupplying" he responded as he continued to write out his missives.

"No sir, he… he wants to speak with you, in his tent… they haven't entered the city…" the lieutenant told him shakily. A female sergeant came in behind the lieutenant, her blonde hair twisted in a braid. She whispered something to the lieutenant in worry, with him responding with a sigh. "He wants to speak with you… now, sir." The commander sat there blinking, his hand frozen over the paper as ink slightly dripped from the quill he had between his fingers. Somehow… an envoy had gotten to the king behind their backs. How they were able to get here so quickly though… General Galdin must have been in the area and had a wizard bring word of what was happening.

"How the hell did this happen?" he grumbled out as he put away the quill and rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he could feel a headache coming on. He already knew what was going to be forced upon him. The General would order him to follow orders, against his better judgment, and do what he was told. That simply wasn't an option. "What is the feel of the standing army here sergeant?" he asked. The woman stepped forward and stood at attention.

"Sir! The army will follow you. The thought process about the orders that were… er… rumored… to have been received is that it is insane. Some of them have families that live here. They are hoping you will find some resolution to this issue." Alfred scooted back from his desk and leaned on the armrest of his chair, thinking.

"Thank you, sergeant. I hope they are willing to keep their faith in me for a little longer." He stood up and straightened his uniform, his eyes glancing at the still empty bottle.

 _Not going to get a chance to drink that or anything like it for a very long time._

"Sir, we should go with you" his lieutenant stated, wanting to act as his escort. The commander nodded in agreement.

"Pick two others to come with us, sergeant. Make sure they are ready to escape at a moment's notice." The blonde was shocked at what he was asking.

"Sir? Do you think… do you think the general will… will try and execute us?" she asked. He looked into her eyes and sighed… then shrugged. He didn't want to solidify her fears.

"We disobeyed orders from the king. However, we cannot allow innocents to simply be slaughtered just because they have a different opinion of how things should work. If anyone senses any danger once we meet with Galdin, we run, understand?" She nodded vigorously. The three of them headed to the makeshift armory, retrieved suits of armor for light cavalry, then headed out to the men on the walls of the city.

Teams of soldiers were heading from one place to another, either off duty or heading to investigate a disturbance in another district, something the mercenaries were quite good at. A few of them were frustrated they couldn't kill those who would commit the crimes, though most others were thankful for that restriction. It allowed them to keep their humanity, though some were just afraid of stabbing their sword into a human being. With so many other creatures out there that treated humans as food or slaves, excluding the surrounding nations, they needed ever man, woman and child available to keep them going. The fact they had completely lost contact with every town and village west of Silvinholm, and the fact Paldos City had been annihilated by an unseen force, told them they needed to stand together, not kill each other.

"Sergeant" one man said as he walked towards her with another squad mate. He was a corporal in their army, usually very good at horse riding and archery.

"Corporal. You two, I'm commanding you both to assist us in escorting Commander Dalonas to meet with General Galdin, just outside the gates" she said as the private behind them gulped a little at hearing his orders.

"We saw. Galdin is just past the hill with an army. You don't think he… I mean… there's no way…" the corporal replied.

"Let's hope not. We should just be cautious though." They both nodded and ran to tell the rest of the soldiers to prepare on the walls. If everything went according to plan, the general would just come in and see everyone saluting and at attention, exactly where they should be. If not, and Galdin decided to suddenly attack, they were already prepared to defend.

Commander Alfred mounted his horse carefully, the lighter armor still increasing his weight a bit. With his escort in tow, they headed out through the gates and carefully approached the general's very large camp.

 _There's only one reason for him to not enter the city._

Alfred dismounted just as they entered through the picket line, the soldiers coming up and grabbing the reins of their horses. They had grim faces as they stared at the commander. This was not good.

"Commander…" the sergeant whispered to him as they kept close, the rest of the men watching them as the group walked towards Galdin's tent. Once they were outside the flaps, he turned around and looked at his escort. They all nodded at him and kept their eyes peeled for an ambush. The fact the new army were keeping track of them inside the camp meant only one thing… they might have to fight their way out. The other very real prospect was that some did not like what they were about to do. They could probably gain some new recruits if things got ugly.

The tent flaps opened as a bald and slightly rotund man sat behind a table, his burly arms belaying the fat on his stomach. While he might have looked out of shape, General Galdin could easily lift a keg by himself if he wanted to. His uniform was missing the sleeves, showing multiple tattoos of the battles he had been in, the scars of combat. He was well known, almost as well known as the oldest son of the Rikter family, though not nearly as powerful as he was. While Alfred knew of Morlanion, once the hero of Artinia, now a criminal fugitive, he had never met him in person. His men had the chance to put shackles on his hands, but he somehow managed to escape with his family. He had received a very generous chastising from Alain for that, as if somehow all of his men being knocked out was his fault.

"Ah, the star of the show has arrived! Greetings Commander Dalonas!" Galdin chuckled out as he motioned for them to come closer. The General was a man who did whatever it takes to get the job done, didn't question orders from his king, and had no conscience if it meant slaughtering innocents. Collateral damage was not in his vocabulary. "Mmm, I take it Silvinholm is having some trouble it looks like?" he asked, a small grin on his face as his grey goatee shifted.

"Nothing we haven't been able to handle, sir."

"I see, I see. Well, they haven't actually gone into rebellion, so it shows the capability of its officers keeping things under control! That's good to hear."

"Yes sir. We don't have to worry about anything happening."

"Good, good. Oh, by the way, you uh, you might have forgotten something though. It seems you might have forgotten a very important uh, missive sent to you by order of the king. Was it lost in transit? I have a spare provided to us before we left to reach here." The sergeant gulped a little and looked at Alfred. He seemed calm and collected. The General, despite quite clearly a threat here, was treating this as simple miscommunication. He wasn't jumping to conclusions about the Commander being a traitor, as it was possible he just didn't get the memo.

"I'm afraid we might not have received it, sir."

"Oh, that is a shame, it really is. Having messengers lose important documents is poor form, it is. Well, we have another, just in case. Oh, by the way, we received a rather cryptic message from an uh, Alain Reysor I believe. Seems he contracted a messenger to get to a village for a shipment of diamonds, then the words changed, magic and all that. Now, something about the commander not keeping to his orders?" Galdin questioned.

"I'm unsure of what he was mentioning. Perhaps it was his own faculty that was performing unsatisfactorily? They do have men with those titles under their employ" Alfred answered with another question.

"Perhaps, perhaps. Well, regardless of that. You probably are wondering why we are here. The king, our glorious ruler, has requested us to enact these orders and end any chance of a rebellion from happening."

"General Galdin, I can assure you that-"

"Assure me of what, commander? That the people won't take too kindly to military roaming their streets? Eventually they will either do one of two things. The first, is they accept our laws that we enforce, through strong military presence, they obey what rules we set, no matter how obtrusive they may be. They get used to it, go on with their lives. The second, and this is most likely to occur, is they attempt to break away from Artinia. Given the trade that goes through here, it would be disastrous, wouldn't you agree?"

"Sir, the loss of life is-"

"Oh, don't worry about the loss of life, they forfeited their chance at having one when they spoke out against their king and his choices to root out any corruption and hired swords from controlling this fair city. We don't need it marred by those who cannot see the order that Artinia brings, the strength of having our forces watching over the people here! No no, it will all be over quite soon and more of the people will eventually move here, replacing those that have been slain. The world will go on, and Artinia as well." The lieutenant felt sick hearing all of that. The general had no care about who he was fighting, just that he followed orders from his king. There was no conscience, just the need to obey.

The corporal was about to speak up when Alfred cut him off. "Then it is as the king wishes."

"Yes, we are here to serve him after all. Now, let me see how you've been holding up the walls and security of this fair city. Come! Give me a tour of your men, then we will stand together to enforce our majesty's will!" he laughed out and stood up from the table. The sergeant looked up at her commander, fear in her eyes. She knew her parents were outspoken about what was happening in this city. They would have the sword run through them if he allowed this. Commander Dalonas simply nodded and walked with the general outside.

"Prepare my horse! Let's see the men and women who took in the corrupt hero of House Rikter, chained and ready to go to the king! A shame that was, losing him, but that was not your fault commander. Probably paid cutthroats ready to get them to safety. We'll find them as well, after this small setback." General Galdin waited for his mount to be brought to him while Alfred got onto his steed, his escort following along. All of them were wondering what he was going to do.

Once the general was ready, his own escort with him, they rode slowly out of the camp and headed towards the city. As they reached the halfway point, with the sergeant terrified of what was going to happen in the next few minutes, Alfred did his best to keep strong and work out a plan in his head. As they reached the walls, the gates opened up with his men looking at him in concern. They knew what was going to be ordered of them.

"Hmm, at least you've kept the place under control with the men under your command recognizing their superiors. I haven't seen a parade formation in some time" Galdin commented as he surveyed the troops. The man was escorted through the lines of the Silvinholm Artinian army that kept security of the city, with a swarm of people with signs yelling and swearing at them in the distance. They were unhappy with the current conditions; however, most of that was the fault of the nobles doing as they please right now, very little if any of it was the military policing the area. They were the muscle to yell at though, with the houses hiding away in their estates while they all suffered.

"Is everything up to snuff for you, sir?" Alfred asked.

"Quite. Maybe this is enough for us to start, without my army stepping forward to assist. Now, prepare your lines." Commander Dalonas motioned for his soldiers to move forward, though he gave a peculiar look to most of them as they passed him. As they got ready, their shields locked and swords out, the crowds of civilians hesitated and quieted down. Rocks stopped being thrown as they all looked at each other, wondering what the soldiers would soon do to them.

Each footman stood there, scared out of their mind that they were going to charge against unarmed men and women who just hated how things were being run. "Hmm, your front line needs a little work, you can train them a little better after all of this is done."

"Yes sir." Archers notched their arrows and raised them, getting ready to fire. The general seemed amused at what was about to happen, looking at the people before the security force now realizing they were going to be killed. Huge swaths of them broke and ran, just trying to get some distance. The arrows would seek them out soon enough.

"Ready…" the Lieutenant commanded as the archers focused. Swordsmen closed their eyes tightly and prayed.

"Jared! How could you do this?!" A mother asked as she stared at one of the soldiers, her own son, his shield ready. His family was one of the groups that wanted things back the way they were, when they had better rights than what the nobles provided now. Without the Rikter family keeping things under control, the other houses did whatever they wanted, even infighting between them. The only ones keeping the peace were the Artinian security force there. The mercenaries had all now done what they can to leave the city, to seek out new jobs, a healthy chunk hearing rumors they would not be killed if they headed west into the unknown that had enveloped those towns and villages.

"Aim…" Alfred looked up at the archers and the lieutenant, constantly motioning with his eyes to look at the general. The bowmen seemed confused at first, then finally figured out what he was planning.

"By the king, this is taking too long Commander. Fire!" Galdin snapped. Nothing happened. "I said fire!" Again, no arrows were loosed upon the people. He turned around, wondering what the holdup was, and saw the archers aiming not at the discontents ahead of them, but at his guards as well as his own person. "I see. When did you change and be so soft hearted?"

"Since I knew wiping out half the population here would cause the city to collapse, and with it, Artinia. Without the trade here, the king has nothing but his imperial city. There is a better way than this, General, we just have to find it. They are just afraid of what the nobles are doing, if we can get that under control, trade improves without firing a shot, the livelihood of the people improves. We don't have to do this." Galdin simply stood there, his hands behind his back clasped together. A twitch on his lower lip was seen as he stared at Alfred, turning slowly into a grin.

"That's not for us to choose, little man. I'm sad to see this happen, however, this will not end the way you think it will." A small crystal dropped from the cuff of his uniform into his hand, activating. His escort followed suit, all teleporting out of the city.

"Damn it. Seal the gates!" Alfred commanded as his men got into gear, preparing for a siege. He had known about those crystals for some time, he just didn't know if there were any more left. They were extremely difficult to create, only the officers or high-risk mission operatives were given them ever, with the Ghost's Ashes having almost all of them bar a few spares. The chances of them having anymore were slim to none, which meant no sabotage groups porting in and causing chaos while they were defending against trebuchets. "I want guards on the walls at all times! You, I want you to get all the other gates sealed up immediately, bring in all traders and convoys, I don't care if they are willing or not, it's safer in here than out there" he said sternly to the Sergeant. She acknowledged and hopped onto her steed, racing towards all the other entrances of the city.

"Lieutenant get me a list of supplies we can get a hold of, requisition spare weapons from the smiths. Someone get the civilians in doors! We don't need them wandering the streets!" The city of Silvinholm was going to be under siege, whether they liked it or not. They needed make use of every advantage they had available to survive this.

There were shouts from the people wondering what was happening, starting to yell profanity again. "Shut your mouths! We are about to go to war for all of you idiots!" the lieutenant snapped, shutting them up. The Artinian security was now the Artinian rebels, deciding instead to protect the rights of those who hated them being there… all because of their conscience.

 _ **Night**_

Selene walked out of the palace towards the research labs and noticed Morlanion outside practicing with a sword against a dummy. He looked to be sweating profusely and forcing himself to continue. "Morlan?" she questioned as the dev stopped right where she was, watching him. The man stopped swinging and wiped away the sweat from his forehead, stumbling a little and sitting down on a nearby bench. The empress jogged over and pulled a bottle of water from her inventory, handing it to him. "Easy, easy. Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

He didn't answer at first, just drank the water and stared at the ground. The woman stood there stooped in front of him, worried. "I was of no use to you when we faced against that dragon" he finally responded. His hand gripped tightly the bottle, though it didn't get damaged. The warrior suddenly threw the container away and stood up, angry. "I was of no use to you! I'm useless!" he snapped as he walked away a few feet and stopped, breathing deeply and blowing it out of his mouth loudly.

"What are you talking about? Calm down, tell me what's going on." Morlan sighed and put his hands on his hips, his tunic soaked in sweat. All that could be heard was him breathing heavily. He finally turned around and wiped back his hair, looking her barely in the eye.

"I know I accepted the chance to see a live dragon, and I appreciate the opportunity to do so, but… when he captured us… I just… I couldn't help at all, I just walked around and let you do all the work. You are my empress, but it seems like I'm just dead weight right now, not even doing what I should be doing, protecting this empire I swore an oath to, to you your majesty. I don't feel as if I have a purpose. In Artinia, I was sent everywhere to fight battles far and wide. Now? Your military does all the work, I'm… I'm not even good at real diplomacy, that's what my father and mother excel at. Even Elsei is better at talking than I am."

Selene walked next to him and looked up into his face, filled with sadness. He seemed depressed, given his physical standing. His empress, her Valkyrja, her automatons, all of them were leagues above his capability. Each time an issue arises, he was just there to see it unfold, not really getting the chance to do anything to assist. "So, you're trying to somehow work even harder to be useful" she stated. He slowly nodded, not even looking at her.

"I don't know what I am going to do in this empire. Elsei can speak on behalf of the high elves, maybe I can go be a trainer at the academy, I don't know. I just feel like I'm not strong enough to be here, in the castle walls. I'm not strong enough to be in your presence."

"Your parents are far weaker than you and they live here now."

"They assist you with laws and regulations, that's different. I'm no good at that. Perhaps… perhaps I should…" he turned around and sat down again, thinking what to say next. The dev slowly walked over and sat next to him, about to place her hand on his back but thought better of it with all the sweat.

"I'm sorry I put you in that position, I didn't realize we were just sitting you on a shelf to look handsome. I just thought you might have wanted to see a few sights, not have to always worry about being in the thick of it. You're no tool, Morlan. I thought I wanted to make that very clear. You're a citizen of my empire, I wasn't just going to throw you at trouble like Artinia does in hopes it made it all better." He chuckled at that response.

"I've thought about how I can help the empire, after everything you've done. It's either the academy, or something else. The problem is, the only other things I can think of would be to somehow, some way, find others who are willing to stand with me to fix the issues your military cannot work on… something like, I don't know, how your police in towns work, but private."

"You mean a government sponsored mercenary fixer group." Morlan finally looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"I… think so?" he replied.

"Is this coming from you or Elsei as well?"

"I haven't talked to her just yet, she's staying in Eil'Ta Forest for the next two days dealing with the aftermath for the queen, per your Bronze Team members; they explained the escort that went with her wouldn't be coming back just yet. Apparently, they're dealing with the integration of the high elves into your empire quite well, just… there are personal issues for her back home that she's cleaning up, something to do with her mother."

"Ah." There was silence between them as Selene clasped her fingers together and looked up at the stars. "I'm sorry you feel inadequate around here, that wasn't my intention. I'm sorry that I embarrassed you when we shot off to the mine network as well." The sky, despite it being cold outside for anyone but her, was stunning and clearer than anything she had seen in a while. Earth was a polluted foggy mess now, while this world seemed so refreshing now that she wasn't fighting to survive. Morlan, on the other hand, had to be freezing and could very well catch a cold or pneumonia. The heat lamps throughout the outside were going strong to protect the gardens and keep the royal stables well taken care of for Asterion and the other animals that lived within the walls. The reactors hidden below didn't even have a hiccup for the power requirements the castle had.

"You know, I actually envy my younger brother, Ezra. He knows his place within Elesia's Abbey. He has a gift that I don't have." He was pouring his insecurities out it seemed, at least about how he would pull his own weight. He really wanted to do his duty, to help keep the empire safe… he just didn't know how right now beyond the idea of a specialist team.

"What are you talking about? You're a lev… er…" she started to correct herself, almost about to tell him he was level 35; "You're stronger than you think. Those martial arts you have are fairly impressive for a warrior to have."

"They didn't work against you."

"I have stronger armor, magic and I've beaten a Valkyrja in a duel. I'd like to consider myself an exception to the rule."

"Point taken." That meant that while he couldn't do much against the empress with those skills, they were still powerful abilities to use on others. She could only imagine what some of his abilities could do to an ogre, or a young dragon with at least some proper weapons and equipment, at least tungsten steel, more than likely Elite quality tier or higher. More silence enveloped them as he leaned back and watched the stars as well, with a good five minutes going by before he spoke again, relaxing a little next to his ruler. "I'm hoping to train hard enough to somehow make myself stronger, to be a force you can count on here, your majesty."

"And find likeminded individuals, I can respect that. Maybe, maybe trying to assist the police in cities and towns might be the way to go; I mean… they'll be restricted by laws and policies to keep the citizen's rights protected, maybe having a special group going around investigating that which I can't divest any of my military to work on would be a good idea. Some crimes do go unpunished, even with the police doing their duty." Morlan looked at her with wide eyes. She was agreeing to support this idea. The man jumped off the bench and kneeled in front of her, keeping his head down and averting his gaze.

"I will do whatever I have to for this to become a reality, your majesty, with your permission." She sighed and lightly touched his chin, tilting his head up for him to meet her eyes. The police in most towns were all human, with the main criminal activity mostly cleaned up at the beginning when her armies swept through. The new officers available were required by law to be paid well and have their moralities checked monthly, though their benefits were so incredible that no bandit or thief could ever bribe them. Their families also received discounts at shops as long as their fathers and mothers served and protected. This all combined, among other things, completely dashed all chances of corruption.

"I'll see what your father can help me with to institute a specialized task force organization here. This… might be what the empire needs, in all honesty." He was smiling at her, a glimmer in his eyes. At that moment, she only had police in her municipalities and security defense forces outside any of the walls. Beyond that, was her military. There was no real in between of soldiers and civil protectors. Now the dev realized she was going to need something akin to the FBI, NSA, US Marshalls, ATF and CIA. Morlan could become the director of this organization, small as it was going to be at the beginning.

 _Once we take Silvinholm, he could have his pick of the finest adventurers maybe, or even the best students from the academy with Skuld's approval._

"I've been renewed, empress. Thank you." He quickly got up from his kneeling position, his head down for a moment as if saying a silent prayer in her name. The mountain of a man then turned on his heel and walked over to a sword to pick it up, getting ready to practice again.

"Hold up, hold up. I understand you want to get stronger, but there is a limit to how much your body can handle" Selene intervened, standing up to put her hand on his to gently have him lower the weapon. He sighed and nodded, closing his eyes. "I take it you somehow thought with enough hard work you might be able to stand next to Hrist, Bryn and I?" she questioned softly.

"I… had a feeling you would say something like this. I'm probably pushing it a little too far?" Morlan's eyes wandered down to the ground as he lowered his weapon. He was working so hard with what he had. He wasn't some dumb warrior with a sword, that much was certain. There was a reason he was considered a hero of Artinia. The problem was, he had no capability for magic, though his martial arts did replace that. He had no training in technology, so uplifting him with the same equipment Bronze Team had was risky, as he could potentially shoot himself in the foot. There was a sharp mind there, however it needed to be tended and nurtured, which the battlefield didn't give much of a chance to do.

"Your body can only take so much before you tear a muscle or damage ligaments. Maybe if your body was augmented in some capacity, you could get past those limitations I think… eh, whatever… just take it easy…" She rambled out, as he looked at her, listening to her every word. There were projects that could be started, at least primitive ones given she was still in Early Intersolar Era tech. Each one was designed to create super soldiers, pretty much the age-old idea of Space Marines that every sci fi game or story had in some capacity, whether it was Halo or Warhammer 40,000.

While her tech at the moment seemed vastly higher in some areas compared to those universes, there was a drastic gap in many other tech paths; most of the improvements she had was from the side tech tree for steampunk as well. Weird science had been a major boon to her at the beginning. She wouldn't really have anything that was FTL capable until after quite a few more tech ups, so her super soldier programs would be a little antiquated until that time came around. There was also the fact that she just didn't need to invest anything into them in the first place, with her automatons, and now standard tech robots in some specialty jobs, doing all the grunt work. Still, it could help her in minor issues around the world, or multiple worlds, if specialty groups that were highly loyal to the empire and their empress were improved beyond their normal means, to act as the special forces for nonmilitary related purposes.

"Augments? You mean to improve my body? That's… that's wonderful. I'm willing to start whenever you wish it."

 _Fuck. Damned diarrhea of the mouth._

"Wait, what? Uh, Morlanion, I don't think that's the best course of action, at least… um… I mean… I… uh…"

"What do you mean? You just said the only way to get past my limitations is to augment my body. Let me guess, magical? I am ready and willing."

"Look… when I said augment your body… I… have some… experiments… that might… and I do say this carefully, _might_ be able to speed the process up for physically enhancing your body." Morlan blinked at her for a moment.

"Well what am I waiting for? Let's do it!" he laughed out.

"Morlan, listen to me carefully. These are experiments, as in not set programs. There is a chance they may not work as intended. I'm… willing to admit… this will be the first time I've ever done something like this before either. There is risk, even if the rewards could be high. I'd need you to sign waivers that you've read over thoroughly before you agree to them, like not holding me accountable for any side effects." While some of these basic projects would allow humans to become incredible superheroes, she had no idea what it would do to natives of this world. There was also no guarantee they would have the same effect on anything beyond humans here. While genetic enhancement or cybernetics might work on Morlanion, it could potentially cripple Elsei or anyone else Morlan brought into his group. There was also the risk that any of the enhancements could cause excruciating pain. She didn't have enough information on the genomes here.

"So… what you're saying is to be prepared for the worst."

"Yes. There is always a chance for some of these experiments to simply break you, even kill you. You need to understand this." He stood there and bit at his lower lip, thinking it through. "That's why I don't think it's the best course of action to take. We could go easier instead, like… different physical training, throw you through a higher education or Extreme Officer School, things like that." EOC was a thing after the 2050s for the United States that brought hundreds of would be soldiers from all throughout NATO to learn to git gud.

"Empress Selene, I trust you. I made an oath to you before, and I reinforce that oath. I… know you wouldn't lead me astray, now even trying to warn me of the risk. Give me the waivers. I'll read them, with the help of my father, and decide if I wish to go through with them. I need to show that I am willing to protect you as well as the empire." She just stared at him, studying his face. He was set in his decision. She wasn't just worried for his wellbeing; she was actually afraid of the experiments. This would be the very first time she'd do anything like this with a volunteer… or anyone. Automatons didn't need to be turned into super soldiers, they just had modules installed in them for new upgrades from the fabrication units in her inventory. It was simple to plug and play for all of her army. A Light auto could have Medium hydraulics installed for better lifting capability, there was no chance of rejection. There were too many variables for living creatures that scared her.

"Alright. I'll see about getting everything prepared for tomorrow. Just rest for the time being, we'll see about where to start. The first obvious choice is to change your training first, see how far we can push you right now without any projects put into place. It'll give us a benchmark for how much of an improvement anything will have. Then, education. I'm going to see just how far your brain can be pushed; we might be able to get that sped up with hypno courses or something."

Selene brought her hand up to her face and just covered her eyes in a facepalm. She needed to work on keeping thoughts like that from blasting out of her mouth when around friends. She was so used to brainstorming new features for videogames that it didn't occur to her to shut her mouth when it came to troubleshoot Morlan's hindrances to be a better soldier.

"I understand. Your majesty… thank you, for listening." She nodded and smiled at him. The list of experiments was fairly high after the school courses. The first thought was to completely alter his training regimen, adding in something like BUD/S from the Navy SEALS or Ranger School, potentially Operator training for Delta Force. While it might be impossible to provide all of the training course for him, such as firearms and maybe explosives, at least at first, it would at least give them a good idea of how far he can push himself. After that, higher education via some sort of fast track program, followed by genetic enhancement, then by potion enhancement. Cybernetics would be an emergency program if everything else didn't work as intended. The dev wanted to make sure as much of him was born and bred instead of replaced like a spare part. Afterwards, there was potential for extended technology training.

Morlan got up and looked at her like he had found an answer to an age-old question. There seemed to be conviction in his eyes, an ultimate vow to be better than he was to stand amongst the strongest. The empress closed her eyes tightly. What had she just gotten herself into promising this?

 _Shit… alright, now I really don't have a choice. Orlo and Turnie can't possibly jump between so many research projects and I don't think my research stations can really help in this regard._

The warrior picked up the strewn about weapons and gear to put them back in their slots, cleaning up the training yard. Meanwhile, Selene got to work on two new personality cores for lead scientists as she sat down again. While the members of Bronze Team were incredible, she couldn't just keep throwing two of them at a project and hoping for something to pop out. She needed a dedicated science division, regardless of how she can move up her tech tree.

 _I need more than a science division, for crying out loud… I need quite a few divisions to manage under me. So far, I only have two Generals, a magistrate, a magic magistrate, a head of construction for military and civil. I'm being stupid to not expand that. How many different secretaries were there for the U.S, or for that matter, any other country? How many of them were useless so I don't screw this up?_

She opened her character sheet and checked her stats alongside her inventory. Tech Era was Early Intersolar. The dev had slowed down on her use of the orb, which might have been a bit of a mistake. Being over 200+ was more than anything she had seen that could be a threat, beyond the abomination they fought. As her eyes watched Morlan finish cleaning the yard and head inside to take a bath, the empress set additional personality cores into production for surveillance, administration and even history. There were spares set aside in the eventual creation of further help as needed, blank until installed.

"Hey" Hrist suddenly said behind her as the Valkyrja walked up and sat down next to the auburn-haired woman.

"Hey…" she replied quietly as Selene leaned back.

"Is something wrong?" her general asked.

"Morlan wants to push himself to the near breaking point to try and reach our strength tier."

Hrist blinked at her for a moment. "He cannot, at best he'd be an einherjar, worthy of having on the battlefield. I cannot see him ever reaching our tier of power." The empress crossed her arms and looked at her friend, making an openhanded gesture to acknowledge her agreement.

"I accidentally blurted out that I have the capability to help him on that journey, though most of it would be experimental right now."

"You… you have that ability?" Hrist questioned.

"I do, sort of." The dev explained the situation, with the Valkyrja nodding in understanding.

"Can that be done to me?" her General asked.

"I… I don't know? Maybe. Look, this is experimental right now, I'd… I'm a little afraid to do this to even Morlan. He's a good guy, and I would rather not have one of the projects cripple him due to something going wrong."

"Then do what you need to make sure it is a success, otherwise, do not allow the experiment to continue. I can see the trust… and faith… he has in you. I would believe he might be secretly a part of the religion that has been building around you."

"Yeah. I'm trying to hide from those guys." Both them sat there on the bench, the light posts around the castle keeping the area well lit. It was freezing outside, though the cold didn't have any effect on the women due to their extremely high resistances. "Hrist?"

"Yes?"

"If this does work, and I'm not saying it will, do you really want to be enhanced?"

"I believe we would all wish to have the ability to improve beyond our normal means, if there are not any side effects." Selene sighed and nodded slowly, averting her gaze to the ground. A notice popped up for her involving a threat found near Olva'lore Forest. A second notice, though only registered as an issue, appeared for Silvinholm.

As she opened both, the dev decided to read the intel from the city she was about to take tomorrow. What she found was interesting. The army that was holding the city was rebelling against Artinia to defend the people inside. They were going to be laid siege to by the opposing force. Ornithopters kept an up to date population count on the districts, the numbers of soldiers and even had a limited list of supplies that were available, massive as that was. The Artinian rebels now had strips of dyed cloth on their shoulders to discern who was friend from foe. The nobles were bunkered up to keep themselves away from the people until help arrived from outside the walls.

The second notice made her eyes widen in shock. Drow were spotted deep in the cave near the dark elves, attempting reconnaissance. There was intel in the report that there might be a secondary exit point somewhere else as well due to information provided by King Weren before about the history of the Drow, with percentages placed throughout the continent all reporting zero. The ornithopters weren't there to guess, just provide information where needed. The analytics and scans for finding underground cave networks wasn't very big on her to do list.

 _All the more reason to get agents and an intelligence division set up. While the fliers provide excellent surveillance, I need boots on the ground to give me a heads up, like the FBI and CIA. At least I won't have to deal with the crap those agencies gave the federal government, given they'll be automatons and androids mostly._

Hrist stood up and looked at her, offering her hand to help her stand as well. Selene accepted the offer as they headed back to the palace, the research labs would wait until tomorrow. A quick task of her security forces near the forest to guard that cave, then a personality core processed into a research station, she was ready to head to the vault to use the orb. Her General watched as she left her side, with a quick glance back over her shoulder. "I'll meet you in the library, I'm going to watch the new comedy play right after this." The Valkyrja nodded and headed off.

Once down in the vault, and a quick touch of the orb to drain the much sought-after experience, she hesitated for the first time after receiving another five levels, then another five, staring at the artifact with her hand just barely hovering over the top of it. Although the dev was a little hesitant, her hand finally went back down and drained the action points required for a tech up to Middle Intersolar Era. There wasn't a drastic boost as she was expecting, though the new tier allowed for better impulse engines, radiation shielding, ground to space transportation and a few other essentials. Satellites would get a bit more streamlined as well.

While it seemed mostly uneventful for space capability, ground based tech, at least for off the planet she was on, had a far more advanced look, with limited terraforming becoming completely viable now. Up until now, for Early Intersolar, it was just going to be a dome colony placed here and there for anything off world, with at least some magnetosphere protection in some capacity from orbit. It wasn't anything amazing like turning Mars into a lush green tropical paradise, the new schematics would at least allow protection planet wide from radiation, better gravity and probably allow tilting and rotation if a planetary object is completely dead, at least very small ones like Pluto. So far as she could see, keeping a livable atmosphere naturally would still be a little out of reach, at least in a timely manner, which was surprising given the tech to make a micro planet or large asteroid rotate. There were no high-speed missiles that transformed anything into an Earth like environment just yet.

Selene finished up and dropped the security systems down around the orb again, then headed out. She was going to wait until her level was 250 before using all of the points in a burst, which would require another four days. A quick check up on Gabriel, who was fully recovered as he got to lounge in the music room, then she was in the library to watch the play recorded. As they watched together, the empress checked on the progress for the first mass driver.

Parts were manufactured like Juliet had said, they were installing them now. Having automatons and the robotic gantry system never need to sleep was a boon from the heavens for her. The plot of land set aside for the space elevator was now also mostly cleared. Gabriel slipped through the door and waited to be seen. "Can I… uh… may I be allowed to watch as well? The library was my next stop in this amazing palace you have, your majesty." He was well groomed now that he had a chance to clean himself up, with the beard now trimmed carefully with a razor edge point at the jaw line.

"Of course. Tomorrow though, I expect an in-depth conversation about your teacher."

"I accept, your majesty. Maybe you'll have the chance to meet him."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Everyone, prepare yourselves." The headmaster of the wizards in Aureos motioned for all of them to get in position, with most of them nodding and double checked their scrolls, their preparations, their ritual inscriptions. An apprentice had found a spell that allowed for translation of the spoken language between races, ancient in its thought process. There were theories that this was what was used in the grand all-encompassing effect that allowed everyone to speak to one another on this incredible world. The main theorem was that a dragon lord had cast wild magic while a wizard attempted to decipher the meaning, clashing against each other and somehow warping the spell. It was highly doubtful the wizard survived, given the strength of such a creature, so there is little historical evidence that this is what happened.

Digging further into the creation of the translation spell, they found a more advanced spell crumbling away in a dusty tome, following the same principles, **[Comprehend Languages]**. It was such a simple thing to miss, and an easy tier 1 spell, though it required a full ritual.

"The king wants to let us know that he is impatient for our success here, headmaster" Dragolas commented, keeping a boorish tone the entire time.

"He will have his artifact understood by the end of this night; he just has to wait a little more." The wizards all circled the symbols written on the ground, glowing in a multitude of colors and shapes. Some were damaging the stonework below their feet, eating away at the floor due to the caustic nature of the reagents. The original incantation required salt and soot, though this would seem to need more than a few exotic ingredients. The first attempt to use the spell had a reflection ward fire the mana used back at the journeyman who cast it, melting the flesh of both hands.

"Alright. We start!" The headmaster shouted as they began performing the ritual, greatly expanded in hopes that one of them would succeed. As the ritual continued, the papers crackled with energy, arcing out along the table they were on and lashed out at two very capable wizards, flash frying their insides. There was a sound of gurgling as they slumped to the ground, the rest of them continuing with their duty.

A circle of fire erupted around the table to keep anyone at bay, the wizards doing their best to stay undeterred. "Keep going!" An apprentice was lifted from the ground, screaming as he floated confused in the air, then sliced in half by some as yet unseen foe. Once the creature had fully materialized, the rest of the wizards were shocked. "Get the guards in here!" the headmaster yelled as a death knight stood before them in the middle of the room, defending the scriptures. Somehow, an imprint of the menacing foe had been stored in the papers, allowing it to summon to defend its master's personal items. Soldiers ran in only to be smacked around by the shield and large sword, with a few more spell casters behind getting a few shots in.

"Do not falter" Dragolas told everyone as he stepped forward and launched multiple ice bolts at the undead creature, damaging the legs but doing little else. It knocked it to the ground, long enough for the remaining guards to jump on it and do their best to tear away armor and bone. Maces slammed against the ribcage and shoulders, whittling away the hardened protection and allowing them to finally end it once and for all. The cost, however, was at least thirty dead.

Two more apprentices were shocked to death by lightning as the ritual finally completed, a concussive wave blasting out from the papers and knocking everyone off their feet. Whoever created these was incredibly powerful in their eyes. For all they knew, they were playing with the knowledge written by a god himself. These scriptures were more deadly in one ritual than most magical weapons they had created.

"It's… done…" one wizard said as he coughed and slowly helped another stand up. The headmaster walked briskly up to the table and looked at the writing, the circle of fire doused after the ritual was finished. A light chuckle escaped his lips. He could read them.

" _ **The design of this artifact doesn't quite match that which Ulbert had in mind, though it may yet suit my needs. The materials were quite difficult to find, even if we had some of the more rarer reagents available in the treasury. I have high hopes for it to transfer the life force of one creature and use it as an energy source to finally attain that which my friend had once sought, to unleash a force so powerful and endless that no one could hope to defend against it. If it works, I will not have need for a new army again. The problem that needs to be addressed is to find one such creature strong enough to use as the fuel. I can think of only a few that are within the guild. I will not use them to attain this goal.**_

 _ **The activation phrase is the previous name we had once used for the precursor guild, Nine's Own Goal." – A**_

"It worked. It really worked…" he whispered to himself as he did his best to read through the papers quickly before they needed to bring them before his majesty. There was not a full translation, as some of the names seemed to not quite be understood, such as a mention of a man named Touch Me and Herohero. These were supposed to be people it seemed, which appeared to lean more to these papers weren't all there to explain the usage of the item, but also some of a journal as well. The headmaster could see why there was such outrage from the woman these were stolen from, the succubus. They needed to be careful once their king learned to control the artifact to get rid of these scriptures.

"Sir, have we done well?" one wizard asked, limping along with his colleagues towards the entrance to the room.

"Yes, you all have done very well. The king will be pleased."

 _ **{{Vectored response from Black Widow Sat /SL-41-S = Unknown power spike detected grid 129-4 in location designated: Aureos, Artinian Capital}}**_

 _ **{{Measured fluctuation = 1.7849 Gigajoules erupted six times. Verifying target location: Wizard Academy, 9**_ _ **th**_ _ **floor, internal ring. Determined source: Unknown object. WARNING: Capacitor capability detected near power spike. Discharge status = empty}}**_

 _ **{{Detected Undead, hostile combat form, primary mode: defense, melee. Hostile combat form was destroyed. Casualties tracked: 31}}**_

 _ **{{Further reconnaissance required. Threat potential still unknown}}**_

 _ **{{Send traffic to creator. Traffic sent. Unknown object detected near magical wards registered, tier level: World Class. AMENDMENT: Faulty object, unfinished, design unstable, further recon required, surveillance team RECON 9-2-6 requested}}**_

 _ **{{Orders tasked by creator: Long range surveillance. Track movement of unstable World Class object. Verify if activated. Verify if charge stabilized in capacitor functionality. End Task}}**_

A single spy satellite orbited just above Aureos at that moment, sending its feed once it had found something interesting for the empire to check on. The people of the imperial city had no idea that another ruler was now a little more interested in what they were doing.


	30. Ch 29 Sideways Relations

_**3rd, December**_

Selene awoke to an urgent request by both King Weren and her security emplaced near the Underdark cave entrance verified the previous day. It was a little after 3 am, with roughly five hours under her belt of sleep. The call kept ringing, with the dark elf ruler hoping she'd pick up. "Hello?" she finally said, waiting for the reply. The woman rolled over onto her back and brought her hand up to her face, slightly annoyed that she was woken up.

"Empress Selene! The… t-the Drow! They're-"

"I understand Weren, I've got it under control."

"Please your majesty… they have… they have… a…"

"Easy. I have forces already tasked. I'll-"

"They have a deep dragon at the forefront!" Selene simply lay there in her bed.

 _I can't fucking get away from dragons! Grrrr…_

"And we'll take care of it, I promise you. There's nothing to fear." Weren did his best to calm down as the empress checked on the status of her sentries groggily. All operational, no combat reported just yet. The request to speak was from a "Lieutenant" Medium in the temporary CIC nearby.

"Ma'am, sorry to wake you but we have an urgent matter to report."

"Drow invading?"

"Hostile Drow were detected heading up the tunnel, just beyond our kill zone. On top of that, a raiding party was sent up from the southwest towards Olva'lore Forest and slightly towards Seong Neow Republic by the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe" The dev got footage beamed to her Hud involving a Deep Dragon just inside, waiting for the counterstrike teams to prepare to head out. The second footage link was of a warband of orcs and goblins heading out with paint on their faces, spears and other jagged looking weapons held in hand.

 _Deep Dragons hate sunlight, so I can understand why they're attacking at night. The Drow allied with one in hopes of getting a hell of a haul to bring back to their city state, at least that's what it looks like._

"Send in spider mines for after they assault, keep position otherwise. Once they are in range, open up. I want the deep dragon especially to be mulched. I'd rather not take on the raid group until I've had a chance to talk with the tribe, but… do what you have to do to defend the dark elves."

"Copy that ma'am. The warband won't arrive until the end of the day, ETA is approximately 7 pm. They don't look to be carrying anything that could be substituted as temporary shelter." Selene relinked with Weren who was doing his best to breathe slowly.

"Weren, the deep dragon will be handled promptly. I urge you to inform your people they may hear combat in the distance. That's my forces engaging, do not head towards those sounds. Beyond that, keep them calm and let them know they have nothing to fear, understood?"

"I… I understand… we'll…" Silara grabbed the communication stone from her father and immediately started to shout into it. An automatic volume control kicked in to lower the decibels being beamed into her head.

"Hey! Empress! Your army better protect us! Drow kidnap not just for slaves, but for sacrifices!" she snapped. There was a long pause before she suddenly spoke again, hesitation in her voice. "Please… they hate traitors…"

"I know about that; I know you're afraid, don't worry Silara." The princess seemed to make a sound as if to speak again, then handed the stone back to her father. He hung up with a sigh, hoping her military was as strong as he had seen against a human slave city. The dev rubbed her eyes and got up, realizing she wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight despite her security dealing with the two threats. Her hand grabbed her robe and put it on, the lights slowly coming back up as she headed to her bathroom to brush her teeth.

 _It's possible they didn't yet know about the orcs coming around the bend to capture any of their soon to be repaired villages. If we weren't around, the elves would be captured for drudgery or food. Let's hope I can sway them into casting aside those notions and being more open to nonhostile agreements._

 _ **(Recommended Song: Vitaliy Zavadsky – Long Time)**_

She checked on 12th Brigade in the area, verified that they had digging equipment, then opened up her design lab to set up some quick templates for CQC and underground demolitions loadouts. The Faerzress, or Underdark radiation if it even existed, would have no effect on her soldiers given they were not organic or cast any significant amount of magic.

 _Let's see, deep dragon, ropers, Drow, Drider, what else… slaves… sorry guys, but I'm not about to tell my autos to spare your lives when you rush at them with a sword._

The brigade was sent to back up the security there, though it wasn't really needed. The whole thought process was to counter the Drow army, little more than a large skirmish force to raid and pillage, then perform their own incursion below to find the city state. Once found, a weapon of mass destruction would be used to destroy the entire location, as she already knew the elven cousins that lived under all of that rock would either have an evil alignment or negative karma. To the outliers that did their best to hide amongst all of that cruelty, this would be a merciful end to them.

"Hostile force at rim. Defenders still cold." Selene peeked in on the engaging force. Her security hadn't fired just yet, all aiming at the cave with dug in turrets and heavily reinforced bunkers latched to the ground, with artillery and tanks all waiting for the dragon to show its head. In the far distance, Olva'lore Forest could be seen, a few hours walk from that position. The night was quiet and peaceful as the Drow slowly crept up the tunnel to head out. The sight of the automatons all still and waiting must have looked like effigies to scare them off, to keep them at bay without even having any real army. How wrong they were about to be.

"Tangos in the box, confirm action."

"Action confirmed, movement of tangos in box verified." The deep dragon walked forward, carefully stepping around the smaller elves as it surveyed what was before the cave. The lithe creature seemed incredibly serpent like with slight aquatic features, the neck making it look almost like a snake mixed with a grey hound, scales lining the back that looked like shark's fins. The dragon seemed to be tip toeing around not to keep from killing any of the elves, but to make sure it didn't get any guts stuck between its claws from the supposed friendlies around him. "Greyhound fired. Contact in three… two… one…"

A ground attack missile slammed into the dragon from high above, a drone fighter just at BRV. "Lights on, go loud." Spotlights throughout the area activated, turning night into day around the cave, with some of them set to pulsating to disorient. The night erupted in rapid fire sounds from Vulcan cannons and lasers, tesla rifles and railguns, an occasional warped sound of a plasma stream rifle firing in the mix. The dragon had a split second to realize it had fucked up badly allying with the Drow before its body was turned into chunky confetti. The Drow had no idea what was attacking them as the mechanized soldiers engaged, tearing them to pieces before they could even turn around and try to run. A Drider tried to charge forward instead, promptly launching into the air from a mine detonating.

"Sending in advanced welcome party." The remainder of the spider mine field popped out of the ground and headed inside, speeding along after those that cut and ran then head off to the deep Underdark. 12th Brigade picked up from its set up point to slowly move down into the tunnel, hunting for more Drow to extinguish. The Clockwork Empire was about to ruin their whole existence.

"Tangos wiped. Threat level zero in the area." The empress sighed in relief. The sounds that had been heard by the dark elves for those few short minutes must have been terrifying, given they weren't used to seeing or hearing advanced military weapons being fired. She kept track of all the reports sent in by 12th, making sure there was the 19th Support Brigade right behind them to allow temporary FOBs to be built along the way. Exploration might be a good thing for her to get going underground now, as she was already getting some exceptional finds from the science submarines in the oceans and her satellites got incredible views of comets flying through, the composition being verified for further research.

With the threat neutralized, at least for now, she could turn towards dealing with Silvinholm finally and getting Morlan on track. The empress got dressed in a simple T-shirt and black pull up leggings, threw on some sneakers, then headed downstairs for a very early light breakfast while pulling her hair back in a scrunchy. Just as she sat down, with Jeeves preparing some coffee, Morlan was at the doorframe in an instant. She gawked at him in surprise.

"Someone obviously couldn't sleep" she questioned him, wondering why he was awake so early as she cocked an eyebrow and stirred her cup.

"I could ask the same question, your majesty. Is everything alright?"

"Don't worry about it. Just dealing with some important issues, nothing to be concerned with." The warrior sat down next to her beaming as the dev tapped the spoon on the side. He didn't need to know everything that was happening in her empire.

"If you say so, your majesty. It just seems like you should be in bed to get a good night's rest." Coffee was placed in front of her as Morlan requested a cup as well.

"My job isn't exactly a nine to five, Morlan. Things crop up at all times, even when I don't want them to."

"I see. It must take its toll on you often." Selene avoided getting into a discussion about why she was awake, about why her self-imposed duties didn't let up for even a minute. She also didn't want to worry him about what was trying to sneak through their borders. Middle Ages kingdoms couldn't possibly catch what her ornithopters, satellites, security and soon to be spy network saw on a daily basis.

"So… I take it you're awake early because of…?" the man chuckled and put his hands on the table, rubbing his thumbs against his pinky fingers. An anxious excitement could be felt pulsating through him from where she was sitting.

"I'm… looking forward to whenever you decide to start my training." He looked like he was the happiest man in the world right now, as if a child was going to get the birthday present he always dreamed of. Elsei would come back and see an improvement, if the dev acknowledged today was the day to start. She opened her mouth to speak, then let out a short chortle and smiled.

"Alright… alright. Have you spoken to your father about this?" she asked.

"I have. He's awaiting the waivers when you can give them. My parents came back, albeit just for a little while, something about an offer to see something, an invitation from the royal family."

 _Shit. I haven't made them yet._

As he talked about what he knew about already, she multitasked and checked on the personality cores. Two of them were set to be science leaders, one which she would name Nikola and the other Robert, a homage to Nikola Tesla and Robert J. Van de Graaff. Given she was using steampunk and tesla weapons, it seemed fitting to honor these two incredible men. The dev then made sure both of them had ample drone teams to work on different experiments, activated an inventory hopper remotely at the research labs, then let them loose. The dev expected to get another three science leaders going by the end of the week if everything went well. Orlo and Turnie had a short summary on Wild Magic, a simple update that stated dragons did not create it, simply harnessing it to great effect. The information was given by Erina at the Dragon Eyrie.

Tier 7 magic immunity was fully functional, with tier 8 already in the works and expected to be ready far too quickly now, with three days being scheduled before becoming the main production date for the modules. It meant creating the new improvement right now would be a pointless waste of time adding the modules to the fabrication units. Class V shields were just about finished, with them mainly to be used in space or large vehicles due to the power requirements. Even she was restricted by how much miniaturization could be done on her tech. There was practically no weapon on the planet that could break through them right now, with a higher chance of destroying a small country than even mission killing one of her military with it installed.

"I'll have the waivers written up after breakfast then." Selene decided to use the orb right after, though for the time being it was just time for sitting with a very loyal friend. The palace was quiet aside from the occasional movement of a maid cleaning somewhere, with snow falling down outside the windows. A small notice popped up, not flagged as urgent and even doing its best to be ignored. The title was **Present for you, your majesty**.

As she opened up the notice, her jaw dropped, incredibly happy to see what was inside. Juliet's team had finished the first mass driver as of five minutes ago, all operational tests were accomplished successfully. They still had to launch the first team into space to acknowledge the first attempt, then get a memorial stone etched to remember them. The empress was excited, really excited, even though she would be soon doing things to push Morlan for training. The only way things could get any better was seeing the towns and cities she had in the empire now ready for Renaissance Era. The dev almost hesitated as she brought up census reports and looked at the fashions, tools, choice of weapons and jobs that were cropping up.

 _They're ready! They're fucking ready! YES!_

Sales of new dresses and clothes were increasing while older styles were going away. Coin banks were becoming a thing now, with the empire's support and very strict control. There would be no hedge funds, no extreme mortgages or loan payments allowed. Everything had to be reviewed carefully per year, with constant oversight. Rapiers were now the new in weapon to carry around, being lighter and faster to swing. Even the music was changing now.

The dev's feet were almost twitching under the table, even though she didn't get a full eight hours of rest. Her body wanted to get things done, telling her it was ready to go early. "Morlan, we don't necessarily need your father to review training regimens, let's start with that today. My doctors are going to also take blood samples from you to make sure any experiments don't harm your body, to ensure you are compatible."

"Uh, of course, your majesty. Sure." She nodded at him with a grin and finished her coffee with a small Danish, with the man eating a light breakfast with high protein. The woman made sure there was an assortment of special nutrient bars, electrolyte drinks and light painkillers to help him. She also finally had a reason to use Assistance Packs, aka 'Cheese Packs.' The empress wondered what they would do to him. Holding back on the packs for the time being seemed to be a safe call, she figured, at least until she received a report card stating he had a clean bill of health.

Once they were finished, Morlan headed out to an enclosed gym, it being too cold for him to train outside. Selene, on the other hand, headed for the treasury again, gaining another 10 levels, but not the actions required for Late Intersolar Era. The dev wanted to enjoy at least for a little bit seeing her first astronauts get into space, land, and report. It was like NASA trying to get to the moon on ancient computers, even if she would soon have the capability to use a space elevator. It was almost a nostalgic effect for her, a last little connection to Earth, even with using a mass driver. Jumping through Eras would defeat this odd little hobby of hers getting a chance to test some of the tech. Flying right by seemed like such a waste and could prove useful in the future. Some old schematics were still tried and true for what needed to be done. Plus, there was a feeling unlike anything else of that accomplishment, showing humanity could create incredible things with amazing ingenuity.

 _I'm going to have to send an astronaut team to the moon too, just so I can have them spout that special line from Neil Armstrong at least._

While she felt a little weary from the extra 10 levels already, boosting herself to 220, she was going to power through them as the day was still very young. "Ok. To do list… get an extensive report on Morlan's full capabilities… launch first astronaut team from mass driver… see about getting Silvinholm surrounded, take out Artinian army, talk to rebels…" She checked on how the mole brigade was doing with its support brigade behind. They were powering through, already obliterated a roper and what seemed to be an armed group of civilians. The amount of Drow being encountered thinned immensely after the first few miles underground, even some which she could have sworn would be considered priests or noncombatants. Something was off. They weren't attacking, even if they were evil… they were escaping something.

"12th, keep a look out for anything that might be driving them towards you. I am not putting a restriction on hostile actions; lethal force is still authorized."

"Copy that ma'am." Even if they were civilians, the Drow themselves were a race that were still very much against everyone. The only group that wasn't, which amounted to about 15% of their population, was already integrated into her empire. As she walked back out of the treasury, now level 220, a chime went off in her inventory. Legendary quality tier was ready to replace Epic. Today was just going to be a whirlwind of improvements. The dev did a little dance on the top of the stairs, with Jeeves seeing her enjoying the day. It would still take time to get new armor crafted, so the Epic quality was still her go to.

"I'm happy to see you are having a momentous day right off the bat, madam."

"Oh, I am Jeeves. This is awesome." Without even saying another word, she hugged him and walked off.

In the gym, there was a group of autodocs all sitting nearby Morlan, taking his temperature, removing blood samples, giving him better workout clothing. He wore a tight white jogging shirt with shorts, some sneakers with high end insoles and some thin gloves. "Ok, so. Let's get this going."

 _ **(Recommended Song: Imagine Dragons – Whatever It Takes)**_

Morlan was put through harsh basic training, pushups, squats, boxing and jogging. His body was carefully monitored as autodocs tracked every movement he had, every drink, every protein bar, every course he took. The man had almost no fat on his body to speak of, built like an Olympic athlete, almost like a bodybuilder. Each time he got tired, she immediately cast **[Greater Rejuvenate]** on him, bringing him back to the pinnacle of energy. His ruler taught him basic forms of her idea of martial arts, able to grapple and tackle, pin and flip without a weapon. The autodocs cleared him for hypno training, at least things such as karate and newer weapons beyond the era he was used to. He sparred with a padded auto trainer, keeping pace with his speed and movements.

Knife throwing, crossbows, different armor types, basic survival training, kickboxing, navigation and even repair of his own equipment in the field. He had to swim and stay afloat in a cold pool for an hour, doing his best to stay conscious and still make it back to the side, with constant surveillance to make sure he was healthy. High end weightlifting wasn't a problem for him as he was spotted by a Medium, tracking his reps. He was grinning the entire time.

At one point, she saw him charge across the gym with a chain wrapped around his hands, pulling a large box weighted down, then ran to a tire circuit on the floor and hopped through them, making his way through a gauntlet. He was pushing himself, doing everything she asked with a laugh, with the empress almost feeling his aura, his desire to do this. In four hours, he had rested four times to test his body's capability to recuperate, used the restroom once, and felt amazing. "This is what you were explaining, when you said we would be changing my training up" he commented, panting as she didn't cast any spells on him, done for the day.

"Yep. How do you like it so far?"

"We're doing this tomorrow, right?"

"Yup."

"I can't wait." She laughed and patted him on the shoulder. She noticed his experience bar had gone up by half, almost reaching level 36. This was the way to go, he'd become a super soldier of the Clockwork Empire, a beacon of hope when police couldn't do anything, and her military was too busy outside the walls of the municipalities they would operate in. This warrior was begging to continue, however the empress had other things to do today. Morlan looked almost sad that she wouldn't let him go for another four hours.

"Let the doctors go through the data, they can push you even more tomorrow. Besides, I don't actually have to be here to keep track of you. They'll send a progress summary each time and keep you going. Just accept that this was a good start." He nodded in agreement, sweat dripping from his hair and beard.

Unlike any of the schools for soldiers back on Earth, he wasn't going to be starved for carbs at any point, though in the future she was going to make sure he could survive with very little, if any, sleep. He knew this… and welcomed it. There was a fire that had been ignited because of her giving him this opportunity, one that couldn't be quenched.

As they stopped and Morlan headed off to shower, now knowing more about what she was expecting, Selene met up with Hrist now eating breakfast… with Donovan and Melsia. "Hey you guys, I thought you were with… uh… Elsei?" she asked as she patted them both on the back while they sat. The empress then remembered Morlan had said something about them coming back for a little bit.

"We'll be going back tonight, apparently they were very happy we decided to show up and lightly assist with a grievance some shop keeps had with the economic inclusion" Donovan replied.

"The queen invited us, surprisingly. Prince Ralyf wants to bring us to a poetry reading" Melsia told her.

"That's wonderful! See, we aren't the scary monsters that Artinia is." Both of them nodded their heads softly in agreement with a smirk. The autodocs were already hard at work testing Morlan's DNA for compatibility with the experiments she had in mind. "Hey, uh… Donovan, has Morlan talked to you yet? About… about some waivers?" There was a plus ticked next to allowing the Rikter's eldest son to use Assistance Packs, acknowledged by the first blood test.

"He… has… what he does with his body is up to him, I just would like to see these waivers to make sure he knows what he is agreeing to allow done."

"I'll have them written up in a little bit. Also, one last thing… how's Elsei?" The parents both looked at each other.

"She's absolutely fine after what had happened."

"Wait, what happened?"

"Supposedly she wants us to not tell you until after she comes back. It's something very important that she wants to share, something that she is very happy with" Donovan chuckled out. Selene seemed a little confused. She was their ruler, she needed to be briefed.

 _Oh well, if it's personal, then I guess I won't pry._

"Alright… well… I'll go get those waivers written up then…" The empress slowly walked out of the tearoom and was about to turn the corner when Donovan asked a question. She stopped with her hand holding the doorframe.

"Your majesty, I wonder. Has Morlan decided on a name to offer up for this specialized task group you are building?" he questioned, folding over the official brand-new newspaper that came to the castle, courtesy of Delfie.

"Um… not yet. I… I dunno, I had an idea for it, maybe."

"Hmm, what would that be? It should inspire and show everyone that such and such is there to respond to a situation in a professional manner" Melsia commented. Hrist looked at Selene for a moment, wondering what she thought would be a good name for that division to be called.

 _I… I dunno, this all happened yesterday. Spartans? No, copyright… wait, not copyright, what the hell am I saying, brand new world. I don't want to call them that… space marines? Yeah, generic. Hmm… aveng- no no, don't even go there…_

"I'll think about it; he can provide any recommendations a little later, it's still in its infancy stages." The empress strode to her office and sat down, ready to hash out the requirements and technicalities of the experiments. Morlan's training wouldn't be complete for at least a week, even with hypnosis and sleep courses; it was a little closer to a month or more with previous scheduling. They were going to cram as much as they could into his brain while he wasn't pushing his body to remember all the moves and counters they would teach him, then expand after the first waiver was signed.

Ash trotted in, the guards at the door letting her walk inside easily. While her alpha sat and typed out all the details, the wolf simply laid her head down on her feet. Luna and Blue were playing outside in the snow, jumping around and catching snowflakes. A notice popped up telling her that a scheduled dissection was set for the faith eater body parts to determine how they worked and what their function was as she gave her a scratch behind the ears. Orlo and Turnie were not a part of it, just Robert.

Nikola was working already on teleportation gates using steampunk technology, wormholes that were very short range. They would be installed in towns and cities, with villages still using the train system. It was just in the preliminary stages of design, not even being tested just yet, but everything was pointing to the tech being very promising, at least within her empire.

Today was going to be one hell of a productive day for her, with many more in the future. Although she was going to secure Silvinholm today, her final decision was to simply push an attempt at diplomacy to tomorrow morning.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Watch out!" Alfred shouted as a trebuchet launched a boulder straight at the walls of the city again, and again, and again. Thankfully, the design was well reinforced, with maintenance kept up and paid for… now long gone due to the Rikter family no longer controlling Silvinholm. They were the prime sponsors for everything that kept the place safe and secure, though not the main driving force for the mercenary police.

"Return fire!" The sergeant yelled, their own trebuchets engaging as well. The gates were sealed tightly shut, with spare barricades latched in place. The rebels numbered thirty thousand strong, with General Galdin's army triple in size. Even though they were outnumbered, they had a wall that was keeping the enemy at bay, whittling down the enemy force slowly. They had clashed twice already today, with a third expected in the afternoon. The king wanted the city. Now. Galdin was rotating his men in to allow the previous lot to rest back at camp, keeping the rebels constantly on guard, at least until the evening. No one fought at night, it was just too damn cold.

"Archers!" The lieutenant commanded; a volley let loose on the opposing force. There were shouts and screams as shields came up to protect themselves, a battering ram slowly being reeled into place. Firebombs were dropped on to the canopy, setting it ablaze. Alfred was thankful that the citizens of the city now realized they were doing everything they could to save their lives and brought what they could to help even the odds. There were magicians that did what they could to help repair damaged equipment, blacksmiths who sharpened blades, and merchants offering up food where needed.

Despite Galdin's army being three times theirs, he was only attacking from one entrance, focusing everything on a single side of the walls. If they breached, they could just funnel in right there. There were other Generals that tried to surround in an attempt to intimidate, which actually did very little to such a large fortress that this trade city had become. If they attempted to open a rear gate, there were scouts hiding nearby that would alert cavalry to charge in that direction to stop any traders from escaping or coming in, any farmers from trying to reach their livestock. "Gryphons!" someone yelled as they looked up. There were gryphon bombers coming in to attack their catapults.

"Scorpions! Fire!" multiple large bolts were launched into the skies, hitting half of the riders to impale into the ground below. The remainder came in for their run, taking out two catapults and a trebuchet. "Wheel up the spares! Get that wreckage out of here! Tend to the wounded!"

Most of the city had the citizens squished as far away from the battle as possible, taking up confined residence on the other half to the west. There were small strike teams attempting to break into the noble house's estates, though how anyone was going to get into the bunkers they had made for themselves was beyond the Commander. There was no resistance inside, it was just surprisingly tedious to smash through the magically reinforced doors and locks of the homes.

"We have a breach!" A soldier yelled as Artinian swordsman came rushing in to meet steel with steel. The rebels were now clashing in the streets, with a ballista aiming straight down at the opening created. A wizard was ready to help seal the entrance as soon as the attacking force was repelled, though it took a good ten minutes of careful footwork and one ballista bolt rocketing a loyalist back through from where he came to push them back. "They're retreating for the time being!" A loud cheer erupted throughout the ranks as men and women threw their arms into the air with their swords held high, the breach sealed. The toll, however, was a little high. This siege was only just beginning.

"One hundred twelve dead, two hundred thirty wounded… in the first morning, sir" the lieutenant said as his brown bob cut bounced a little while they walked up a flight of stairs, Alfred heading to a pintle tower to check where Galdin's forces were regrouping at. While that didn't seem like much with a force of thirty thousand, they wouldn't receive reinforcements. Galdin would. They'd just whittle them down.

"How many do you think he's lost?" Dalonas asked, thanking a soldier for handing him a crude spyglass.

"Too early to tell, sieges like this don't usually end with one side losing enough to surrender. He'll just wait us out, easier on supplies for him." Alfred looked down the scope, the haphazard glass inside giving him enough range to see where the camp had set up subsidiaries and medical tents, though he could see some of the critically wounded just having a sword run through them, not even worth the effort to keep them alive, maybe have them resurrected later to save on food. The priests and wizards in the army would be appalled with Galdin's actions, but to him it just slowed him down. General Galdin's army was one of the strongest in Artinia, even if it wasn't the biggest. General Falksworthy was noted as the best tactician, at least until he became a traitor… like himself.

"Hmm, I agree. See if we can't string this along. Are the bodies of our men recovered?"

"Yes sir. Did you… did you want to see if some of them could be resurrected?" the lieutenant asked. Gigsen's temples would be readily available inside the city, provided the corpses weren't dismembered. As long as they were whole, the brave soldiers of his army would come back to serve and protect.

"Indeed I do. Funds don't matter right now if those same priests do not want to suffer the same fate if we fall, let them know that."

"Understood sir." The lieutenant left to get a messenger to each temple with orders to bring back to life their fallen, at least the ones that weren't torn to shreds. Alfred just stood in the tower, staring out at the battlefield before their walls. Not one swordsman went out to fight in the open from his army, everything was about hunkering down and keeping things under control, allowing the enemy to come through small breaches into a waiting meat grinder and arrows. Most sieges were against those who had little experience with them. Commander Dalonas on the other hand was part of a siege tower attack against the walls of a city in Tal Salunbal before. He understood what was required and the qualifications to fail.

As long as he kept any of that from happening, this siege could take months given the size of the city; the only thing that would slow them down was food, with bandages able to be cleaned and sterilized by the priests. They just had to hold out until Galdin gives up. It wasn't worth losing ninety thousand men for a city that just didn't want to be destroyed. Then again, this was with a General that didn't give up. He was tenacious in all regards.

Alfred sighed and watched, hoping his men were ready for the next assault.

 _ **Aureos**_

"Your majesty, please, maybe we should find a bit more information on the artifact before we can-"

"Enough! I've had enough with waiting! Wait here, wait there, all this sitting down and wait! I know the phrase now, that's all that is required!"

"But… your eminence! We still don't know what it will bring forth!" King Teiyan stormed towards the entrance to the dungeons with one goal. It was to siphon the life force from Xaxara and use it to fuel this contraption, then summon whatever army it would bring to him, under his sway. He stopped for a second mid step, listening to his advisor. A quick backhand and the man recoiled in pain.

"Never try and stop me when I am so close to my goals!" he snapped, anger and a bit of insanity showing in his eyes. No one dared to stop the mad king, he held too much power over those who swore loyalty to follow the royal family… no matter where it took them. The massive gates opened up, with the advisor unwilling to enter behind his ruler. The young king walked back down the stairs towards the holding chamber for the goddess, seeing her kneeling on both knees, her arms outstretched and hanging in the air from the magical chains. "Finally."

She looked up at him, no smile or words, as the deity knew what was going to happen… and she was afraid. This was not the way she wanted to go, not drained away like some fruit for its juice, cast into a trash bin. "When I first summoned you, it was a mistake. My damned sister couldn't conceive a boy from me, and so instead of your brother, you showed up. I have had to strive to keep your energy up through these years, but yet each time you have done what was possible to slow me down. Not anymore. I have no need to keep you alive any longer."

Teiyan aimed the artifact at her as she just stared at him. "I did not choose to perform that ritual, regardless of what had transpired. You did. I sense that you aren't going to like what will come next though. Mortals like you never do when they don't understand what they're doing, blundering about with forces beyond their control."

"I tire of this. Prepare to meet your end." The king smiled one last time and used the phrase.

"You're going to have to learn to do the same after I'm gone."

"Nine's Own Goal!" A blue beam shot out of the gem and slammed into Xaxara's chest, connecting to her. Her chest started to heave as gasps erupted from her mouth, feeling her own energy be used to fuel that accursed item. She lurched and convulsed, trying to break away, but the beam followed no matter what. The entire event lasted all of ten seconds, but what it left was the goddess lying there, her head slumped… yet still alive. Teiyan hadn't noticed at all, only recognizing that the artifact was fully charged and glowing brightly.

A mad cackle came out of his mouth as he could feel the power emanating from the device, briskly heading back out of the chamber and up to his throne room, playing with the artifact and rubbing it like some sort of precious gold coin. Xaxara was forgotten, left hanging there. There would be no souls to fuel her power, no slaves to be brought in anymore. Regardless of the energy drained from her, it would take a very, very long time for her to really die, years even. The entire way, though, she'd be in pain, suffering until the blasted chains were somehow removed.

Unfortunately, she didn't even have the strength to lift her head right now.

Teiyan leaned back in his chair, turning the artifact over and over. Small chuckles escaped his lips occasionally, realizing that he was so close to having an impossible to defeat army in his hands. The only thing he needed to do… was use it again. There just needed to be a reason to, though that reason could be so simplistic that he just gets mad at the chef in the kitchen if he wanted it. The king would wait a little longer, find the right moment to unleash this hell upon an unsuspecting foe, to the advisor's relief. The thought of having his own special army, whether it was demonic, undead or otherwise, was thrilling in his mind, though he did enjoy the feeling of holding back at least for a little bit, like the hunger before an incredible feast.

"Sire… shall we… continue with today's events?" his advisor asked. The blonde-haired man turned and looked at him, a grin on his face, mad with power.

"Send them in."

 _ **Noon**_

"Morlan, do you understand what you are signing and agree to these terms?" Donovan asked his son. They were sitting across from the empress in a conference room, reading through the waivers. The warrior was ready to do whatever was necessary, with the cooperation of Selene of course.

"I do understand what is required, have read what is before me, and listened to your advice, father. I do accept these terms and conditions." A pen was provided to him, allowing his signature to be placed on each piece of paper. There were quite a few, with each not directly connecting to a project to experiment on him, but to allow them to provide emergency medical when needed, not holding the empire accountable for any issues that may arise, requirements of himself to maintain his weight in certain experiments, etc.

Once he finished signing the last one, Selene sighed and watched him put down the pen. "Thank you for doing this for me, your majesty. I will do right by you, so I have sworn it." The dev glanced back and forth between the two pairs of eyes in front of her, nodding as there was no return after this. The look she gave Donovan was that she'd take care of his son.

"Ok. Well, tomorrow there will be a new training regimen. Tonight, you'll be sleeping with a pair of headphones, to help get your mind to remember tactics and strategies required of someone in your position. Understand that in no way do we need to push you towards a project if I deem it too unsafe, do you acknowledge? I am capable of pulling the plug immediately if I believe it could kill you."

"I know." Morlan nodded at her, a grin permanently etched on his mouth since that morning, his beard well maintained. He had so much to tell Elsei once she got back with Brynhildr. Gabriel knocked on the door to the room and waited outside. The meeting was complete as the empress picked up the papers and put them in a folder, waiting to be acquired by one of the maids and taken down to the vault. The waivers were to not touch her inventory as a sign that she did not alter them in any way.

"Enter." Gabriel walked in as the Rikters headed out, Melsia just downstairs unable to decide which jacket she wanted to wear back to the high elven city. The purple haired man stood in front of the table and watched Selene while she got up and headed out as well. "Gabriel, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I was hoping to answer any questions you might have of me, maybe assisting in finding my master, Teagan."

"Ah, yes, I'll admit, I don't quite have enough information about this just yet. I've been a little occupied today, apologies."

"No apologies necessary, your majesty, I can see you are a busy woman." They both headed downstairs towards the library, one of two now completely filled, to speak about how he came about to know dimensional magic. It turns out, he wasn't a native of this continent. His teacher had found him to the southeastern hemisphere, stranded as a youngster when his parents decided to go on a worldwide trip. It didn't end well when they were so stupid to not realize they had wandered into a land not controlled by humans in the slightest. He barely managed to escape, though he lived as an urchin for a time until Teagan found him. His training had been long and hard to understand the principles of dimensional magic was nothing like tier magic since then.

"So, why is it so difficult to find your master?" she asked as tea was brought in as she sat down in a cushy chair, leaning back and listening to him.

"I… I had a feeling I either angered him with attempting my own adventure, or he just doesn't want to be found."

"I would think he would want to know you can handle yourself, without any assistance. Isn't that how many parents are, to somehow hope all of their experience they have tried to help instill in you has had some effect to keep you from making the same mistakes?"

"I would agree; however, he didn't want me to leave just yet, beseeched me to stay even. There was so much he said he needed to teach me; I wasn't yet ready. I should have listened to him." Selene arced an eyebrow and blinked at him.

"I take it the whole trip didn't end well." Gabriel laughed a little, though it rang hollow.

"Oh, it ended well, quite well. I was… I guess you could say a little full of myself after that. When someone sees a wizard cast tier magic, they are awed and wowed. When someone sees a mage cast dimensional magic further up, their hearts nearly stop as it is some divine event happening. I hadn't really known that this type of magic was so strong."

"It's also unfriendly to the caster if you don't take the requisites to keep yourself safe." The empress sipped her tea and waggled her eyebrows. Something she had never informed anyone yet was that dimensional magic, for all intents and purposes, did not distinguish between friend and foe. A person could just as much target themselves with a curse or fireball as the enemy if they weren't careful. There was no discrimination if the mage wanted to act like an idiot; the fact there were so few restrictions on this type of magic made it so powerful, with different tactics that could be used due to shooting an ice blast straight down. It was similar to how science could be unrestricted, allowing monsters and magnificent creations, though ethics might have to be skewed to get there. How someone used dimensional magic here could mean the difference between a noble battlemage and a mad supervillain.

Gabriel sighed and smiled. She had hit the nail on the head. "I… agree."

"Oh, don't tell me."

"I… needless to say, things happened I am not proud of during my adventure and… I lost some good friends to my idiocy. I've learned quite a bit about myself since then."

 _Young and impulsive at the time. Yeah, it happens, and it'll stick with him through his whole life._

"No resurrection spells?" She asked.

"Their souls were eaten. Can't exactly bring them back from that." Her eyes went wide before he calmed her down. "It wasn't some creature that can do that, calm yourself your majesty. I… got cocky and didn't realize I was casting at the same time a dragon was using wild magic. Needless to say, it connected, we were both stricken with massive confusion, I had a mild concussion. Basically, I didn't know what was what and cast again to protect myself, while he, she, it, did the same. Not exactly my best moment…" Gabriel averted his eyes from her and bit his lower lip, chastising himself yet again for his foolishness.

"I… see." Why she never had issues with making spells go where they needed to might have been because of her skills and attributes playing a major factor. This could also be the main reason the people gravitated towards tier magic and couldn't understand how to harness what she was teaching them; their brains just didn't grasp what they were trying to do. Did they want to hit the target or set themselves on fire? They'd probably kill themselves accidentally. For the first time, tier magic had a leg up of just being simpler to use.

"Yeah… so I came back to grovel in front of my master, apologize and show him that I had learned from my mistakes, or in all honesty, that I learned I know nothing, and he was right. I couldn't find him. I've checked every hideout we shared, every inn and tavern we frequented as we traveled."

"It's… I mean… is it possible he… how old was he?"

"Don't remember him saying really. When you've lived with someone your whole life, you get used to them aging and not seeing them add on the years, feeble and beyond their strength when you were a child. The picture in your mind is only of what they've done to etch memories into your life, not that they can barely hold a cane now." There was silence between the two of them as the man leaned back and twiddled his thumbs together, thinking about where his master could have gone… if he was even still alive.

"So… you're on this continent to find him." Gabriel perked up with a fake smile to get himself out of the rut he was pushing himself into.

"Yes, yes indeed. We, well, the small group we traveled in, went to a few places in Artinia for trade. Master Teagan and I had to keep a low profile around here though, considering how easily someone could realize our magic was not the same as theirs, suspicion and all that. I'm afraid I've searched most of them, at least, well, before I got… you know" he explained, putting his hands out with imaginary cuffs on as if he was behind bars.

"Yeah, imprisoned. Did Teagan ever speak about, say, another life before you? Say anything odd?"

"I can't recollect, though he did say he didn't create dimensional magic if that's what you're referring to. Something about a… a… what was it…" he snapped his fingers to try and remember "-Arcanide… Arcane…"

"Arcanic's Wizardry?" she asked. He pointed at her and nodded.

"That's it! I thought he was referring to a hidden school or something, one where they give you the title of mage instead of wizard. He did chuckle when I asked him about the school though, as if I was asking the wrong questions."

"Sometimes the answers are a little difficult to give. Your mind might not be able to handle them." He scrunched up his mouth and slowly nodded, looking around the library and agreeing with what she was saying. There was no way she could explain to Hrist that she saw levels, had a Hud, a character sheet and came from another planet that didn't have magic, that created videogames that had at least an after effect on this world. She couldn't tell her friend of the pollution they had caused, the destruction, the loss of dreams to go anywhere else due to politics and corporations. As much as she trusted her General, she just wouldn't really understand her past. It was better to simply forget about it and keep going with her new life. That was probably how players had to deal with it as well.

"So, he had the title of mage?"

"Battlemage supposedly." That meant only one thing to Selene. This Master Teagan was a high-level player from Arcanic's Wizardry. For all she knew, he could have been one of the best. That title wasn't just given out, ever. A maid came in with a plate of crackers with brie cheese, something the mage had never seen before… and enjoyed immensely. "I believe his title was… I don't quite remember… one of three?"

 _That's one of the top three! It was a competition that was put in place to discern who could learn the most spells and use them in multi combos with the most variable effects! It didn't matter if they were the most powerful spells, it was just to see how many could be interconnected and create things we didn't plan for! I helped make that competition work as intended before the expansion hit! Holy shit! He's got to be good!_

"How many other hideouts do you think he has?" she asked.

"I don't know, I remember we bought a small cottage near the royal shipyards in the northern marches, just west of Alsam. I was going to try there, well, once I got a chance to see Sweet Water… and… I uh… sort of got distracted obviously as you saw." Alsam Harbor was the main harbor for the Artinian Royal Fleet, the backbone of their naval control… or it would be without the Clockwork Empire just around the rim with frigates and destroyers ready to wipe them out. The harbor was east of the Kaldanas Mountains, barely cut off by the tail wrapping down and blocking view from Eil'Ta Forest. It was dangerously close to the Kohar Confederacy's Dar'chol-ga Plains, the minotaur homelands. Given their ships had mana cannons, that was probably the reason they were still not being destroyed by the much larger race they shared a border with.

"So, use scrying magic."

"Protective wards."

"Messenger familiars."

"Wards."

"Teleportation?"

"Wards." It seemed Master Teagan had planned well for any attempt to attack them in the past, though now it was making it exceedingly difficult to reach each and every location they used to live in. Without a wheeled vehicle or flying transport, using a horse could take an hour or more from the restriction radius he put up. Supposedly the range for the wards was fifty miles. That had to cause some suspicion to wizards trying to travel around those areas and suddenly finding their spells shorting out. This also meant once they found him, she needed to politely ask to have those wards removed.

"Why did you go into that bunker… vault… whatever… why?" Gabriel chuckled nervously and scratched the side of his beard lightly, sniffed and tried his best to not look like a buffoon.

"I uh… well, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could bring him a gift in hopes it would cheer him up. Dragons have hoards, and I learned that one had eggs. I couldn't think of anything better." Selene brought her hand up to her eyes and just shook her head. He blundered big time. "Ok, I admit, it was ill conceived, I agree; but I just thought… if I really did cock up everything with my master… how could I fix it? That was the driving force at the time."

"Well, it almost ended badly for you. So, don't do something like that again, or there might not be someone around to save you from your own actions."

"I know this, wholeheartedly acknowledge this, and will do my best to not put myself in a position where I paint a target on my forehead. It's quite bad for my life expectancy." He tried to tell her this with a straight face, though she knew he realized it was a little amusing.

"Well, I have something I need to take care of, and I pushed back something important to tomorrow… once I get back, I guess you can head to Sweet Water and see if he is there."

"Mmm, I'm almost certain he isn't now, though it won't hurt to try."

"You sure he isn't hiding in his pocket realm?" Gabriel shook his head.

"I checked. Whole place is dissolving." Selene gawked at him.

"Gabriel, pocket realms don't dissolve unless the owner is dead unless a few other spells are used to contain it! Or… well, he intentionally was getting rid of it."

"Don't say that, don't say that please, I'd rather not think of the implications, your majesty." She put her hand up in surrender to calm him down, with his hand reaching up to scratch at his now well trimmed goatee and mustache. It was a different and more refined look compared to Morlan's curved and well-trimmed short beard. The empress stood up and put her cup down, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, I don't know what you need to find him." As she walked away to find a book to bring with her, the whole time checking on the production queues in her inventory for administration autos to act as her secretaries with installing personality cores, Gabriel turned his head and looked at her.

"Can I request something?" he asked her.

"Depends on what the request is." They were all ready. Secretary of State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General, Interior, Agriculture… it continued for every area she needed under control. They didn't need to sleep, eat, or stop for vacations. They couldn't be bribed or have their attention diverted. It was done. As if waiting for her to get the cabinet complete, reports and notices almost exploded as if her Hud received some sort of virus with spam and ads. Her whole day should have been free beyond special events with them around. She did her best to sift through what was thrown into her view, trying to find one report in particular from 12th Brigade. They had found Faerzress, and what had come out of it was a little startling.

"May I ask for a ride to the cottage?" She turned around and closed the book she was going to bring to the control center for the mass driver. Her eyes looked him up and down.

"Well, sure."

"Are you coming with me?"

"I… did say I wanted to try and meet your teacher. Alright, I guess I can reshuffle today's list around." The entire time she was agreeing, the brigade had fought off a large group of faith eaters, almost a hundred in total. Luckily, there were radiation scrubber vehicles along for the ride, dispersing the hazard zone and closing up their entrance. The report stated there was an energy signature from _inside_ the city they were detecting that landed here. That seemed to inform her that these things weren't just mindless creatures, they could figure out how to teleport around using these rad zones. Of course, monkeys could probably do the same if given time to understand the effect.

Both the empress and her guest left the library and headed outside. "The cottage is protected from a lot of things with a ritual, it diffuses the coordinates for the fifty-mile radius I informed you about. Attempting to brute force through the wards is… not recommended."

 _But those wards are probably failing if his master really isn't among the living anymore… if they aren't, I gotta get rid of them regardless. A fifty-mile dome of controlled air space that isn't created by us could cause issues with air fleets moving around._

A helibot was called in, settling softly on the ground and allowing them to enter. Gabriel was surprised at the level of technology she had available to her as she settled in comfortably and waited for the transport to take off. That was when the machine swapped to stronger engines and VTOL'd away, boosting up with jets instead of the propellers. They felt nothing as the vehicle traveled enough of a distance to reach _Majesty's Grace_ , land, be recovered into the docking bay, then teleport just at the limit of the wards where Gabriel had said they needed to go.

The entire time, neither one of them left the helibot, just waiting to lift off again. "I was expecting to sit here for… a day or two at least…" he muttered out as he turned around and looked out the window, the ground moving fast down below.

"This is how I get around in my empire. Teleportation is nice, but I tend to get-"

"Nauseous?" he interjected.

"I was going to say vertigo, but something like that." The mage laughed and realized he wasn't the only one who felt that when his body was transported instantly to another location. It was probably the same way for everyone.

 _It sort of explains why in movies with special effects, groups who teleport in tend to slow down a little and skip a step, looking around in confusion. Hollywood got that right for once._

As they landed, Selene simply unstrapped and got up. "We're here already?!" he asked in shock.

"Yup." The door opened up and stairs extended, with the man looking out and seeing the cottage in the distance, less than a few hundred feet. The empress walked towards the home with Gabriel running right past her, turning the corner as he hopped on one foot to slow down, and stopping dead in his tracks. Just as she reached him, wondering why his mouth was agape, her eyes fell on what he was looking at.

There, sitting in a rocking chair, was Master Teagan. He was looking out at the ocean, though he was unmoving. The dev already knew he wasn't breathing, his heart was still. Gabriel came closer and fell to his knees, placing his hand on his adoptive parent's hand… then slowly closed his eyes. "I was… too late to get here… I'm sorry…"

The woman simply stood behind him, looking around. There were no signs of struggle, it was just old age. The young mage cried, pushing his head down on his master's hand, trying to be as silent as possible. Selene checked the door to the cottage, which was unlocked, and slowly pushed it open. The interior was simple, with plenty of bookshelves, a small kitchen, two beds and an overhang for storage. An outhouse was just behind the rear wall. Everything was very cozy, neat and tidy, with most of the storage in an overhead just above the beds. It looked like a good home for the man to raise a child.

A few minutes passed as Gabriel slowly stood up and sniffled, peeking his head through the doorframe to see where the empress had gone. She just looked over the drawings that were made, the art on the walls, the dead flowers in the corner. For the most part, she would have liked to speak to Teagan, to see how he had gotten to this world… given that her Hud had already verified him as a player, the notch ticked brightly in his stats. His level was 300, the maximum allowed for Arcanic's Wizardry, at least his body was. How he was brought here was going to remain an unknown it appeared.

"Can we… uh… can we… you know… is it possible, maybe to… try… that?" the man said softly, trying to calm himself.

"Resurrection? I'd think that would be pretty rude to him, don't you agree?" He simply nodded; his eyes were red as he fought back the deluge of tears that still wanted to flow.

"Yeah." The next hour was spent checking through everything, looking for a last will or notes to his apprentice. The dev offered him a chance to stay at the castle, give him a chance to not wander around and get his life in order. The purple-haired man thanked her for the opportunity and believed his master would have thanked her as well. Almost as if it was waiting for everything to be catalogued, packed into the helibot and prepared to be brought back to the palace, a small coin box, rusted and warped, was spotted. Held inside was a slew of different coins from all over the world, with one dropping from its felt strap coming alive.

"Well well, I guess my apprentice finally found me" an image of Teagan appeared floating over it.

"Master… Teagan?" Gabriel looked confused as he stared at it in awe.

 **" _You're probably wondering how I am here. Well, I'm not. If you are seeing this, then I am most likely dead. I'm old, son, this body can't keep me going forever. Of course, I could become a lich… but I'd rather not lose my connection to my emotions, to life. There… are… ways… to circumvent that, but those takes very dangerous rituals that could very well destroy me anyways. I could never look you in the eye again if I did that either, I'd be too ashamed. Now, I taught you as much as I could, while you were with me. I showed you as much as you were willing to learn at the time._**

 ** _But now you went off on some half-brained adventure. I'm going to say this right now. I don't blame you. I don't hold it against you. I know you wanted to make a name for yourself, to show what you could do. We all do. You just weren't ready for it yet. I would have let you go on your way if I thought you could handle yourself without issue, but you were young and impulsive. I know, you probably think I don't know about what happened. I have a lot of little birdies out there that tell me things. You cocked everything up, and now it's going to stay with you for the rest of your life. Learn from it. Do better because of it. I hope all of my tomes, collected knowledge and tools help you on that journey._**

 ** _I'm sorry I can't tell you this in person, but I hope you understand. I picked you up not because I knew you couldn't use tier magic, but because I saw some of me in you, somehow. Maybe I wanted a chance to have a son without all the minging that comes from having a wife, but I took it upon myself to take care of you, and you turned out alright. Despite your mistakes, I am proud of you. Don't ever forget that._**

 ** _Well, I'm afraid this is goodbye. Goodbye to all the days we enjoyed traveling. You'll make a name for yourself eventually, Gabriel. I know you'll use what I've taught you to do right for this world."_**

The coin dispersed the image speaking… and then promptly shattered. That was when Gabriel broke into tears again and brought his hand up to his mouth, gripped it into a fist, pushed down all of his tears and took a breath; he apologized to her and said he needed to excuse himself outside, walking briskly towards the outlook over the ocean. Selene sighed and followed him, noticing he was watching the waves and the very distant ice interspersed rarely. Teagan's body was getting prepared to be brought with them, a funeral service provided back within the empire's borders.

"I'm… I'm sorry… that you uh… that you couldn't… meet him…" he tried to speak, doing his best to keep some semblance of composure.

"I'm sorry for your loss." There was silence between them as he just kept his eyes forward, watching the clouds move along. "If… if you want to stay here, we can get the stuff unpacked… give you as much time as you need."

"No… no… I uh… I'm pretty sure he'd want me to wallow in tears near others, keep me from doing something out of my mind. Being alone with my thoughts is a good way to get into trouble." They both headed back to the castle after she cracked the wards, 1st Air Fleet getting them there in no time flat. The rest of the day Gabriel would spend his time just moping around from library to music room, doing what he could to settle his mourning of the man he considered not only his teacher, but his adopted father. The body would be cremated the next day with a memorial service, per Teagan's request, found in another coin. Hrist kept an eye on the purple-haired mage while Selene slipped away, finally deciding to take on the challenge that was the reports from her new secretaries… and receiving an overload of information for her effort.

 _HOLY SHIT! Why are there so many?! What the hell is this one from the police in Gold Pine?! And this one from maintenance REMFs from 2nd Brigade?!_

There was so much useless stuff she didn't need to really see, wondering why it was even being sent to her. Then it occurred to the empress. In most 4x games, there were settings for automated mayors for cities, making sure a player could just keep hitting the next turn button as long as everything was going to plan. She hadn't done any of that for her secretaries, they were just sending her whatever they were receiving themselves. They didn't know what she wanted to know about just yet, just that some of these reports were important.

A quick hop to the requirements to reach her for each one, taking a good hour to set properly and speak to each of them to understand her goals, and the reports dropped to… almost none. One notice was from a Director of Intelligence due to the fact he had no agents to work with just yet. The dev already had that in the pipeline, getting a sizeable number of automatons… and androids. The autos would be the forceful backbone and wet work, the advanced androids would be for interaction with others, hidden in plain sight, though a little more fragile if one could call them that. With a sigh of relief as she left the palace for the first launch at the mass driver, the flood of information was staunched finally.

 _Middle Intersolar… the mass driver still has use after getting the main launches done, getting cargo sent up quickly without the need of an inventory hopper dragged around. Oy… space elevator has its plot cleared, probably should get the foundation and base structure ready now… the Secretary of Labor and of Transportation should be able to get that going…_

Her Director of Intelligence again chimed in with a request for authorization to run "Renaissance" psychological evolution courses on the people in the empire. At first, she was appalled by her own automaton asking to play mind games with her people, then realized the entire project was to ease civilians into the next era as quickly as possible so she could move them yet again to Colonial Era. He wasn't doing any experiments or true brainwashing, just performing psychological "carrot on a stick" progression programs and incentives to get people to use what was now available, to move away from the old and adapt to the new. When she checked in with Orlo, he somewhat agreed it was the best course of action, with Turnie stating it wouldn't harm her citizens.

By his calculations, a new era could be integrated every three to five months, far faster than what she was expecting as long as they keep getting told 'out with the old, in with the new.' As she reluctantly agreed, the empress got back into her transportation to head to the mass driver entrance, further up north and hidden in the Boramar Mountains.

Once she landed, the heavily reinforced blast doors opened up, allowing her to walk into a small ceremony. Juliet was proud of her work here, though most of her main construction team was now already at the second site. The security force now emplaced all saluted as she walked down the bunker hallways towards the operations center, looking somewhat reminiscent of NASA's Houston MCC. It was quite a bit larger, with far more advanced equipment and no CRT monitors from the few pictures she had seen, but the general layout was about identical. This station would also keep command of the rockets that were fired off to launch satellites, still more efficient than the mass driver due to allowing two launches every load, with the platform soon to be extended to four. The mass driver would eventually allow multiple shots per day, though the launch pads could be increased to allow as many as twenty rockets at one time, all having their trajectories streamlined to not hit each other or cause turbulence.

"Welcome ma'am" she heard from the Chief of Operations here. They provided her a seat with desk just for her while they sorted preparations out for the first shot. The projectile that would be fired out looked like it might have been an old-fashioned steampunk artillery shell, massive in size to about 25 meters in diameter. It was actually smaller than what was going to be shot out once they got the portable station gantry up there. "Is there anything we can get you?" the Director asked.

"No thank you, I'm just a little excited for this."

"Of course, ma'am." She began to hear background chatter in the room as the teams figured out all checks and requirements. Power was good with no fluctuations, weather wouldn't affect projectile trajectory or speed, the astronaut team was prepped and in the secondary loading tube. None of this needed to happen, most of the communications was just for her to hear, a show as it were. While time was flying by for her, the whole thing took a good half hour before they were ready for the countdown.

 _This is it. The hurry up and wait part._

"Rail check is stable. Team is thumbs up." The astronauts inside, each one of them, showed the camera their thumbs. They were ready, even if they were drones. It gave them a little more relatability for the empress. Despite them being made of metal and wires, she had made each one, and they considered her their creator. As much as they could be disposable, she much rather each one come home safe and sound.

"Power is stable."

"Aerial is clear."

"Task cooling is variable, standby… cleared."

"Ma'am?"

"Yeah."

"Call is a go. Go for shot."

 _ **Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – For The Win)**_

The shell was grabbed and moved through a secondary hallway via multiple hooks and a rear magnetic loader, getting it into position and latching in place. The mass driver charged up all capacitors and pressurized the area. Lights went out in the barrel as doors sealed shut. The coils charged fully as lightning sparked a little around them.

"In, ten, nine, eight, seven, six" the chief of operations counted down. Selene was apprehensive, even if she knew everything would work out. Her stomach was full of butterflies. Real expansion into space. This was the start of it. The shell was dropped and hovered for a split second, balancing on the electromagnetic field. "One. Shot. Rock n Roll."

The shell launched up the barrel, moving faster and faster, the electromagnets on the sides depressing into the walls like piano keys until the cargo was away. "Envelope stable, speed at Mach 1… Mach 2… Mach 3… Mach 4… Mach 5…" the notice of the shell increasing speed by the second while she watched the cameras inside the cargo pod, the automatons all holding onto their harnesses. "Mach 15, Mach 18, Mach 21, Mach 24, Mach 26 reached." There was a thunderous roar from the tip of the mountain as the pod blasted out the top, riding enough power to carry it to orbit. Gold Pine, every citizen, all looked up at hearing it, the range well beyond anything they could see.

"Good guns, stabilizing now." The next few minutes almost kept her from breathing, waiting for the acknowledgement they were safe in a stable orbit as the man-made fireball escaped the atmosphere. "Control, we are on point. I think we can see the castle from here. Sorry we can't wave at you ma'am." Selene jumped up and pumped her fist, a yahoo escaping her lips as she shouted to the room. The room was a little different compared to the Houston MCC, as none of the automatons cheered. This was all for her sake after all, a morale boost as it were for their creator.

"Flight, take a spacewalk for a bit and prepare for return." The pod would orbit for little under half the standard mission of a space shuttle, around three days. During that time, the pod would take a few pictures of the planet, the moon, any random space debris that had been collected through the planet's lifespan and gather data for the next real launch for the station printer. It would also run a few tests on radiation, stress tests some materials and chemical mixtures, and in general be a weird light flying in the sky after dark for her to look at.

"We'll take some nice photos for you ma'am."

"Thank you. All of you." She nodded at the command team and gave a half curtsey, a few of them with personality cores, though only known by their titles. The second pod would be launched tomorrow morning, along with a third for the inventory hopper. They expected the station, at least the smallest one, to be built by the end of the week due to needing to be slower in micro gravity and not knock required parts away into the void. If everything went according to plan, she could technically visit the thing in the very near future, albeit without much in terms of amenities. That would come with the much bigger station created around it, hopefully with gravity plating installed for her to walk around and not float.

As she left, the dev checked on a spare, very much needed, construction team and sent them to the space elevator. The top would be used for ships to dock and send shipments down or crews up. Her Secretary of Labor, Transportation and Energy, among others, all chimed in with available ideas to get it done quickly and efficiently without harming the environment nearby.

A small notice popped up from her Secretary of Defense and Admiral Erilyn. Apparently, there were sightings of merfolk _armed_ in the area, all observing her ships.

 _First, it's Drow, then its faith eaters after the Drow, now its merfolk. I would think they'd be friendly given we cleaned up the ocean of all that toxic goop. Maaaaaaybe they're just being defensive until we talk?_

"Ma'am, there is also a visual on an Artinian fleet moving along the coast, heading towards what we should just classify as New Zealand until a better name is found." As she checked on the footage from a long-range drone, there was a request from her science division… for a bigger research lab. Apparently, the one in the castle was considered too small for the projects they had in mind. Juliet had something to say about that as she requested a much larger crew to handle more tasks, as she just didn't have the manpower.

"Ok, ok, I'll… hang on…" Selene quickly swapped in a massive amount of materials to get the crew built, given she was going to need them anyways once there was a lab stationed on the moon. With an increase to well over one hundred thousand automatons of all sizes, her head of construction was pleasantly satisfied.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't we have this from the get-go?" she asked.

"Because I was trying to handle too many things without someone keeping the minor stuff dealt with. I didn't think you were hurting on construction teams and tasking every fabrication unit to do stuff takes _a lot_ of time. My screw up."

"I'd like to say we all screw up now and again, but…"

"Yeah, no you don't! I already know this!" Selene laughed out. Romeo didn't really need an expanded crew, as military models could be temporarily conscripted in the area to help with FOBs or installations.

 _I was never very good at RTSs or having high APMs for micromanagement. My build orders sometimes got forgotten, it wasn't exactly my forte. That was one of the reasons I liked 4x games instead, the time to look at each order or needs of my towns and cities._

Once that was taken care of, it was fairly simple to get the new zoning ready for the ARC, or Advanced Research Center. The location would be near the shipyard, directly diagonal in position of the valley to the castle. Given the projects they were going to work on, some of them being quite dangerous, it was best to keep their creator safe and sound if something went… off.

 _Please don't tell me Nikola and Robert are thinking about building a planet buster… please don't tell me I built crazy scientists…_

"Ma'am, you're going to want to see the flotilla engage." Her Secretary of Defense showed a connection to the drone, ornithopter and satellite footage of the Artinian Royal Fleet sailing off. What they weren't expecting was the flotilla heading in their direction… all of two corvettes and five fast attack boats. The Artinians numbered in the fifties, easily outnumbering her forces.

"I take it this is the minimum you believe should be engaging?" she questioned.

"These are the fastest you have in the water right now to get around the continent and head them off at the pass. They're more than enough ma'am. Just watch." The battleships the Royal fleet had opened up their side doors to push out their cannons and ratchet their scorpions on the decks, however they didn't exactly get far with their preparations. Multiple railgun rounds lanced out from the corvettes with a few laser beams strafing the area, the initial strike blasting out the other side of the wooden hull for the fleet. The fast attack boats skimmed across the water far too fast for anything to really track them, pulse lasers and machineguns punching potholes through the sides while chain guns tore apart their masts.

 _Five against fifty and it_ still _wasn't a fair fight. Kind of feels like I'm picking on the little guy._

"As you can see ma'am, overextending our forces would be nigh impossible at the moment given the tech advantage we have, completely ignoring our production and manufacturing capability. With a little more streamlining, we could cut down on sending brigades to handle towns and cities, instead sending as little as a few platoons or a company. This would allow you to focus on building more construction teams or prefab buildings."

"Except what happens to the remainder of the brigade or, I dunno, division… field army…"

"You haven't deployed anything really larger than brigades yet ma'am. Nothing has required a division as of yet. That could change in the foreseeable future, and we can get that done for you instead."

"Ok, but what happens to the extras sitting back at the FOB? I'll… think about pulling back a little on the military strength and dispersing it a little better. Can't you deploy without me?"

"I can, just wanted to make sure you saw certain engagements, so you know how well our forces are doing. I understand that you would want to at least be in the loop." The main reason she was even sending brigades in was at the time of producing most of them, there were only Artinian towns or forts to conquer and she didn't know if they had any magic superweapons of any kind, so splits of 5,500 soldiers were sent. She didn't have shields or tier immunities when they were first sent out to take these lands in her name, her tech wasn't as strong as it was now. For the most part, the dev wanted to overcompensate to guarantee a success. With recent upgrades, he wasn't wrong, dispersing her forces more efficiently was needed.

"This isn't to tell you to stop sending intimidation forces towards Artinia ma'am, this is just to show you the tech advantage we currently have and that sending more than required is just simply going to be overkill. A suggestion of mine would be to start getting outposts set up on the islands, some fighter garrisons and small maintenance harbors. In this way, we can keep anyone from expanding in ways to attempt to flank the empire. It would also disperse your forces to better give early warning."

It reminded her of an old history class that explained Cuba vs the US with Russian missiles during the Cold War. As much as she had Strategy and Tactics as a skill, she forgot someone will eventually want to lay claim to territory she didn't own yet just to the left of her front porch to gain an advantage.

"Get that done for me, Secretary."

"Yes ma'am. I'll also send some more recommendations for you to peruse." That was a large undertaking she had removed from her shoulders now. There was going to be no constant reports of bases built, everything would just be finished, and she'd get to focus on more important details… like the urgent call from 12th Brigade. What she found surprising was not that they were telling her to check in, but because they were warning her of an impending attack for the dwarves.

Footage appeared in her Hud involving faith eaters, a lot of them. They had taken the Drow city that the brigade was slowly heading towards, with advanced recon heading further ahead. There were at least thirty of them, but one thing was for certain, they weren't alone. It seemed they were fighting bugbears, Illithids, and what looked like the remainder of a vampire group. Most of the blood suckers were already dealt with by the team battle royale, bar two.

"How in the hell did… wha…" she whispered to herself as the fighting continued. The bugbears seemed to be the heavy hitters here, with the two vampires being little more than holding on anymore. The Illithids, surprisingly, were on the losing end of everything, as the faith eaters seemed unaffected by any mind control, nor were their puppets. These weren't the same faith eaters she had fought before, the creatures in the video had four arms and moved a lot quicker. They used their claws similar to a sloth to climb around and swing from point to point like a monkey, used cover and ambush tactics. The other fact was that they had turned all the remaining bodies of the Drow into puppets, practically boiling over the walls that the living or unliving tried to hide behind. It was a lost city, being fought over for the spoils… but the place was still occupied by the invaders.

 _This is a new development. Is this thing a pack creature that normally runs around in groups, only solo when it wants to hunt, or is it an actual sapient race on this planet like the Illithids? I wonder if they naturally live in the Underdark and just come up once in a while to snack. Hopefully the dissection can shed some light on at least how the body works. Behavioral research might take a live specimen… oy, I just know the research teams are going to want to start doing that…_

"Nikola, Robert, you have everything you need available?"

"Yes empress, we have almost everything. Could you… could you spare some more teams?" Nikola chimed in. She actually liked his accent, Serbian or Croatian and well thought out. He seemed matter of act, never taking no for an answer when it came to science and had a clear understanding of what he was doing. The empress somehow knew that he, Robert, and any other future science leaders, would make some incredible headway in avenues her tech tree didn't offer, ones with integrated steampunk and magic inside advanced technology.

"I'll get right on it; send me a list of things you'll need in the new facility." He acknowledged as she cut coms, then sent a request for all of her secretaries to send lists of what they would need to do their jobs properly. What she received afterwards while trying to read through 12th Brigade's report was the size of Santa's nice and naughty list… combined. "Holy shit… ok… damn…" Selene put that on hold temporarily as the Drow were verified as evacuating before the complete extermination of their people, at least on this land mass. Reconnaissance had found a tunnel bored up and heading towards Kaldanas Mountains, probably for an attempted incursion into the dwarf fortress at some point. It was possible they would attempt to somehow lead some of the faith eaters into the fortress, giving them an edge in ending the dwarves then finishing off any of the rampaging creatures via ambush and avoiding the puppets. She highly doubted that would work, resulting in her having to send in a 'Sterilization Force' to burn everything down.

With the helibot landing back at the palace, the empress got out and saw Hrist waiting for her. "Hey." As they walked back into her home, the Valkyrja stopped her with a tug on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Morlan wants to spar with me." Selene's smile dropped.

"Oh hell… nonono… he isn't ready to even think about that just yet… you didn't…"

"I did not. I understand that you have given him this opportunity, however, he needs to understand this will probably be a…"

"Long road? Well, longer than a few days at least." The dev sighed and pushed her bangs back, closing her eyes and just slowly shaking her head. "I'll talk to him." As she walked down the hallway, heading towards his bedroom in hopes he was there, she just kept pushing through the list that was given to her. Espionage Agents, Sabotage Agents, Counter Agents, Assets retrieval. There were requests for underwater sea bases to be built, underground base foundations for FOBs to be hidden, her air fleets to be doubled or even tripled, a second shipyard somehow built to the south in the gulf.

Most of what was asked for wasn't for her to do anything other than give them more men and get to it. Her fabrication units were numbering in the thousands now, with 3D printers following a similar route. She started chain links in her inventory to group up manufacturing, debating whether it would be a good idea to start placing some of it on the field instead of hidden away for only her to use. It would start to clutter up the surrounding landscape, taking up valuable space. The dev finally decided she'd wait until there were large space stations available, then have all production installed there. Until then, she'd suck it up and take online orders from her subordinates when they needed something.

 _The federal government has something like four million employees since I last heard… hmm… other countries were probably the same, maybe not quite at that number._

The dev reached the bedroom and checked inside, not finding the warrior there. "Jeeves, do you know where Morlan went?" she asked over her coms.

"Swimming, madam. He said he wanted to relax in the indoor pool and not push himself until tomorrow."

"He just went through a four-hour long training workout. What the…" There was a camera set in the indoor pool room as a security measure, one which she now needed to use. Morlan was there, but he wasn't swimming much. For the first time in a while, she saw him lying backwards on a pool floatie in the shape of a unicorn, with a drink and swim trunks. Deacon and Ethan were in there as well, sort of hanging out with him. Jorge was standing behind them with his massive arms crossed, a stern commander watching over part of his team. Bronze Team was a special case to be considered separate from the command structure of the Secretary of Defense. They would be Selene's personal assets where required.

The warrior in the pool just floated around, enjoying the water around his legs. The empress couldn't help but laugh a little. "Hey Morlan?" she asked over the intercom system of the palace.

"Uh, yes, your majesty?" He seemed a little startled, looking around the pool and nearby knocking himself off the floatie.

"I heard you wanted to do a little sparring with Hrist."

"I just wanted to learn a few moves from her, that's all. I know, I know, relax and just take it as you train me; I just wanted to see a few things like her shield stance. I'm relaxing, really, I mean… I'm in the pool right now…" He looked over at Deacon who just raised his beer to him and nodded.

"Good on you mate."

"I'll let you know when you should test your mettle against one of us Morlan, don't worry. I kind of had that planned" Selene finished.

"Then, is it alright if I go into Glass Dale late tonight?"

"Glass Dale? Something happening there?"

"Supposedly a circus is going to put on a show there."

"Ah. I don't see why not; go have fun, take your mind off everything." Ethan pointed to the micro camera, informing him he was being watched. Morlanion just looked up at it and gave a slight wave, the floatie he was on wobbling a little.

As Selene sat down to relax, she got back to Nikola and Robert, requesting for Robert to start working on the faith eater corpse dissection previously scheduled. With the increase in teams, they complied quickly. Though the new facility would take another day or two, the teams would at least be able to get started on what was doable inside the castle. Her Secretary of Defense got back to her right then and there.

"Ma'am, I've compiled a list of recommendations for you to check on." Her eyes scanned through the reviews he had taken in under twenty-four hours, with limited intel from the Director of Intelligence with agents not quite dispersed fully. It took her an hour just to get through the minor stuff, such as adding more rocket launch pads in another location in the event anyone figured out where she was sending her satellites up from. One recommendation was a little alarming.

"Whoa whoa, you want me to hold off on taking Silvinholm?" she asked, confused. The whole thing was going to happen tomorrow morning, it was a sure bet. The dev had pushed it back too many times already.

"Take a look at the immediate paragraphs below ma'am." The brief had a thorough reasoning, to wait until Silvinholm is weary of the siege, then come in with diplomats and offer them a chance to join the empire with offerings of supplies, medical aide and military support. Her brigade that was stationed behind would head south and weave into the western areas where the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe resided, leaving only a few recon teams to keep track of the situation unfolding. It was a plan to make her look as if the she was coming in to rescue them.

"Wait… why? The siege could take months to get to that point. This has been planned for a while now, and you want us to head towards the orcs and goblins?" Selene was wondering where his thought process was. He was doing his best to help keep threats away from her lands, so her first guess was that he was seeing something she didn't just yet.

"Artinia, at this very moment, doesn't know about us, you've been careful with that information. On top of that, until we have verification that the unknown World Class Item has been used and what its purpose is, they're a nonthreat. There are many of them, some are not an offensive weapon. For all we know, this one just blends smoothie potions for better buffs.

From preliminary analysis of recorded meetings with Artinian civilians, at least the ones that survived the interaction with the grand tribe, all intel points towards… they're hostile ma'am, even beyond the raiding contingent heading towards our borders. They eat humans as food, with a low chance of them changing and openly aggressive towards those who are not their own. If we don't have green skin, they will not respect you, and probably either eat or enslave you. Note that the grand tribe has no outlying separate tribes, they've all been integrated long ago… or slaughtered."

"Where did you get this intel?" she asked.

"There are books and paperwork that were shipped for the past week from Gold Pine ma'am, most of which are just historical accounts of what had happened to this continent. Parts of them provide details involving their races in the area, with eyewitness testimonies that live in Glass Dale corroborating it via mention of family captured for food or playthings. While there may be some that do not live on this continent who aren't openly aggressive to other races, this one is not ma'am, by all evidence."

 _Shit! I was holding out hope for them to be the good orcs and goblins… damn it…_

A long, drawn out sigh came out of her lips as she sat alone and just leaned back, resigning herself to this information. There were so many tomes in the libraries, she just didn't have enough time to read even half of them now. The cabinet was already earning their keep in spades. She closed her eyes and just thought for a moment. "So, you're saying Artinia isn't an immediate threat right now. But… those rebels now defending the city, they're under siege, as in dying to protect it. You know that, don't you?" She knew she was getting him to repeat what he just said, that Artinia at the moment was a nonfactor. The dev just wanted a little more reasoning behind it.

"Until you know what that faulty World Class Item is able to do, not at the moment. The chances of it acting as a WMD may be unknown, however the likelihood of it being able to harm the empire before our forces engage are low, like… 1.327% low. Granted, that might go up once we learn more. Those rebels do have access to resurrection per the temples, provided the bodies aren't dismembered too heavily. Their supplies also run deep, capable of lasting multiple months. It's entirely possible the king doesn't understand how long one of these sieges really lasts. The current threats are provided. You… also are not responsible for their lives just yet, ma'am." The dev reviewed the list, in descending order of priority.

"Merfolk are the top priority… wow… shit, wasn't there a report that they were swimming around armed near the surface?"

"And reports of large underwater creatures being mobilized in the northern ocean, yes ma'am. Our subs have SONAR tags on most of them. We haven't gotten a clear tracking tag on a particularly large one just beyond the northern ocean. We're not yet sending any other submarines to get a better picture, setting up a defensive perimeter underwater instead with limpet mines. All indications point towards them mobilizing to head towards Sweet Water, aggressively. They could attempt an engagement by as early as tomorrow."

"Did we clean up the waters for them? What, were the pirates actually doing us a favor keeping them in check?"

"It's possible ma'am. The toxins released by Scooze could have held their population down or created a sort of intangible barrier. We very well fixed what was keeping them at bay." The empress was getting a firsthand course in threat analysis involving how to really deal with surrounding kingdoms and nations. Strategy and Tactics skill would only help on the battlefield for this. She also hadn't actually spoken to the merfolk, as it was just assumed that they were happy they had cleaned up the ocean.

 _Mermaids that kill for the fun of it, Sirens and crazy looking monster fish with legs… no friendly redheaded ones or from superhero comics… they probably mate with humans and then eat them like a mantis…_

"Is it possible we just got dealt a bad hand with both… er… races?" she asked.

"We aren't ruling out that there are respectable demi humans, mermaids and other aquatic species out there ma'am. Everything just points to us having bad neighbors. I should state, the history we've read through shows that things haven't changed in their neck of woods for some time. The merfolk have dealt with the toxins for as long as the oldest generation living in Sweet Water can remember. Humanity has not exactly been at the top of the food chain for this world, even with Artinia controlling a major area and keeping everyone else under constant pressure. They're the exception, not the rule. Tal Salunbal has a much smaller border, though still mainly human. We're still unsure about the history for them, more intel is needed."

Selene checked her clock. It was a little after 3 pm. Her eyes rolled up and looked at the ceiling, rocking her jaw a little as she licked a canine in thought. "What about the Minotaurs? I'm seeing them at the very bottom of this list…"

"They are in fact a tentative review. It may be possible to open negotiations with them, provided they acknowledge us as something they shouldn't mess with. Their primary goal seems to always be to attack three locations, Alsam Harbor City, Caerel Mines and Caerel City. All of them are nearby, just next to their borders in the northeast, around the tip of Artel Mountains, where Aureos is nestled against in the middle. Not once have they attempted to go south or attempt to attack Tal Salunbal in all accounts from those who have come from that location."

"So… those places have interest to them."

"Possibly, whether ancient tribal land that was taken from them or needs to survive, it has always been those spots that receive warbands. Not once have they succeeded, though they have worn down the defenders each time, only to be reinforced at a later date. I use tribal loosely here, given that their current era seems to be High Middle Ages. A fact that should set them apart from other demi humans is… they surprisingly do not see humans as food. That should be another exception to the rule, as we haven't seen how other subspecies favor us on other continents."

"Alright, well, there's time in the day to start with the orcs and goblins… can I get an assessment on combat efficacy?" the dev questioned. She seemed to somehow want to prove they were wrong for suggesting that the grand tribe couldn't be talked to, or maybe she just wanted to test just how good they were at their job. Regardless, this was her chance to head down there and speak to the man, or woman, in charge.

"Of our strength or theirs, ma'am?"

"Theirs."

"Once you give the go ahead, and I'm sure you will, it depends on how much of their land you want destroyed. Total annihilation is recommended."

"Oooook, so I take it that means we can easily defeat them?"

"It would take a minimum of an hour to wipe out their main military, or what we consider a military; that means any standard warrior, which seems to not exist given their civilians will attack if they see… food… walking around. If you want complete annihilation, seventy-two hours for all of the lands to be scoured of them." Selene's eyes widened.

 _Yikes. I mean, I know I have them to advise me in things like this, but seriously, genocide? Wait, what am I thinking, it's just the ones on this continent, not on others… I have to remember that… ok ok, let's just… let's just…_

"Can we at least attempt diplomacy? Is there any room for talking, or is that just not going to happen?"

"I can't tell you not to try ma'am. I'm just trying to help you in dealing with them as military situation. The only thing I will say is… we all believe it won't go well. That raid contingent is heading in not to trade trinkets and beads. They also tend not to retreat and send more than enough to get the job done. Usually all evidence points to them sending a three to one ratio to swarm defenders with enough to carry back the loot."

"How unanimous is it?"

"All of us ma'am. 100%. I take it you are going to do this yourself?" The empress thought for a moment. Every single one of her cabinet agreed, the grand tribe needed to be taken out before Silvinholm, then handle the merfolk.

"Elsei is still in Eil'Ta Forest and it's not as if I can't handle anything myself."

"Bring a full contingent of honor guard and 8th Division, along with 1st Air Fleet."

"I thought you said it wouldn't take much given our technological advantage."

"It will take a full division to cleanse those lands in a reasonable timeframe without allowing constant movement of refugees to regroup and attempt raids further once you go that route, not including any spares you decide to send. That's 25,000 troops and vehicles brought to the party. Your safety is also paramount obviously in a hostile territory." She blinked rapidly, surprised that her administration was so harsh.

 _This was what I built, these guys and gals. I know they're doing what they can to make sure my empire stays in peak performance, to defend myself and the citizens, but wow… I hope their wrong… I really do… then of course… if they are right… I'm going to be getting a firsthand view of two races that'll remind me of the atrocities that one species can pull on another… not everyone is friendly or wants to be. Maybe there is something to what they're telling me… maybe this is a learning experience to how the real-world works, that not everyone wants to play nice._

"Alright. I'll go get suited up."

"For what it's worth ma'am, we do hope we're wrong. Even though we are machines, life does mean something. We just prioritize the lives in your empire over anyone else's. If we need to go to war, we'll make sure we're the winners."

"What was that old phrase from that General from the U.S… what was it… something something dying for their country…"

"Per my memories, though they may be skewed and not representative of official history with the words you just used, I believe it was 'The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for theirs.' That about sums it up plainly ma'am."

"I understand. Thank you." The coms ended as she just sat there. Hrist came by and looked at her through the door, which she just shared a look. "I'm temporarily holding off on Silvinholm due to strong recommendations from my new staff." The Valkyrja blinked in surprise at her. She was going to personally lead the taskforce while Selene sat back. "I have to go see if I can somehow stop my empire from going to war with the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe now."

"Are you… are you going to speak with them or destroy them?" Hrist asked. The dev just took a deep breath, bracing herself.

"Maybe both. I'm going to head there, see if I can't at least try and negotiate something."

"I'm going to come with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way for this, Hrist." The raven-haired woman nodded at her. Both got up and headed to their respective rooms to change, with Selene getting back into her golden regalia again. The new material of her clothing since she had reached even Early Intersolar Era was allowing variable forms to be taken, adding new cloth or designs via nanite sprays from a makeup kit she had in her inventory. The color could change, with light up sections and even elongate or frill with micro piezoelectric film in the edges. Her armor could have extra segments installed at a moment's notice, turning from a stylish armored short skirt and black short shorts to a full battle bell of plating and leggings.

While they walked out of the palace, the dev's stomach growled a little. She hadn't eaten lunch just yet, though they would be arriving on _Majesty's Grace_. It would probably be a little embarrassing to have that sound emanating from her stomach while she attempted to speak to a liaison of the tribe. Once onboard, the empress got a chance to see the mass of transports bringing up tanks and heavy autos to be stationed throughout the rest of the air fleet.

 _That's a full column of mobile artillery… and a spare squadron of drone fighters… that's a heavy column right there… please be wrong…_

Up until now, the air fleets had simply been for carrying her around with one, and only one, engagement from above without committing any ground assaults. Most of her ground forces would simply use the train system, sweep across the land on wheels or treads and even hover for patrolling, or sit stationary in FOBs waiting for orders.

"Worried?" Hrist asked her quietly as there was confirmation that the loading was complete. Selene looked at her as she sat in her chair on the bridge, waiting for the localized teleport of the fleet. The empress had a face covered in uncertainty. The dev even realized she was doing this before a potential attack by the merfolk.

 _This may be all for nothing… no, don't think like that! Try and get something going with them, don't discount the tribe just yet…_

"In three… two… one…" the captain counted down as the fleet teleported in unison to the edge of Be'arkeln Grand Tribe's borders. "Port complete." The dev was still sitting in her chair for a minute as her mind was moving a mile a second. She didn't feel like this when she met the dark elves, the high elves or the dwarves. This was an attempted meeting with a potential hostile nation. This was a meeting with demi humans. A quick deep breath from the empress and she was up and about, committed now.

The trip down to the surface seemed to take an age as her honor guard lined the seats next to Hrist and herself. "Camo nets will be set up until a meeting is complete" she told her friend as a sidearm was loaded for her along with an SMG with anti-personnel rounds. They were setting up for the potential that the orcs could fight through the cauterized laser fire or being burned alive with plasma. Bullets were bullets, they still did the job. The main taskforce would hold back, fire off a request to speak to the leaders of the grand tribe, and simply wait.

"Landing in five." The helibot made contact with the ground, the door opening and allowing everyone to pile out. A tent was set up quickly, the surroundings looking similar to Death Valley. The sound of a vulture nearby told them very little lived in the area, at least anything that wasn't built hardy. "UAV launched, capsule drop in ten minutes."

Part of 8th Division held position, not taking any chances with the protection of the empress as she sat comfortably in the tent, checking through other reports to pass the time. The other half of the soldiers would come down from the northern tip of the grand tribe's borders, just at the edge of Boramar Mountains. It wouldn't be the first time for someone to think they weren't a threat and pull something on her military. Her cabinet was attempting to work nonstop to streamline everything for her, make sure that each area of the empire was sectioned for new Governors to be elected or crafted, with no Senators. There didn't need to be any sort of Congress or House of Representatives when they could easily send requests for laws to mayors or higher up. This also wasn't a democracy or a republic.

Her Chief of Staff provided a three-choice list of how she wanted them to address the empire and how much involvement they would have in most internal affairs. The dev immediately went for full intervention, seeing how bad the U.S. started to get and having to pick up the pieces when companies tried to have more power than the government. Given how her administration was mostly built rather than recruited or elected, it would be trivial to get new laws enacted to help the people and smack down any future corporation that defied them to abuse their employees.

Selene received a notice that there was a group of orcs heading their way. She heard rifles chambering rounds as well as charging up nearby, watching the incoming band of tribesmen. "Contact on the perimeter." The empress got up quickly and headed out, looking around for a moment before her eyes landed on the group standing there. A few growls and yips came out of their mouths, snarling and aggressive.

"Who the hell do you think you are, meat?!" the leader snapped, staring her down. She simply stood there, flanked by her soldiers. The orcs were undeterred, clearly not knowing the firepower that was leveled at their heads, or so stupid that they didn't care.

"My name is Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire to the north. I am requesting negotiations with the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe. Are you the one in charge?" she asked him, holding her ground and unphased by the insult. Her Secretary of State had provided a relatively simple list for her to look at to help with diplomacy and foreign relations, what not to say and also what not to give out. They didn't need to know any sort of secrets, nothing classified, and didn't need to know how many soldiers were really near her, how many the empire could bring to bear.

"You think you are worthy of a meeting with our chief, do you? Ha! Ha hahaha!" the leader laughed out heartily as the others followed suit.

"I've brought a gift for him to show at least some openness for increasing relations." Selene opened her inventory and pulled out a dragon bone, scraped clean. There was also a satchel of dragon scales placed next to the bone. The group fell silent as they looked at the offerings, then looked up at her.

"You are serious, human. You are either incredibly brave, or very stupid to give us this."

"I take it those aren't what he would like?" The leader hesitated, then formed a plan in his head. He walked forward, alone, then picked up the bone and scales and hid them away in his makeshift hide pack. Clearly, they were worth something to him, to their people.

 _Of course they would be, it's not every day they get their hands on those materials._

The leader, a grey orc with a white line painted down his right eye and down his cheek, narrowed his eyes at her, thinking. She knew that look, the very same look the iron dragon used when it tried to figure out how to backstab her.

"We will take you to our chief. After that, he can decide." They walked away, expecting her to follow. What they weren't expecting was for her to get on an APC and ride the hood, slowly coming up behind them on wheels. The entire time the orcs kept glancing behind them, staring not at the dev, but at the vehicle that moved without horses or pack animals pulling them.

 _Maybe proving we have better technology will make them think twice. It's possible they will want to talk instead of fight. Of course, it could just be… no no, don't think that…_

The trip was long, taking well over two hours, the time being roughly 5 pm. "How did they get to us so quickly if we have to travel so far?" Hrist asked her quietly so the orcs wouldn't hear her. Given the sound of the engines running on the massive APC, it was doubtful there was anything other than a loud rumble going through their ears.

"If I had to hazard a guess, magical communication" Selene replied to her. There was already a 2nd tier spell that allowed messages for Yggdrasil, as well as a Dungeons and Dragons spell Long Distance: Sending. The empress also knew of magical items like message stones or messenger pets. Given what she had already crafted for King Weren, as well as the extras she had doled out to other respective leaders under her rule, it wasn't that far flung to believe that certain groups or civilizations had that capability. The elves could communicate through nature, so it stood to reason the orcs and goblins might have some sort of shamanistic communication through the base elements or something.

It was also possible that there might have been a ritual that linked minds, which would allow them to send someone with a warband for long distance commands. The dev had heard of chemical mixtures that could be imbibed to do just that in a few different games, in an interesting twist for telegraphs or envoys, with people stuck in trances on both ends.

"Orlo, are you and Turnie still working on the Wild Magic project?" she asked via coms.

"Sort of ma'am. Nikola wants us to back off on the science, allowing his own and Robert's teams to do their jobs."

"Except you have seniority over them both and have come with-"

"Ma'am, I sort of agree. This isn't exactly my specialty or Turnie's." The empress went silent for a moment, as if she was having a verbal battle thinking she was right, and everyone was against her. She recoiled a little, trying to figure out what to say next. "We've done our best to help you on your way, but they are specialized in scientific endeavors. We can help here and there, but our main focus should always be to perform out in the field or with you."

"I'm… sorry… I… I didn't…"

"We're sorry to tell you that ma'am. Both Orlo and I have the equivalent of multiple Doctorates in quite a few fields of study, but you designed us mainly to get out there and be commandos. However, given we've said that, don't feel as if we don't want to help, just it would probably be a good idea to give things like this to the ones who explicitly sit around in a facility thinking… and in some cases actually doing something with that thinking" Turnie interjected.

"I heard that" Nikola chimed in.

"I know you did. I don't care. Fight me" Turnie quipped. There seemed to be some friendly opposition between the new band and the old. They were on the same side, but they still had to mouth about who was stronger. Nikola knew better than to take on a special forces model. The healer of Bronze Team wasn't to be thought of as incapable of walking the walk if she talked the talk.

"I'll pass. However, they are right. The extra teams have been invaluable empress. I believe we could make more headway with one of them on the direction Wild Magic has taken. I will credit my compatriots on what work they've done already though."

"You better, don't make us have to come fix anything" Turnie mouthed.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, all of you." Nikola disconnected from the conversation.

"Rawr" Selene chuckled out through her mind connection.

"We've had our hand in just about everything you've had to do in the early stages of the empire, ma'am. I'm just letting him know… he has big shoes to fill in his specialization" Turnie told her.

"They'll serve me well, Turnie, don't worry" the empress said thoughtfully.

"I know they will ma'am, I just want them to see that if they don't, we're looming in the background. I hope I don't find out they blew up anything Juliet had the kindness to get built for them."

"I hope they don't blow anything up too. Alright, back to what I called you for. Orlo, based on initial design of the sensor towers we had stationed around the valley and throughout the empire, we have the capability to restrict teleportation. Could this be reworked to also restrict communication?" Orlo was silent for a few seconds figuring it out.

"While this really should be for Nikola and Robert, yes, definitely possible to alter the systems or entirely add a secondary tower to scramble anything outbound or inbound. Why do you ask?"

"Heading to meet the chief of the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe, some orc, I think. They sent an early team to scout out where our message came from. I'm thinking magical communication, do you agree?" Both of them didn't speak for a moment.

"Yes. However, I'm beginning to think that might be rare for most races. The elves have it mostly through speaking with nature and it coming up somewhere else, which means it's fairly easy to block. If I had to hazard a guess… the orcs don't have anything like that."

"Should really get Nikola back in on the conversation" Turnie commented.

"I just thought this was more of a military matter or intelligence; you guys fit that bill. Plus, Orlo technically _did_ design the whole teleportation restriction system" Selene said.

"True. If that's the case, your new Secretary of Defense and Director of Intelligence should join in. Are you thinking of giving them names in the future?" Orlo asked, a light chuckle added.

"Do I need to give them names? They're pretty much just there for the job."

"I know that; though mentally, if you emplace a name for each of them, you'll be more connected to their opinions. You created them, yet it feels kind of like you don't favor what they tell you. None of us are here to impede you ma'am" Orlo explained. He was very good at psychology after all. She distinctly remembered scrapping the automaton that was around to clean her cabin before she crafted Jeeves. There was no real connection to it just yet, it served its purpose at the time. How things had changed now.

"I… I… I didn't… realize… fine…" she stuttered, not able to form a very coherent response in her head even. The dev added in part of her cabinet to the call. Bronze Team was the first batch of personality cores, they read her like a book alongside Jeeves and even Romeo and Juliet.

"Ma'am, Orlo and Turnie briefed us on what you're asking about. It seems more likely that they're using a minor artifact to do all of this, and they probably don't have many of them or are capable of even producing them. There is a high chance they got said message stones via a previous raid" her Director of Intelligence stated. Her Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense listened intently to the brief.

"So, magical items, message stones or something. By chance, would any of you have a guestimate for the number if you believe it isn't a spell?"

"Given they send only one raid at a time out of their borders, I'd say less than ten. If it was two or more, that number would go up to roughly fifty."

"Sheesh, that much of an increase? Ok, well, then I should probably look out for anything they use to talk to thin air then." Her main defense trifecta deliberated on who would have the stones. The chief most assuredly had one, with his right hand probably having one as well. The raiding party would have one, with another probably on the grey orc leader in front of her. That left an estimated six strewn throughout their nation, with one most likely owned by their shaman or religious leader. The numbers added up.

Just then, her eyes landed on something the leader pulled up from his chest and brought up to his mouth, attempting to hide what it was. He was definitely communicating, as it looked far too small for a waterskin.

 _I could have just waited a little longer to see it was an amulet, but I might have misconstrued it for him just praying to whatever gods they worship here. Alright Orlo, you win, I'll figure out names for my staff._

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Alfred paced back and forth, waiting for the priest to come out with an all clear. The sergeant had been clipped by a boulder flung from the last Trebuchet, their ammo running low to attack the city. That hit though ripped her left arm clean off. His forces had taken a few more losses, but the real ordeal was going to be holing up and trying to wait out Galdin's army inside the walls. He'd try to send for reinforcements and probably receive them, at least once. If the king was smart, he'd give up on the city and just build Garrington up as a replacement. The problem was… King Teiyan was anything but.

"Commander, she's doing fine. We're a little pushed right now, I apologize. There isn't much we can do beyond staunch the blood and heal half of her arm. We just… we don't have much mana left. Most of my fellow priesthood have nearly collapsed due to no rest in saving lives" the woman said as she came out of the triage room to speak to him. Her white garb was long since stained in blood and a little dirt.

The soldiers weren't the only ones that were wounded in the last few battles, as quite a few civilians, peasants and merchants were lying on makeshift cots and beds, some even on just blankets; most were covered in bandages, a few looked as if they could still go home… if they had a home. Not all of the trebuchet shots were aimed at the walls, a few were used to attempt strikes against the granary and stables strewn throughout the city, to destroy the water towers. Luckily, almost all of them missed. Unluckily, those same misses struck an armor smith's shop and one of the temples, slowing down repairs of equipment and killing quite a few priests they desperately needed to keep everyone alive.

"Thank you." She nodded and left, to head somewhere and sleep he didn't know or cared right now. He just knew his order was for his sergeant to reinforce a location and her getting wounded was his fault. The Commander sat down on a wooden bench and rubbed his hand over his face, taking in the first day of the siege. Their true losses were still quite low, thanks to the priests, but it wouldn't always be this way. He knew what was going to be coming soon, the firebombing to cause them to run around and stop the city from burning to the ground. Wizards and magicians were staged throughout on watch, temporary firefighters to cast water spells to douse any flames that erupted.

The corporal from before walked up and sat down next to him. "Sir, we've rotated all the guards on the walls so they can get some sleep while they can. The… mercenaries are also asking to join up with us, help defend the city."

"Good. They'll need to try and sleep the full eight hours, even through everything that is coming. Get those mercenaries into position, we need all the help we can get. Let them know… erm… let them know I'll find a way to somehow get them paid, either with raiding the noble's homes or something." That added a healthy boost to their numbers, getting them up to almost double the security used to be. Sixty thousand men and women against ninety thousand was a much more even battlefield. The adventurers were even going to help where they could.

"Commander, I don't think that will be a problem. They've taken over the estates of the nobles for temporary barracks and garrison. Hopefully those beds the wealthy slept in will give them some time for some decent shuteye. We'll rotate them out, so everyone gets a chance to ruin those sheets."

"And the well to do? Have we found a way inside their bunkers yet?" Alfred asked.

"No sir, not just yet. They're magically warded and reinforced vault doors, it would take longer than we have to break through those defenses. There's also the very real possibility they are heavily trapped."

"Hmm, indeed. Keep me posted, I'm going to take a spot in the watchtower." Commander Dalonas clapped the corporal on the knee and stood up, heading for the door.

"Sir? Shouldn't you get some sleep as well?"

"The men in that tower are our first line of defense, keeping an eye out for anything coming our way. They haven't left it since the early hours of this morning. I'll hold the line until some replacements can be sent up."

"I… understood sir." Alfred walked out of the temple and looked around. There were rescue workers doing what they could to pull debris away from those who were trapped under houses, shops and guard stations. Those who survived the last assault were heading towards the other side of the city, originally thinking if they just holed up, they'd be safe. How wrong they were.

The Commander walked down the street, weary from the fighting but still trying to keep going for his men. His eyes landed on what looked to be an abandoned pub, his mind rattling around the idea that hard liquor might be still somewhere in the establishment. He tried to cast that thought from his head, as it would be stealing, but those people had surely evacuated, hadn't they?

The man finally accepted the fact that if he didn't do it, someone else would. If the owners came back, he'd pay them and apologize, so it wasn't really theft. Alfred slipped in through the damaged front door and headed for the bar, sifting through broken glasses and an already damaged keg, completely empty. There was a locked chest behind the counter, though the wood seemed a little rotted. The lock snapped open almost immediately, showing the goods held inside.

There, sitting three bottles in, was the exact same vintage he was drinking before. A bottle of it would normally cost a good two gold coins, which he had on him right now. The problem was, if he put the money down on the counter, someone else would show up and steal that. As he picked up what he was looking for, there was a sound coming from a knocked over keg… or behind it. Commander Dalonas checked around the sides, not seeing anything or anyone, then soon realized it wasn't around the keg, but below it. The wooden container had been knocked over, blocking a cellar door. Normally, he'd expect there to be a second exit, though it could be whoever was hiding inside didn't want to be found, worried that he might be one of the loyalists.

Luckily for him, the keg was mostly empty from previous usage, which allowed him to pull it back with some effort, then check the door. Huddled inside behind their mother were two children, the father nowhere to be found. "I'm… I'm sorry, I…" he looked at the bottle still strapped to his belt, the woman noticing he was just taking the one from the slew of others. A sigh came out of his mouth as he saw the poor state they were in. "It's not safe here. You should head to the other side of the city, there are camps set up for you."

The woman didn't speak, just kept her children behind her. Alfred walked away from the door and stood next to the bar. The mother came up with the kids and looked at him as he put the bottle down. "Is there food at the camps?" she asked him finally.

"Yes, there is food and clean water. I… I don't know about clothes though. You may wish to try and pack what you can from your rooms, I can't guarantee others won't come to take what they want." He pulled out the two gold coins and placed them on the counter, moving them a little so she could see he wanted to at least pay her. The Commander even added a few more silver as an apology for his actions, feeling as if it was unbecoming of an officer. She walked up and took the coin, watching as he picked the bottle back up and headed towards the watchtower.

Once there, Alfred simply told the guards to get some rest as he sat down and looked out the arrow slit, peeking around. He uncorked the bottle and looked at it, not even looking for a glass. So many thoughts were pouring through his head at the moment, though surprisingly drinking was not one of them. The adrenaline was wearing off in his body, only to come spiking back for the next battle, fraying his nerves a little each time. This was not a moment to drink, not right now. He needed to keep a clear head and alert eyes. There would be a time when he could have a glass, hopefully sharing it with his lieutenant and the sergeant once she was back up. He even thought of adding the corporal in on the drinking group.

 _I'll buy a round for all of them if we get through this._

He put the cork back in and simply placed it next to a halberd rack next to him, watching the rays of the sun slowly dip lower and lower. He doubted Galdin would attack again today, so they could at least have some reprieve until tomorrow. His forces would be just too tired, just like his were. "Damn the king of Artinia, damn humanity for following his family so long." He didn't really know much about any other kingdoms besides Tal Salunbal or Artinia that had humans as the main race, at least ones that humans weren't slaves. Trade happened occasionally with other countries, it was just few and far between. Everywhere else was no man's land, only beasts and other races who looked down on his kind.

Alfred leaned back on the wooden chair, waiting until relief arrived.

 _ **Aureos**_

King Teiyan was furious, absolutely furious. The news that was coming to him was simply abhorrent in his eyes. "Damn them for thinking they can rebel against me! Damn them!" he snapped. "Damn those cows and the blasted monks!" He had just learned of three events that had occurred. The first was that Silvinholm was not going through with his orders, that General Galdin was not in fact wiping out all dissidents in a "timely" manner. Commander Alfred Dalonas had taken his forces and broken away from Artinia, to save the few lives that mattered the least in his eyes.

The Minotaurs had made a move towards Caerel Mines and had actually taken them, keeping anyone from being able to enter. That significantly dropped the flow of gold and what little platinum was available, most of which would go to the imperial city. On top of that, the warrior monks, at least he thought they were monks, had come from Tal Salunbal. He knew not of their mission, just that anything that was getting in their way was destroyed while they searched for something, something very important to them. He didn't really care if they weren't warrior monks, to him, that was their pathetic title as they were beneath him in all regards.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it damn it damn it!" He screamed in anger, slamming his fist down on his throne's left armrest while his other hit the base of the artifact on the other. His eyes darted to the item in his hand, wondering if it was time to make use of it. Not just yet. One more chance for his own stupid military to earn their keep. "Send a force to deal with Tal Salunbal! I care not if they come back! Just deal with them!" he snapped at one advisor. He acknowledged quickly and had a message sent via a wizard to a waiting army to the southeast. "Bring me my scryer!"

An old man was brought in with censer in hand with a connection to an odd-looking hookah with a pump. The man was sat down on a pillow in front of the king and began to work as he puffed from the hookah while adding incense to the censer. The puff he took was to get the pressure going it seemed. Once both forms of smoke mixed, it was like opening a window to what was needed to be seen, aimed at a particular point. It was haphazard, as the old man needed continually pump in order to not have any cut offs of the view the king was watching, intermittent blackouts were still common. What he got to see was the wizard warning the army to make haste, for them to head out and fight the monks.

The entire visage took a few minutes as the defense force that stayed near their neighbor's borders found the invading enemy, then engaged them. What he saw next had him in shock. The monks were wiping out his men in swaths, their staffs and blades cutting through them like they were nothing. There were only six of them, and yet they fought like hundreds. The whole battle took less than an hour, with not one single soldier surviving. They were very efficient, cleaning up and then continuing on, not towards Aureos, just looking for something. Attacking Artinia was not their mission, that much was for certain, though they had just caused Teiyan to utterly snap, seething and gritting his teeth.

"Those… those… fucking… monks!" he screamed and scratched at his hair, knocking both the artifact to the ground and his crown. He stood up immediately and began to stomp around on the marble floor, throwing a temper tantrum and wanting to take a swing at someone. The scryer was picked up and taken out of the room quickly, lest he be the target of the ruler's fury. They had replaced his position too many times already.

After a few minutes, he sat back down, still fuming. Teiyan wondered where the secret weapon had gone, looking around next to his throne, his eyes landing on it. It was undamaged from falling onto the hard marble, the gem held by the weeping woman still glowing strong, far too strong due to the power he had pulled from Xaxara. If he used it now, he'd have an unstoppable army, wiping the world clean and allowing him to finally rule with impunity. "No… no no, wait… I will wait just once more…" It was odd that he put more care into the artifact than to his own crown, still sitting on the marble floor.

There was one final task before he'd use it, to have a second army head up and defeat the Minotaurs, take back Caerel Mines, and push them back. It would be open terrain this time, meaning there would be no defenses to assist in ending their barbaric lives. How dare they attempt to take what is his?

If this final act did not succeed, it would tell him the Artinian military was useless now, incapable of doing what he needed. Galdin could not take Silvinholm quickly enough, his men were annihilated defending against Tal Salunbal, and the Minotaurs would be the final straw. If they didn't accomplish this goal, he would definitely use this new tool. His fingers rubbed along the gem, almost hoping that his soldiers wouldn't complete this task. It would take a few days to reach the mines, but he could be patient when he wanted to be, if it was beneficial and allowed him to enjoy this hungering feeling until the big reveal. Then all would see what he had in store for them, and no one would stand against him again. It felt like the hunger one would have before a delicious feast, just waiting for the chance to sink his teeth into what was lying in front of him. He went back to insane chuckles interspersed as he stared at the object to make his dreams come true.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

The two brigades that were detached from 8th Division halted just outside the main city of the grand tribe, supposedly with a name that was not to be given to Selene. They didn't expect her to stay long enough to care. "Only you, no others!" the grey orc snapped.

"I come as a package" she replied, Hrist standing next to her in her full Valkyrja Raiment, a spear in hand and shield strapped to the other. Her honor guard kept a secure yet open ring around the empress, being imposing as much as possible. The orc grunted as he went inside, heading towards the chieftain's keep. The layout of the city looked like it rolled and ebbed next to a massive cliffside, with most of the material made of gnarled wood and fibers. There was no bone used in the creation of the huts that she could see, as that was probably used for weapons or some sort of voodoo magic. What she did notice were hammered plates of metal wrapping parts of homes and the walls, showing that the tribe had access to a large amount of iron from somewhere.

 _That would make those homes incredibly hot though like a giant cooking pot… oh no… nonono…_

While her main force sat outside the gates, her protection detail kept next to her as the dev walked through the streets, observing as much as she could. There were human and elf slaves here and there, with one in particular being beaten to death behind two homes. He was cowering and begging for mercy, which none was given. The orcs seemed to be enjoying the event, while the goblins betted on how long he would last. They passed a butcher that was carving up a dead elf for them to eat. There was a small arena with two slaves fighting over a leftover piece of meat that they knew was once a friend. They were so hungry they were willing to beat another senseless and chew off the remainder.

 _They were right, holy shit they were right… there's no way they can do anything to us, but still, I'm walking into a city of two races that do not see us as anything other than food or slave labor or amusement. I can already tell this was pointless. I… should we just stop? Head back and wipe the place out? No, let's at least hear the chief. If it isn't anything good… then this place is getting burnt to the ground._

She called up her Secretary of Defense and asked if it was just orcs and goblins that were part of the grand tribe. His response was that there was a small minority of ogres and trolls as well, though they were few and far between, probably too stupid to think much about who they worked for. It wouldn't have changed what she was already thinking, though she did her very best to keep her composure and put a stone mask on her face, no emotion showing. Eyes were watching them from everywhere as they walked through, some yelling vulgarities and swearing at them. "Fresh meat!" "Why is that bitch allowed to walk around without a chain?!"

They finally reached the keep, the inner gates opening to allow them entrance. The courtyard was the main meeting point, with the house almost hanging from the rock looming above and providing decent shade from any heat. There was already a crowd of orcs with goblins hanging from the sides of the inner wall, watching something. The crowd parted, showing the dead body of a young child being mauled by two large wolves. They had thrown the child into a makeshift ring to see how long it would survive, no… how long it could scream in pain. "Well, look at this. A human ruler coming to prostrate herself in front of me. What, did you think that would save your worthless kind from our coming?" the chieftain shouted at her.

"I'm sorry, your name is?" she asked. He looked her up and down, standing up from his throne and yanking a little at the female elf slave chained to his chair. She was all but naked and looked emaciated. "You want to know my name? Ha! Why does it matter?! You want to utter it one last time as my raiders wash over your pathetic kingdom?"

 _I've heard this rant before. It isn't going to phase me._

"I want to know who I'm talking to. I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire."

"You are food, that's what you are." The crowd laughed as they watched what was happening. "My name should inspire fear in your heart, bitch. I am destruction, I am terror, I am Gaowlog!" He stretched his arms out in a gesture for applause and hoots.

 _You are full of yourself._

"I came in hopes to somehow get some sort of negotiations done to keep our nations from attacking each other, but it looks as if it won't get anywhere. Am I wrong?"

"Oh, so smart. Maybe, maybe when we rampage over your 'empire' and I come for you, you'll be given the chance to take her place" Gaowlog said as he stepped up next to the slave and picked her up from her neck. She dangled and tried to struggle weakly, holding onto his fingers. "She was a nice plaything for a while, her child too, but now she's too scrawny. You'll make a nice replacement, soon." With a slow crushing grip, the woman reached out one hand towards Selene, unable to speak but trying to beg for her to help. It never came. Her neck was snapped, her body going limp and twitching ever so slightly. That look in her eyes was haunting as she stared at the empress before her death.

 _Get a Lazarus System array set up after this. Keep your cool, wait for the right moment. This is a done deal; this is pure evil. 8th is going to roll in. We're cleansing this place._

Gaowlog dropped the slave on the ground, walking a few feet forward and staring at her. A goblin hopped down and began to hump the corpse. "Run little bitch, I'm giving you the chance to do so since you gave us that dragon stuff. Or, stay and quicken the pace in which I rip apart your boxy soldiers. That show of tin doesn't impress us. Go, and prepare for our arrival. It'll make the fights even more fun!" he laughed out, the others doing the same. The empress slowly turned around and headed towards the gates, the laughing still erupting around her as the orcs sneered and made vulgar movements. Just as she reached the gates, Gaowlog took a bite out of some unknown fruit and threw it at her, the shields kicking in and deflecting it. She stopped, Hrist unsheathing her spear.

Selene's hand flew up to stop her. "Empress…" the Valkyrja whispered, wondering why she was being kept at bay.

"Secretary, you said it would take seventy-two hours to scour these lands of the grand tribe, correct?" she asked over her coms.

"Yes ma'am. I take it things didn't go well?" he asked. Her Secretary of State, Chief of Staff and Director of Intelligence chimed in to listen.

"I'm authorizing a full-scale decimation of their kind. I'm done with this. Here's hoping we can drop that to forty-eight, or even twenty-four hours. Send a spare detachment of troops if you have to."

"Yes ma'am. 9th Division is ready to support." The dev took a deep breath and thought for a second. Time slowed for a few moments as the jeering continued.

 _Are we really doing this? Yes, we're really doing this. Ok… time to start._

She softly put her hands on the gates and closed them by herself. The orcs stopped jeering and watched her as she turned around. "Well, looks like she just wants to get it over with nice and quick. Saves us time. Might as well get on your knees then" Gaowlog laughed out.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – None Shall Live)**_

His face dropped a little as he saw smoke in the distance, the sounds of unknown weapons going off and heading towards them. Bombs went off as fighters flew overhead, taking out sections of the city. He looked at the empress, the crowd quieting down to utter silence as she stood there for a moment, her faceplate dropping down from her visor, lightning sparking from her armor as Hrist was ready to back her up. The honor guard aimed their weapons as a barrier was cast around the keep stopping anyone was escaping. "Eliminate with extreme prejudice."

"What-" that was all Gaowlog had time to say before she was on him in an instant, both arms carved off and his head grabbed by one hand, being torn off his neck with her strength alone. The honor guard opened up, mulching the orcs and goblins as they pulled their axes and clubs, not even getting a chance to fight. Hrist launched straight into the air then came down with her spear, enough force to cause a small shockwave and launching bodies everywhere. They proceeded to massacre the crowd without a single care, rage observed in the dev's eyes as she zipped from one group to the next, cleaving through swaths of them without issue. One of the orcs was landed on, Selene's boot slamming through his head and causing it to explode.

Once the keep was taken care of, the walls were blown away like toothpicks, the honor guard sent on into the fray as she and her Valkyrja General simply walked down streets to end the lives of these beings. There was no honor, no respect for other creatures. Their base desires were the only thing keeping them going. The barbarism of them was incredible, yet they still looked down on others. Maybe there were some out there that treated another species with understanding, but these weren't it. The view of the woman walking down the streets towards her next target, or groups of targets, was terror inducing as fire and destruction erupted just behind her, the look she had was of death coming for them.

One orc charged her, barely getting a chance to move a few feet before he was vaporized from a plasma charge fired from one of her soldiers nearby. They continued to run rampant through the city, cleansing it of any that were members of the grand tribe, committing the nation to be nothing more than a footnote in history. Even the orc women would attempt to fight, the children thought they had a chance against a female human as she simple picked one up and ripped him in half before his mother's eyes. She just felt nothing in doing so, no guilt or depression for doing that to a young orc boy. The orc mother was promptly stepped on by a heavy heading to another location like a bug. Hrist bolted and smashed through a building, launching two goblins through the opposite wall and turning into so much shredded meat after colliding with the shields of a tank rolling along.

A shaman attempted to shoot a fireball off, sending it at one of the HRVs. The spell never made it even to the shields, as the active defense system popped and took out the magical fiery explosive, the turret traversing and locking onto him, tearing his legs out with HE shells then turning him into a small smoking crater.

 _Is this what you wanted? Is this what you were hoping for? Everyone against you? You treat everyone as lower than you, not even trying to trade and come to an understanding. Is this what happens if you catch Minotaurs when you raid them? Elves? I wonder if dragons are just a flying buffet to you if you have the balls to try to attack one. I don't believe for a second that any of you sick fucks are the rule for orcs or goblins, you're just the stereotype that has to be gotten rid of, the ones that give everyone else a bad name._

No mercy was given, no quarter. By the end of it, the city was devoid of most life, bar the slaves that were released and led out of the gates, now in shambles from a tank rolling through it. Once they were all out, the army of automatons left as well, with Selene and Hrist hopping a ride on a helibot once the Lazarus Systems were placed. "Authorizing delayed use of Red Saber, I am authorizing a delayed use of Red Saber" she commanded as the military got loaded up with the slaves, medical aide provided. It would take a few hours for all of the bodies that she wanted to be resurrected and escorted out of the city. The order she gave was to use an orbital laser to destroy the entire city once the equipment was picked back up again, scorching the whole area. While it wasn't powerful enough to be threatening to the whole territory, it would wipe the home of the orcs and goblins completely off the map.

A notice popped up in her Hud letting her know a cache of magical items, at least at the quality tier of Blessed, was found in the collapsed chieftain's home. It was a full set of armor and weapons, potions and a few other tools. That explained where they got the message stones, probably from either an adventurer or even a long dead player, potentially even an orc player to be exact. The items were tagged and collected for inspection back in the research lab before the orbital strike would commence.

"You enjoyed that" Hrist commented as they rode back to _Majesty's Grace_.

"No, no I didn't. Not one bit." Selene seemed a little cold replying to her as they reached the flagship, with the empress heading to her private quarters and just leaning back in the nook with pillows. There was so much rage in her right at the moment, she was just doing anything to calm down. They felt nothing with beating on someone that couldn't defend themselves, took joy in harming others or taking what didn't belong to them.

 _Are the merfolk like this as well? I'm not keeping my hopes up again. This was my first taste of foreign relations being impossible._

"We're heading back. Secretary of State… er… uh…" she called, suddenly feeling as if she was in fact doing a disservice to her crafted help.

"It's fine ma'am. I understand" the female voice replied.

"No, no it's not. I'll figure out names soon. Until then, I'm going to leave diplomacy to you and have android ambassadors created to send out. Beyond that, I'm going to need… er… training, involving meeting delegates and citizens from other countries. We also need to make sure there are contingency plans in place for long range communication, like… holograms or throwaway screens or mirror image spells." As much as she knew they were of no threat to them, they wouldn't have even broken through her shields, the dev simply did not want to do much in terms of diplomatic negotiations after this. The only time she really wanted to meet anyone would be in strictly controlled locations of the empire, in an emergency, or invited personally.

"Yes ma'am, thank you. I'll see about personally coaching you." The line ended as she just sat there, numb. The quiet was so soothing, even if she was tuning out the screams and roars of battle, the characteristic warble of plasma and lasers, the staccato bursts of machineguns or thunder from a railgun. She really wished alcohol still worked on her now, given that it was technically considered a poison to her resistances. There wouldn't even be a light buzz. They saved so many slaves, yet the only thing she was remembering was the slaughter of those two races on this continent.

Hrist came in and sat on her bed, watching her but saying nothing. She'd let the dev be the first one to speak. Selene looked out the window as the air fleet continued on slowly to the castle, with 3rd air fleet taking over with aerial support, its flagship finally named, _Goddess's Truth_. They would deal with the extermination from here on out. "Secretary of Defense, you were right" she said over the coms.

"I know we were right ma'am; however, we did hope you'd prove us wrong."

"And I failed. Damn it, I should have listened."

"We're here to advise you on the best calls to keep the empire going strong and safe, to keep the minor stuff out of your hair so you can focus on the grander design. Things don't always work out for the best. The world isn't always going to be sunshine and bunnies, sometimes you have to deal with a threat the only way you can."

"I'll get a name for you soon, don't worry."

"I look forward to it ma'am. Thank you. Don't take it to heart, that had to be done."

"Yeah." Selene flopped to her side and grabbed a pillow as the coms line ended, hugging it as she just stared at the opposite wall of the nook. "I should have listened to my staff."

"You did what you needed to."

"And yet I don't feel any better about it. They were right, I could have just stayed home and sent 8th Division in, maybe worked with Morlan on some, I dunno, stuff, memory enhancement training or something. They were right, I tried and was wrong. It's not really the slaughter we just caused, I'll get over that, it's… seeing the state the slaves were in. Holy hell, I never saw what Paldos City looked like for Bryn."

"You're not supposed to feel good about something like this, it was necessary Selene." The empress slowly nodded, knowing she had to agree yet was still a little troubled.

 _Mistakes were made, I didn't get hurt in the process, did some good at least. It was either take them out, or they constantly keep attacking my borders. I saw that look in their eyes. Suicidal overconfidence. They didn't care even when seeing how effective my troops were, like they somehow could still win. They didn't want to talk, just fight._

The dev took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to understand this was needed. There were times when she could talk and get somewhere, like the dark elves and high elves. There were times when talking didn't do as much as she wanted, but at least nothing would cause concern like with the dwarves. She was learning that a lot of times… words don't work. She couldn't be frail; she couldn't show weakness. At least by everyone's perspective outside of the castle, they wouldn't know that the orcs and goblins were no longer going to be around.

There was a notice informing her that the raiding party had just reached the halfway point, still not close to their destination. A quick task of a few patrols and they weren't a concern. Again, she felt nothing, it was like doing a daily chore of taking out the trash or doing the dishes. "I'm going with Morlan to the circus in Glass Dale. Wanna come? Get my mind off this."

"Alright." It was probably for the best, given what she had now experienced.

 _ **4th, December**_

Selene sat in the tearoom, reading from a book she found in the library and the early newspaper delivered. It was a little after 4 am, as she kept her head dipped and shoulders hunched as she flipped pages. Elsei arrived and walked by the door, stopping and coming back to see the empress sitting in black dress pants and a grey turtleneck. "Your majesty, you're up early." The empress looked up at her and smirked.

"Eh, didn't feel like getting a whole lot of sleep."

"Is everything alright?" she asked. The dev opened her mouth, then shut it. It took a few more hours, but she had come to terms with her choice involving the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe. She knew that her staff let her do this to teach her a lesson in foreign relations. The lesson was learned with a straight A given. The dev had a small smile creep on her lips to assure the elf she was fine.

"Nothing's wrong, just didn't feel like sleeping for long. I see you came back a little early from what I was told, everything ok in Eil'Ta Forest?" Elsei opened her mouth to speak, but her brain went blank due to everything that had happened. She seemed giddy, at least for her usual cool and collected self. Something had happened, something good the empress hoped. The auburn-haired woman seemed a little wiser now, somehow older than she felt before despite not changing in looks or age.

"I.. I showed Morlanion's parents around, along with Brynhildr. They seemed to enjoy the trip. Prince Ralyf invited them to a poetry reading, which they accepted."

"I heard. Come, sit if you want. Tell me how fun it was." The guardian priestess took a chair and began to tell her about how the high elves were taking to the empire controlling their forest fairly well, with not being pushed around, safer borders, better medical and trade, even able to reach the ocean without much issue. They could explore beyond the forest and see security automatons keeping them safe and sound. "That's great news."

"It is. I… I also… I was able to see the crystal prison of my mother again."

"Oh? Hasn't cracked open I guess" Selene chuckled out, trying to lighten the mood, for Elsei and herself. She still needed to deal with the merfolk, with a few plans of action written up by her military and cabinet. She pushed back a little of her hair, blinking a little as if still a little tired.

"I… I did it."

"Did what?"

"I… I somehow… there was a ritual that was found out, and I tried to get the reagents for it, but it took so long and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down."

Elsei explained as calmly as she could that it had taken extra time to find the required reagents for a special ritual in hopes of breaking the crystal that her mother was lying in. The previous spells had failed, miserably. This time… with others willing to step forward and assist her, she succeeded. "It… it only broke one small piece of the crystal near her feet, but it's slowly coming apart by itself."

"That's, that's wonderful news. How long until she's out and about?"

"I'm… unsure. The prison is very slowly chipping away… maybe a week, maybe a month, six months?" Elsei answered with a question, hesitation in her voice.

"But she will be free eventually, that's still amazing. Congratulations." The empress gave her a warm smile as the elf returned it. She would see her mother again, talk to her and help ease her into how the world had changed since so long ago. There was an awkward silence between them as the dev took a deep breath and smirked. "So many things happened while you were away, just trying to get stuff under control. Um, I don't know if Morlan has told you yet but-"

"Donovan explained it to me. I… support my partner. I understand why he is doing this. I'm… I would hope I can be allowed to join in as well."

"I… don't know if we should jump to that just yet, let's see how things go with the projects involving Morlan first. Once things work well, we can start with you right after."

"I… see. You're stepping carefully through these trees; I understand."

"Uh, well, I'm playing it safe really." Elsei would stay below her lover in level after this, at least temporarily. If everything went according to plan, he could raise as much as fifty, even sixty levels with initial results, per Nikola and Robert's projections. His DNA tests came back with a slew of optimizations that could be done, clearing him for genetic enhancement. The empress wanted to still keep him going through rigorous training first before that even started, however.

"Well, I'll leave you to your book, your majesty. It's good to be back, though I will be visiting my old home often."

"I believe it. Go, say hello to your man. He's going to be happy to see you." The elf got up and bowed to her then quickly left. Selene leaned back and blew air out of her mouth, looking out the windows at the snow falling. The Be'arkeln Grand Tribe was being cleaned up already, with only a few villages left. Each time her soldiers arrived, the people fought as if they could somehow win, blind overconfidence in their capability. It was completely different for anyone else they had assaulted.

"Ma'am, they have eyes on" said her Chief of Staff, now named Will, as in 'her will.'

 _ **(Recommended Song: Johan Skugge & Jukka Rintamaki – Battlefield 4 "Stutter" Theme)**_

There were forms swimming through the water in the far distance, multiple SONAR pings now detected deep underwater… and heading in Sweet Water's direction. She was needed in the war room in two hours to observe, the enemy was still that far out. Her naval fleet was getting prepared for something coming, an army of merfolk and a slew of large underwater creatures ready to bring a fight to her shores. Four pings, in particular, had her worried a little. Her science subs were already moved out of the area, with land defense platforms stationed along the Kaldanas Mountains. Erilyn's security fleet was pulled back to the harbor, with all fishing trawlers restricted from leaving. The civilians were worried about what was happening as Gilford did his best to keep the peace while military models took up barricade positions alongside security that came into the city for once.

There was a pod of the stone turtles swimming, running _away_ from both the Clockwork fleets and the merfolk. They didn't want to be a part of any of this. The previous sighting of the first turtle digging up was theorized to be getting away from the coming battle, to hide and wait everything out.

The naval ships were ready with aerial support from 2nd air fleet, scuba autos in the water to help fight the smaller targets. Her first cruisers were out and about, making the destroyers look small in comparison. Marine autos were set up to repel boarders. This would be the second time her empire would be under attack, with this being the first official battle and not special forces assassinating everyone in the middle of the night. The empress would get a chance to see what they were bringing to bear towards her forces.

"Ma'am, we can confirm the outline of the large masses heading our way, approximately fifteen hundred meters in size. It's a grand kraken. There are four of them." Her ground forces were confirmed as powerful, now it was time to see if her naval fleets could hold up as well, to protect her people. Missiles and torpedoes would be preemptively fired in one hour, ready for the first wave.


	31. Ch 30 Air and Sea

The empress had time to eat a very light early breakfast before heading to the war room, taking a deep breath along the way as her door guards saluted while she walked past. Before she finished entering, Melsia and Donovan happened to walk by further down the hallway and notice her after speaking to Morlan before they would head to their bedroom for a small nap. "Empress Selene, I was wondering if we could have a chance to speak about interconnecting the trade routes between Sweet Water Harbor and the high elven city, Esa'Nore. I hope I said that right, Elsei might think I'm insulting it" Donovan said. The dev was just about through the door when she stopped and looked at both of them.

"Uh… sure, but, later. I have a very important meeting I have to be in for a little while, I'm sorry."

"Oh, of course! I didn't mean right now, later, when you have time available." Both magistrates bowed and headed off after looking up at the doorframe placard, with the auburn-haired woman sighing and continuing inside, the doors sealing shut as the interior seemed to show the exact same old-fashioned map table in the middle. What no one knew about just yet was the bookshelf slid open in the middle of the room on the left side, revealing an elevator to the situation room hidden away below it. Inside was a fairly large CIC, high end monitors and holographic screens. Her staff, at least the ones connected to the military and intelligence gathering, all sat down around a circular table with the empress.

"Alright, so give me a heads up on exactly what's going on. I've checked what I can through ornithopter footage, but you all probably have had more time to review the numbers. What are we looking at and how many?" she asked them.

"Ma'am. As of 0200, the merfolk have mobilized with hostile intent towards Sweet Water Harbor. We have reason to believe the removal of the toxins emitted from the purification process of the drug Scooze has something to do with their brazen attempt to engage, though that is just a theory. However, they have brought large aquatic combat forms, aka Grand Krakens, to the battlefield, along with various other sized creatures we do not yet have enough data on. Their range is still 50 klicks out" her Secretary of Defense informed her.

"Isn't there another echo we're getting out there? Something larger than these Grand Kraken?" she asked. Will and the others looked at each other with their glowing optics, flickering ever so slightly as if they were blinking.

"We have no real data on it just yet, as it's doing its best to keep a fair distance. We're unsure if it's even a part of this."

"Don't we have decent enough sensors?"

"Water makes a poor medium for most scanners to probe through at the deepest level, especially with minor debris and refuse. Oceans aren't as clean as everyone likes to believe, as well as micro echoes from small fish to sort through. Sound propagation is still a very efficient method of determining where things are along with topographic satellite imaging, though we're about to deploy some deep-sea beacons to catch the creature off guard." Selene checked through the data being provided to her Hud at the same time watching the massive monitor in front of her and a holo projection. It showed her naval fleets now moving forward and away from Sweet Water, to maintain a safety range and stop a kraken from destroying buildings.

"Ma'am, their numbers are in excess of four hundred thousand, though that was after the initial missile and torpedo barrage" Will commented. She checked the casualties they suffered, a little over 19,000. The second volley was already being launched, with white lines showing in the water and smoke in the air while their payloads were sent out. The merfolk weren't stopping, they seemed determined to hit Sweet Water.

"Is it possible they think we're still the pirates that first started polluting the ocean?" she asked them.

"Doubtful ma'am. They've seen our ships, scouted us before with no attempt to communicate. For all intents and purposes, it looks like they're just in it for the kills."

"How are the merfolk going to get on land exactly? Do they create legs from their flippers through magic?"

"Unknown, though it's possible they just rely on the other aquatic races with legs to reach their prospective targets, then cart captives off to them." The empress looked down at each of her staff.

"So, everything is prepared? There's no complications?"

"There is one complication ma'am. Shields don't work for the submarines, nor do they work on the underside of a naval ship, at least below the water's surface." Selene openly gawked.

"It would have _helped_ if someone warned me about this ahead of time so we could have gotten some R&D to fix that issue" she grumbled out, wondering why she didn't get the memo about this before.

"The main issue is that if the shield emitters were used, they'd displace the water around the vessel, making any sort of travel absolutely useless. The chances of them working in an emergency situation might compound the issue, sinking the vessels." Will brought up a diagram of a ship engaging its shields, promptly submerging itself and incapable of moving anywhere with the engines not touching the fluid.

"At the moment ma'am, there are two different forms of emitters that are capable of being used. You are installing repulsion emitters, while the currently not available plasma emitters are the second form. As you can tell, repelling matter or energy is problematic in the water or any thick medium beyond air, space being the other viable option. Plasma, while just as effective, tends to cause difficulties with sensors, and by that I mean you can't see anything beyond the front of your nose."

"Yeah, I decided not to go that route with the design because of that very issue" she replied. The dev was well aware of the tech being theorized by even Earth a long time ago, it just wasn't going to be as powerful as science fiction movies would show. Without at least some opening in the field, the plasma shields would utterly protect the object inside, but no one could see out of it or fire back. It might be an interesting backup system if the repulsion emitters were damaged and need to be repaired, but for all intents and purposes her choice was felt to be the right one.

"Well, regardless of that choice, either one would cause issues in the ocean, either boiling away water or pushing it away from the ships. For the most part, they're going to have to rely on the other defensive systems installed. By the way, the science division was already notified of the situation, there wasn't much they could do in such a short period of time. One of the science leaders, Robert, devised a plan to make the shields encapsulate the water around submarines in a second layer and temporarily create a bowl under the ships. More testing is required before it can even be put to use, as experiments so far were a failure. Another issue is the surface vessels won't be able to target below the surface well enough to bring their main guns to bear due to trajectory, so most of the damage will be done by torpedoes and two stage missiles, high pressure water jets, short range lasers and marines with spear guns and specialized Flechette ammunition." Will informed her.

Selene thought about all the different tactics the merfolk could use, attempting to bypass the subs and go for the underside of the ships above, though they did have depth charges and hunter pods they could drop, not including the scuba autos, aka "Frogmen." There were also specialized limpet mines set along the underwater mountainside sweeping down, with multi harpoon systems that would be explosively launched out. Proximity mines were already set up as well, old fashioned explosives based on Industrial Era tech. It still worked, though the minefields were dismantled back on Earth. At least with hers, they had IFF trackers.

"Ma'am, have some faith in your navy. They'll make it out of this one" her Secretary of Defense, now named Dominic or Dom for short. Her Director of Intelligence was now named Grey due to the fact that not everything was good or evil, light and dark; sometimes she was going to need them to do a little dirty work behind the curtains. Selene even knew the name could be used for a man or woman's name, as a friend of hers back on Earth had a sister named that.

"I've always had faith in them. I'm worried I'll actually lose some of them regardless of if we win." The empress brought her hands up to her mouth and just took a breath, clasping her fingers together as they watched the screens. She immediately initiated **{Golden Army}** just in case. It would at least keep her from losing any soldiers to the massive creatures. Mass could be a big factor in damage, not just weapons; she didn't yet know if the grip of a kraken could use enough force in a crushing grip to buckle the hull of her ships. There was a pretty long cooldown for it, but she felt it might be needed, assuming nothing else came along for this day underwater. As long as the fight was on land or in the air, the dev was pretty sure she could do without the ability available.

 _Should I pull out the big guns hidden under the castle? My staff didn't think it was necessary to even prep those just yet. I didn't listen to them before, now… I'll see what happens._

 _ **(Recommended Song: R Armando Moribito – Sea of Atlas (feat. Julie Elven & Tina Guo))**_

"Visual received" the Admiral of the fleet said over coms. Civilians watched from as far back in the city as possible, the massive ships heading away from the harbor to defend them. Five cruisers, 19 destroyers, 38 frigates and a good 50 corvettes with attack boat assistance. Underwater there were at least 18 submarines and 50,000 frogmen with marine support above. Gilford saw a little girl waving a small flag with the Clockwork Empire's symbol emblazoned on it towards the fleet. Marines locked and loaded, setting up in guard shacks on the decks of each vessel. The cruisers moved in with their escorts, another volley of missiles and torpedoes launching. Frogmen hung from the sides and kept next to the defense fleet to keep boarders from attempting to climb with portable pressure nozzle packs. Artillery along the mountains provided long range fire, dropping rocket assisted munitions straight down once the rounds reached a certain range.

All submarines dove, warning klaxons blaring as they got ready to fight. Merfolk were detected heading for them, just a wave of red blips encroaching, with some rather large support behind, sharks, giant lobsters called Chuul and even eels. The four Grand Krakens charged forward, their webbed fins helping them propel faster as they seemed to snarl with their gaping maws, though it appeared they weren't exactly immune to each other's close proximity. On occasion they'd butt heads and roar at each other underwater, one launching up through the ocean's surface, getting a missile slammed into its back for showing its head before diving back down. Smaller creatures shot forward and dove to attempt to engage the submarines. "Verified close scans confirmed, Aboleths have been detected."

"I'm a bit fuzzy on all monsters, what's that?" Selene questioned.

"Large demonic eels ma'am. Almost all are of the evil alignment." The digital outline that was sent over a holographic display showed her what one looked like, at least the basic shape. Her mouth fell open a little as she laid eyes on it along with the krakens, their tentacles and mouths. It reminded her of some old alien movie from one hundred years ago, the pointed teeth and the way the head was shaped. It at least had eyes though, a row on the top of the mouth.

"Now I'm glad I never had a yacht built…" she muttered out. Nia was escorted out of the mayor's home to a safer point as Erilyn finished latching the ships down in the harbor, telling her crews to run. She turned around to see two Clockwork Frigates head out, the last of the defense line coming up behind their bigger brothers. Bad weather had attempted to form via magic from the invading force, though luckily the naval fleet had other plans and dispersed it quickly with **[Disperse Weather]** spell beacons. That advantage would not go to them.

"Contact, contact, we're engaging."

2nd Air fleet dropped their own depth charges down ahead of the navy, firing cannons where they could. Fighters dove down for CAS runs, only to suddenly find out there were what looked to be winged electrified barracudas launching from the waters to come up to meet them. "Verified bogeys, Taltorix."

"What's a Taltorix?" the empress asked.

"We've recently checked on any new hostile lifeforms that could be on this planet compared to, well, any other that might have been thought of in a magical fantasy world. We found some books being sold in Sweet Water that had something like that in the pages, though mostly considered a myth."

"You mean this is a brand-new fantasy monster?"

"An electrified barracuda with wings ma'am, roughly the size of our fighters or a little smaller. They mostly hunt gryphons or giant eagles flying low for food." Anti-air vehicles stationed along the ridge of the Kaldanas Mountains provided support as the sky was filled with ribbons of rapid fired projectiles, lasers and ferrous buck shot. A copious volley of missile fire soon followed. The citizens of Sweet Water were awe struck at the firepower being used against the as thought of unstoppable underwater denizens. Two destroyers veered off to the left of the battle in an attempt to provide flanking capability with a frigate wolf pack, with the limpet mines being detonated to perforate the underbelly of a kraken.

"Hotel Vegas Tango has been hit, Hotel Vegas Tango has been hit. Still in the game." It wasn't enough to deal with the massive creature, but the explosives definitely wounded it with the wall of harpoons slamming against an unprotected area. Merfolk grappled two frogmen autos and tried to pull them down into the deep, however even though they didn't have shield capability, there was still other equipment they had available. Both used micro ball bearing canisters on their backpacks filled with dispersible reactive pellets along with auto harpoon shoulder mounts followed by BUFF jackets to rapidly ascend back to the surface.

"Need Spookys diverted to Frigate Wolf Pack 4, FPF requested. Bring down the brimstone." Three gunships circled overhead, a constant barrage of firepower erupting from their weapons layered along the sides down below to any sort of boarders away. An Aboleth tried to ram one of the ships, knocking it around a little before it was taken out by a close fired torpedo from a defending sub. The water was starting to run red with blood, sharks coming in to figure out if they could try and clean up in the cloudy sea… getting their teeth and fins blown out for their trouble.

A Taltorix chased after one of the fighters only to have it bleed speed and roll, sliding behind the winged monster and unleashing a volley of Vulcan cannon rounds, holding back on rail fire due to the range actually allowing to accidentally hit the city nearby if it over penetrated. "Cruiser 1-7, evade! Evade heading 2-7-0!" Selene's heart jumped into her throat as a Grand Kraken came up from below somehow and rammed, sliding a tentacle along the bottom and trying to roll the much smaller ship with its grip. It was doing its best to keep upright, depth charges dropped with a sub attempting to assist, water jet cutters and lasers trying to function in short range defense. Its escort was busy keeping a wave of merrow back and five Aboleths, with a shark trying to launch up into the air and land on a frigate.

 _Carbyne plating should be able to hold against that thing, right? The crushing pressure it can bring down on a much smaller vessel couldn't break through that with all the tech keeping the structure fortified... I hope. Then of course, if I remember right, a kraken could destroy an older fully armored galleon with a much smaller body. These things dwarf my ships right now… 325 meters at best up against 1,500… even with_ _ **[Golden Army]**_ _, they take time to rebuild…_

"No…" the dev involuntarily dropped her jaw and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes going wide as the cruiser couldn't get away fast enough and capsized, rolled like a bath toy. Emergency klaxons went off as the kraken broke the surface and roared above its supposed kill, but two of its ilk seemed to be busy in the rear. Apparently, one of them had angered the second one by attempting to take its trophy, a submarine that blew ballasts and rocketed away to the surface. They were fighting each other instead of the steampunk navy it appeared.

"Cruiser 1-7 isn't out of the fight just yet, it's trying to regain control" another automaton in the room reported. The empress slowly stood up and leaned over the table, thinking of some god to pray to get that cruiser back into the fight. They needed the firepower against those massive monsters now that they were fighting above water, even if the main guns were somewhat useless without the enemy staying on the surface or close to it. _Empress's Conviction_ sent a bomber squadron down and carpeted the kraken that did its best to try and break through the belly of the cruiser, being chased by Taltorix in hot pursuit. The escort had enough time to send one destroyer to fire all front cannons at the kraken, blasting off multiple tentacles and angering the hell out of it. "Enemy kraken two is diverting towards destroyer 2-4."

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Breached Airlock)**_

The huge creature dove and shot towards the destroyer, coming up below yet again and lifting the ship up, keeping its stronger weapons from getting a shot in. Marines on the decks latched their feet to the floor to keep stable as they tried to fire over the sides, doing only superficial damage to the hide of the monster. The dev could see through cameras that the bow hull plating was shimmering with the armor and internal protection equipment trying to keep its structural integrity.

 _Come on, break away… break away from them…_

"Structure is barely holding for destroyer 2-4." That was saying a lot for a 200-meter ship versus a 1500-meter amphibious mythical monster. Spare armor paneling shifted internally for the hull to reinforce with, doubling up where the kraken was trying to crumple as the lower decks pressurized. "Air frigates attempting to assist, volley inbound." A hail of missiles slammed into the kraken's back, allowing the destroyer to dip back into the water as the creature backed off for a moment and roared at the sky. There were chunks of its flesh missing, meaning the fleets were doing damage, they just needed a little more time to deal with the bigger threats.

"The merfolk are acting as a meat shield for the bigger threats…" Selene muttered out. Artillery fire from the mountainside struck hard, causing the kraken to turn and charge straight for the cliffside, where the far smaller tanks were set up. Their shields would hold, but they didn't have the mass to not be flung around once the thing reached them, like a child digging through a closet and throwing inconsequential things out of the way. The only ones that would keep going would be the Very Heavies and the X Heavies, massive walkers firing where they could at the encroaching enemy as they latched down into the ground, giant four legged and eight-legged assault autos dropping incredible firepower onto the ocean.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – You Must Overcome)**_

"Cruiser 1-7 is gyro stabilizing, brace, brace." The 325-meter ship rolled as if by magic, internal systems righting the vessel with pressure jets on both sides and a specialized gyro stabilization system as it slammed back into the water right side up. It locked on to the kraken and fired, all autos on the deck still there, not even knocked over. "Switching to rails, take that thing down!" the kraken had enough time to realize it was still on the water's surface and its main advantage of surprise was gone, the ship waiting for just the right moment to use the main guns and get a shot. Hefty chunks of the creature were blown off, the trajectory of the rounds aimed away from the city. The monster roared in pain and thrashed, but it gave the escort enough time to bring their own weapons to bear, all firing as well. The overwhelming barrage tore apart the abyssal monster, then all guns turned towards the other three.

"They're crumbling, circle the wagons, keep them occupied." Most of the Aboleths were taken out now by the submarines, giving them that extra space needed to turn and assist against the bigger threats. The three, however, turned into two as one of them had beaten down its brother, sending it into retreat, broken. "We've got this, keep pushing." The last two couldn't get near the cruisers again, with the subs firing off a salvo of torpedoes. "Left flank is falling apart for them, go! Go!"

"Come on… come on…" Selene whispered as strike after strike slammed against another kraken, tearing away its flesh, the cruisers linking up for unified cannon volleys. Although it wasn't as impressive a death as the previous one, the second fell thrashing and wailing as it slowly sunk into the water. The third one somehow flipped and swam as fast as it could back into the depths, making that two of the creatures abandoning the fight somehow. The remaining merfolk were swiftly routed and cleaned up as any air support was wiped from the skies with fighter support, the waters around taking on a red tint from so much blood poured. Surprisingly, none of them attempted to retreat, as if something was guiding them towards their deaths. Sharks near the surface were so much meat for the grinder, as without any appendages all they could do was try and bite or body slam. They had won, though it could have come at a cost if the naval ships hadn't been able to pull away from the heavy hitters.

"Ma'am, we've got a sensor lock on what the largest ping was. It's a Leviathan."

"Isn't that a… a… some sort of… isn't it a sea dragon? How big is it?" she asked.

"Correct ma'am, just a little over 2100 meters. You'll never believe this; it was sending signals out, a bio electric aggression aura as it were. The range would normally be about one mile from previous intel, though we're unsure if that's the same range for this one on this planet. That field would also be around their lair, not around the creature. It's already been proven that not all knowledge from pre New World can be considered fact here."

"So that damned thing got this whole army together, somehow managed to get them to work alongside each other in some sort of blood lusted fugue? I wonder if the pirates knew about this from the beginning and had it happen to them… hell, I wonder if Artinia knew about this… how the hell do they keep assaults like that from coming to pass…" she replied, interested in what their defensive plans were. The Scooze toxins might be the only way to keep them at bay. "Wait, why did the two krakens abandon the assault? And where is that Leviathan now?"

"It's possible the pirates didn't survive the engagement ma'am; for all we know, they could just sacrifice the harbor and rebuild afterwards; no telling what they do with the civilians, bring them along or let them die. Could explain why the buildings were ramshackle before Juliet's construction crew rebuilt the city.

Both krakens are heading away from the area, their lairs being an unknown; intel suggests that the aggression field can't take full hold of something that large, being somewhat close to the Leviathan's size; it also only works on aquatic creatures, sending them against land based species.

The Leviathan is heading away from the northern ocean. It doesn't seem to be in a hurry, just going off to another body of water, maybe near another continent. The sea is a big place, it'll take time to try and find him, or her" Dominic replied.

"What the hell was its goal?"

"Unknown, though it might have had something to do with keeping the merfolk, merrow or aboleth as the case seems to be, locked down given his or her capability. The thought process for that thing may very well never be figured out, though it doesn't seem to live nearby; the possibility of it roaming might be a viable hypothesis." The dev sat back down and just stared forward, blinking. They had won, though it appeared that the races attacking were all being used by someone else via an aggression field. Her eyes darted from one point to another as her mind took in what had just transpired and what that could mean. Two of the grand kraken had escaped from the battle.

"So, in theory, those merfolk aren't necessarily suicidal to us unless that swimming disaster shows up. Is that an activated ability or is it just riling up everything as it passes by?" Her staff acknowledged what she was thinking.

 _Get hunter subs out there and find that thing. As for the krakens… could use an orbital strike on it, they're still in the area for at least a few more minutes… no, that could cause a tsunami for Sweet Water, never mind then._

"Ma'am, by their nature, a leviathan is neutral, which could mean they weren't doing it necessarily to be evil, just… they didn't care or didn't know. There either is no commitment to good or evil and it just does what it does, or it tries to keep a balance between its actions. We're leaning more towards the former."

"So, the sea dragon could have known and didn't mind that it was sending other races into a frenzy, or was just passing through and didn't turn off its aquatic grand crusade beacon?"

"It's possible. We won't know what their reasoning was until attempting contact, which, might not be worth the effort with all things considered."

"Agreed. What's the chances of finding it?" The thought of the creature setting other aquatic races to war against her empire just because it wanted to mix things up a little, not even caring about the lives lost, was frustrating. The other idea of it forgetting to turn off the aggression field as if it had a switch, as if it had forgotten to turn the oven off at home, might have been more logical than expected.

"The oceans are vast around here. Given it doesn't suffer from exhaustion… we might never find it again unless it comes back for a second attempt." The empress lightly slapped both of her palms onto the table with her fingers outstretched, at least relieved that the fleets survived. Sweet Water was safe, for now.

The navy fell back to required patrol routes and security positions as an all clear was given to the citizens of the city they protected. The people were allowed to head back to their homes, no longer in any danger, though security forces lined the beach nearby and kept watch for any stragglers. They were cheering, seeing the strength and might of the empire looking out for them. "No damage to the city, infrastructure untouched. Correction… superficial damage to the right second and third pier, easily repaired by the end of the day" Dominic reported.

"I'd like surveillance in the surrounding waters in case that thing decides to come back. As for the merfolk, or merrow given they are two different races… it was either them or us. Now that I know about this aggression field and its effects, I hope they don't expect an apology for grinding up their troops" Selene ordered.

"It might be possible to use Lazarus Systems in the future, provided we can prove their involuntary cooperation in this engagement. The problem is, by all accounts, previous knowledge states they're by nature evil and insane."

"It seems, then, that I don't have to worry. Now, if they come with their leader unarmed and not batshit crazy, I'll consider opening negotiations. Until we have a reason to speak to them for valuable resources or access to some unknown magic, there's no point to try and talk or attempt to bring back their fallen. All in all, no longer an issue for the time being." Her staff agreed, as it had now been shown she had learned from the previous actions with their southern neighbors, now almost completely gone. The entire west coast was now under control of the Clockwork Empire, minus the few villages still being… sterilized. As she got up and checked the time, the whole event had taken about three hours, with preparation time factored in. To the dev, it felt a lot longer, almost the whole day in her eyes.

 _Note to self, get battleships and large underwater subs built. Even a 300-meter sub would even the odds, right now all I have is the standard sizing list. Damn it, I should have gone with the new hull changes I'm going to put into effect in space… oceans are going to be a crutch until a revision of the shield emitters is completed. 800 times denser than air slows projectiles immensely, can't use electric weapons that well, plasma is useless, railguns could work if the guns were installed on the belly of the ship, of course they could cause blast waves below the surface that would toss the ship around… might need to say fuck it and redesign the fleets…_

As she left the situation room and headed back upstairs, there was a request for minor funding by the government itself for some sort of building to house old magical items that they didn't have use for anymore, along with a tour for those with magical talents to learn from the creation, potentially gaining insight on new designs. Selene just raised an eyebrow and acknowledged it, though she'd have to have her Secretary of Labor get the land set for a museum and Secretary of Treasury to doll out the coin. She set a requirement that if they wanted the empire to partially pay and construct the museum, then it would be for more than just magic and artifacts, open to history and how civilization slowly built up so that everyone could understand and look towards the future.

Both Secretaries recommended to potentially get a zoo and an aquarium built somewhere as well. The dev agreed that she'd look into both if she had to agree to pay for them. The initial construction would be empire funded, while maintenance would be provided by the municipalities they were zoned into with taxes injected. The empress's initial thought was that it would at least get the citizens to use their brains, to learn about their world and want to explore a little more, along with adding tourism to the towns and cities. It would potentially cause people to see some towns as good places to settle down, evening out the population dispersion.

 _Sweet Water is obviously a good choice for the aquarium, but then of course if we took Alsam in the future… but then the Minotaurs might try to attack it if we can't get them to sit down for a little chit chat. Hmmm, Eld Horn Town… probably the best spot for the zoo, given they can't always hunt as the population goes up; instead of killing the wildlife, trying to contain it for education. Could work, as long as they keep a preserve nearby with a rescue center._

Selene walked out of the now unlocked war room and bumped into Brynhildr, the shield maiden just heading down the hall to the elevator. "Hey, I guess I missed you after we got back. Elsei said she saw you in the tearoom before."

"Just dealing with some aggressive locals." Bryn raised her eyebrows at her for a moment.

"I heard; did the orcs and goblins somehow come back?"

"No, this time merfolk and a slew of other bottom dwellers assaulting Sweet Water… attempting to anyways." The empress didn't want to try to explain the shortcomings that her naval fleet had with technological setbacks. Her science division had better come up with a way to allow shields to function in the water soon. While her navy was able to defend when no one else could hope to combat the sheer size of the hostile force, the fact some of her equipment didn't work as well in an ocean worried her. They were not the rulers of the waters surrounding the lands they lived on, at least not yet.

"Did you… did you require us to lead?" Bryn questioned, her face falling to a frown, as if she had somehow involuntarily shirked her duties as a General.

"That wasn't necessary, don't worry. It was a naval battle with some long-range ground support on station. Ground forces were sitting around on the mountains, no movement or tactics beyond shell with impunity. It helped, just wasn't a big factor." The blonde simply shrugged and looked around.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll leave it at that. At least everything turned out alright. Just let us know when you need us, Hrist and I have studied well."

"Yeah, I will, don't worry. On a different note, I hope you enjoyed the trip to the elven city; did you pick up any souvenirs for yourself?" the dev asked as they both headed down the hallway towards the elevator as she tried to change the subject.

"I did. A few knickknacks here and there, decorate my room a little. Did Hrist get a chance to uh, to lead the engagement for the so-called grand tribe?"

"I made that call, though she was there to help cleanse their capital alongside me. I also don't have any regrets about it either. All she had to do was what I set as an example."

"I… heard about that. Just be a little careful you don't let your rage take hold of you. I'd say you're as powerful as us now, give or take. That's a destructive force somewhat unchecked if you don't learn how to control your emotions."

"Duly noted, I figured it out the hard way. Still, it needed to be done regardless. A lesson very much learned." Both of them were silent as they entered the elevator and headed down. Once the doors opened, Brynhildr headed off to find her sister to spar a little and get some exercise while the empress headed off to meet a particular individual that she had sponsored, the old inventor who was creating gunpowder equipment to open cave ins for miners. He had apparently made a discovery with multiple mixtures of different chemicals to attain different properties, he just needed the funding to get quality reagents for the breakthrough. He also had almost no sleep under his belt, still requesting an audience with the empress. One of the mixtures was supposedly purported to disable a magic caster with a cloud of dust.

"Ma'am, we know you're heading to speak with certain individuals soon, however we wanted to get your input on the situation regarding the dwarves and the brand-new breach tunnel from the Drow." A coms channel chimed open from her staff, awaiting her decision on what was going to happen from then on. Why they couldn't have asked her before she left the situation room eluded her, though she did know it wasn't as if they had to be near each other to speak or transfer intel.

"Ah, right, about that. So, let me hear all of your recommendations."

"An option we have is to hold back and let them fight it out, we don't exactly owe them anything and they are a bit suspicious of us" Dominic said.

"You want them to be killed off? Look, we know they didn't exactly take too kindly to the empress's involvement with the unruly transient living in their basement, but to leave them to that fate isn't going to earn us any points in the international community" her Secretary of State, Gala, spoke up. She had surprisingly offered to name herself, with it being short for Galabāta, its meaning translated automatically from a Punjabi word for negotiation or conversation. Given that her full name couldn't even be spoken without it changing to something everyone understood in their own language, Gala would have to do. It was surprising that she had chosen such an interesting name, despite it not exactly being something anyone from India or Pakistan would usually use for their children. Selene had to have it systematically broken down into each individual phonetic letter just to hear it without universal translation kicking in.

"So, you want her to send in the cavalry without getting anything out of it? We can't be the police for everyone out there and get nothing in return. If that's the case, they might as well be a part of the empire with all that work. This would be the second time going in, eventually you just need them to fight their own battles if they aren't under our banner" Dominic replied. They seemed to have different views on some matters. It definitely helped with planning out what would happen next for the dev, having multiple ideas and advice placed before her. What seemed most interesting was that Gala was not averse to them going to war when needed. Foreign relations were all well and good, until the people you're trying to talk to pull a weapon out or are already openly hostile, hence being in agreement for the destruction of the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe.

"But what if we came to a middle ground?" Gala questioned.

"I'm listening" Selene commented.

"Ma'am, if you wait until the faith eaters are breaking down their backyard door, you could walk in and offer to help clear out their rather large issue. 12th Brigade is still underground, though with them being there the creatures are sealed off from escaping. Pull a pincer attack after speaking with the king at their weakest."

"That depends on if there are no other situations that we need to move the brigade to another zone Gala, we don't have the Underdark mapped very well. Illithid were spotted, along with vampires and bugbears; Drow and faith eaters weren't the only game in town" Will informed her.

"I know that. What I'm saying is this: wait until they really do need help, then offer our services. It shouldn't take long with that puppet army that was amassing; an entire Drow city, or at least most of it, boiling down a tunnel that could spew into their fortress will be a big incentive to listen to what she has to say, our empress that is."

"You want me to head in and negotiate? No ambassador?" the ruler asked.

"Hear me out ma'am. Your abilities, magic and psionics as well as specialties, all of it would allow a very easy restriction to keep the puppet army from pouring through. If they're scared enough, they'll be willing to do whatever you want to get rid of those things, along with the force that created them in the first place. This also proves you know what you're talking about, that they should respect you with your show of personal force. Any ambassador would just get the job done with a QRF, yet the issue still remains with opening up relations. Show a little more intimidation, along with some pleasantries and they might be more willing to work with us."

"The problem is, what would our empress want from them in return? Would the dwarves even join the empire? Runecraft is already being researched with initial tests proving fruitful per the science division, with no real resources needed from them that we can't already gain ourselves in bulk. Beyond playing the good guys, what do we get for sticking her neck out for this?" Will asked her.

"Anything she wants honestly, if they're pissing their pants to get rid of the infestation. What do you think you could gain from them ma'am?" Gala quipped. Selene stopped walking and leaned against a doorframe, two rooms away from the throne room to get a project demonstration of the equipment the inventor had crafted. She crossed her arms and thought for a moment.

 _What do we get from the dwarves beyond better relations? We're already working on the runecraft, I definitely could care less about the dragon eggs, the only thing I can think of is… the bunker. I doubt they've had enough time to take out all of the hoard now that it's corporeal and excavated the collapsed tunnel, but I just really want the dome and everything it's connected to, the science and magic behind that. That treasure means fairly little to me aside from any special artifacts in it, which Gabriel might be able to pick through quickly with dimensional magic while I chat with the king. Besides, my scanner didn't really pick up anything especially amazing in that pile, despite not really getting a good look at everything._

"I can think of a few things. Alright, we'll sit on our hands for a little until things get real over there, then politely show up again and see if there is anything we can do. Grey, send some long-term stealth assets in, keep an eye on the situation" Selene finally commanded.

"I'll get a team over there ASAP. With any luck, this will be at critical mass within a couple of days. If worse comes to worse, we still have the second option and hold back" Grey replied.

"I hope you accidentally counted Grey, given that there are now three choices available" Gala said coyly.

"Let them be wiped out then clean up after or save them and get something out of it. I hope you're not referring to the empress showing mercy to everything that is in trouble in the world, because that can have just as much a negative impact on relations as positive. Not everybody needs saving or wants to be saved. Sometimes you just have to let nature take its course." Gala sighed over coms.

"Ma'am, please tell me you're just listening to our advice and aren't seriously thinking of just going along with any of this?"

"I'm taking everything into consideration. Right now, surveillance, keeping us updated on the situation as it hashes out. The rest… I have a couple of days to truly decide, but I'd like to at least consider talking one more time. It isn't as if they completely kicked us out with the last visit, they just didn't like us trespassing in the mines or me sticking my head where they thought it didn't belong. Who knows, maybe they'll be a little more open to speaking to me once they have a rabid pile of puppets at their basement door." They all agreed, ending the coms link as the empress walked to the throne room and sat down.

"Your majesty, Mr. Nigel Coppers has come to give you a demonstration of his latest inventions" an announcer auto said as it bowed in front of her. The old inventor had a slew of stations set up outside the palace for her to see their full effect against target dummies and some young aspiring wizards looking to make a little cash to go shopping. She had frowned on the human experimentation, but they were supposedly volunteers with no harm to be done to them. They'd just have their magic blocked temporarily.

"Very well. Mr. Coppers, a pleasure to see you again. I take it our funding has helped you in your production of new and improved designs?" Selene asked him. The old man was bowing to her with his right hand crossed over his chest, not looking up at her this time. There was newfound respect from him towards the empress, with regulations keeping him from destroying his home, inspected reagents and supplies from well-respected traders so he could get the best quality goods, as well as documentation of his experiments that were archived and top-quality equipment from local companies. He was being treated as more than some crazy alchemist attempting to create a powder that detonated when used, but a certified inventor and scientist.

"I am your majesty! I am! I have a wide range of new and improved creations for you to peruse and see in use! But before I start, I should probably explain how I reached these conclusions. I have a speech ready for you."

"Proceed."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Silara was bored beyond belief on her short hunting trip. Now that the city was out of "lockdown" from the event of yesterday, they were free to move about their forest without any hindrances. The problem was… they had found no game to bring back. The hunting party had searched for two hours, with nothing seeming to be living in the far eastern area of the forest where she liked to visit. Now that the bandits, poachers and slavers were completely cleared out by the metal soldiers from the empire, her home should be teeming with life now. She hated to admit it, but the Clockwork Empire was good for the dark elves, at least as long as they didn't disturb the environment.

There was going to be something called a "dressage championship" in Werelosil that they were given a chance to go to, it was going to happen by the end of the day. The princess didn't exactly like watching horses prancing around, or for that matter, seeing their panthers going through tricks the equines couldn't hope to attempt. The movements were going to be just too different, with jump heights of their giant cats being far higher than anything the stallions could ever manage. It wasn't exactly a contest.

Lady Silara, do you hear that?" one of the hunters said as he kneeled on a rocky outcropping, moss growing as they sat silently.

"No, I don't, and that's the problem. No birds." They looked around carefully, expecting an attack. Where were the automatons that usually protected this area? Did they divert somewhere else? Were they still at the cave down to the Underdark that their ancestors had climbed out of so long ago? "Wait, there." Her eagle eyesight pinned movement in the bushes further south, almost a mile away. No human would ever be able to equal an elf in senses, though the empress and her Valkyrja constantly exceeded even her people. That just told her that they clearly were not human.

The team slowly crept towards the movement, barely even there as the fronds shifted ever so slightly. Could the machines have made a mistake? Were there still slavers that hadn't been found? "Be ready" she commanded as the others nodded, a diverse assortment of hair colors and styles, mostly in the brighter hues to offset their darker skin tone with white and blonde trying to disappear into the forest and sneak up on whatever was hiding. As they neared closer, they saw an arm, a hand really, reach out and grasp at thin air while lying down.

"Go" Silara ordered as they crouched and sprinted towards the area, as quietly as they could. As if on que bursting from the foliage, their weapons drawn and bows aimed, they fell upon… a group of humans all lying around, ragged and unkempt. Most of them looked emaciated, with broken manacles on their wrists and necks. The princess landed right next to a young boy with brown skin and short dirty hair, seeming as if he was unable to move. Her long-curved blade was raised for a split moment before realizing they were not a threat, in fact they were quite the opposite. One of the men begged for some water to drink, with the boy asking as well, raspy and with cracked lips. There were signs of torture and bruises, which meant that somehow, they were escaped slaves. Had the empress forgotten to check all of Paldos City, or was there a hidden mine entrance somewhere that led to that now destroyed slave market?

The boy looked up at her, light shining down between leaves as her white hair dangled over his head. "Wa.. water… please…" At first, she seemed hesitant. These were humans, most of them anyways, with one being clearly from Seong Neow Republic, a dog man it seemed with a long ponytail. A slight hint of racism crept into her thoughts, as their kind either didn't come to her people's aide against Artinia, or the humans were the ones who kidnapped hunters from her home.

She quickly cast aside that thinking, as these were clearly not people who caused any trouble to them in the slightest, finding themselves in the same boat as every other captive. Silara sighed and pulled a waterskin from her side, popped the top and gently poured it into his open mouth. He drank eagerly and gasped afterwards, thanking her with immense gratefulness in his voice. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

"I… we…" his small hand rose slowly up towards her face, her own hand gently reaching out and clasping it. That was all he managed to say before passing out. How long had they gone without food?

"My lady, what should we do?" a huntress asked her. As the princess kept looking between the escaped slaves, her mind thinking of how incompetent the empire had been to forget to scour the whole city of Paldos, she realized it was the right thing to do to bring them back to the dark elf capital.

"Prepare our mounts" Silara replied as her eyes finally landed back on the small boy, clearly not from Artinia.

 _ **Noon**_

"And that is all that I have brought, your majesty" Nigel said as he stood there bowing in front of her, proud of his work. Selene had to admit, it was impressive, if a bit unorthodox. The volunteer wizard apprentices all stood around, covered in dust as their magic ceased to function. They'd have to wash their clothes and take a bath before the anti-magic powder was gone, making sure all of it was completely removed or it would interfere with their casting.

"So, you've not only created gunpowder, but other alchemical derivatives of it to perform other duties, not necessarily to cause harm but to disable or remove" she said as her arms crossed over her chest, nodding in acceptance to what he had shown her. One of the powders was a paralyzing agent, an ancient form of stun gun.

"That is the case, your majesty." He had not only shown a crude panzer Faust weapon, but also the anti-magic blaster that looked to be a single use flintlock flare gun, an antigravity grenade that was exactly what he was attempting to create for the miners in the event of a tunnel collapse, an oxygen grenade that would create a temporary bubble around the position it was thrown, along with quite a few other tools that weren't destructive. The inventor got the chance to not only reach his goal of crafting gunpowder, but also to save lives in the future with a wide selection of single use equipment.

"Good work, it looks like my sponsorship got you what you needed. Congratulations in your development of these tools, now you just need to find a company willing to manufacture them for their intended use, with strict protection of the copyrights and patents for you of course. They need to follow regulations of this equipment carefully, only selling to correct authorities."

"Yes, I'm looking into a few new manufacturers that might have what it takes to produce them in bulk. I am very happy with the fruits of my labor your majesty, this was an extraordinary task I completed." The requirements of the demonstration were that she be allowed to keep the test equipment, which would allow her secretly to research and backward engineer the same designs. The ones created for her to use would not be sold, as that would be relegated to the companies already being looked at by Nigel. If everything went according to plan, his own little shop would expand into a megacorporation for nonlethal and assistive tools for emergency response teams. He was even already looking into a quick sealant for critical wounds that a person could suffer, all of which was an alchemical mixture with a little magic and some coagulant herbal remedies blended in.

 _He's making crude steampunk creations. If these get out there, it could alter how everyone moves forward in technology, change how they go about completing tasks and innovation. Then of course, I had figured they'd be not quite the same as Earth anyways, given the access to magic and soon to be runecraft. Hmm…_

The empress snapped back from her light daydreaming as the inventory picked up some of the disposable pieces that break off from the dischargers he used. Once he was done gathering what he needed to bring back to his shop, she thanked him for the demonstration and watched him leave the castle in a waiting wagon. Will walked up beside her, an automaton built with the design aesthetic of a metal suit vest in mind, dress pants and small rivets on the shoulders with a chain attached to a pocket watch. "The eras may not go exactly according to plan if things like what he showed me today start being sold."

"True, but then it's up to you if you want to restrict access to any of it. People will find ways to circumnavigate issues, to bypass barricades to a future, regardless of if you block off one avenue to travel. If you choose to keep them from moving into more of a steampunk civilization, we'll help you." The dev just took a deep breath and let it out loudly.

"No, the easiest way would be to let them build what they can, see where they believe the most good comes from. As long as they don't infringe on others or put each other in harm's way, keeping a code of ethics, then allowing them to dream and bring those dreams into reality is the best course of action. Who knows, maybe they won't move into steampunk and just continue down the path Earth went, with a few additions and a lot of magic added in. Of course, we know how that turned out, so maybe pushing them into the direction of cogs and steam is the better alternative, at least for now."

"Anything is possible ma'am. We- hang on…" Will replied, getting an update as they talked and walked back into the palace. "Ma'am, we have a bit of a situation arising near Olva'lore Forest. Apparently a group of six Tal Salunbal… monks… are heading their way. There was a skirmish at the border between their border and Artinia, with them showing signs of searching for something. There's a report from inside the dark elf capital that slaves were found just near the eastern section of the forest, dehydrated and starving." Selene's eyes widened for a moment.

"I thought we got all of the slaves out of Paldos City? Where the hell did they come from?" she asked. The dev double checked the report from Bryn, with it sure enough letting her know the whole location had been checked from top to bottom. She'd call someone a liar if they said her automatons weren't thorough.

"We did. It's possible there were secret underground cart tunnels built to ferry captives back to the city post haste, to not keep them at camps if they were deemed highly valuable, or, ahem, could engage in coitus with them. It's also possible there was an escape attempt dug by the slaves themselves." The dev had remembered the princess was still in a camp when she had arrived, maybe waiting for an inspection before being hauled back to the city. It could have been an escort instead to Aureos that Silara was being held for, by all accounts. They'd never know, and never really care now that she was back with her father.

"Huh. Well, we should probably get some survey teams out there, figure out if that's how they escaped. Are the new refugees in the dark elf capital?"

"Yes ma'am, being tended to by a relief medical team now. The elves are providing what assistance they can, though dehydration with malnourishment in an unconscious state usually requires an intravenous injection of fluids and nutrients. There was a child apparently found amongst the mix, still being tended to."

 _Those assholes would use children as slaves. Now I don't really care that we made that place a ghost city._

"Hmm, I wonder if making a house call might be in the pipeline today."

"You mean you going to the dark elf capital and meeting the escaped slaves? Mmm, it might prove worthwhile, show them they don't have to worry about being treated as abused labor to throw away. Could give them a reason to integrate into this civilization, instead of the one that is still considered a citizen of Seong Neow Republic. You heading there might help, though I believe it would do the same thing as providing a diplomatic envoy. Your time is worth more than that." The dev looked up at Will, very near a full head taller than her, being that he was based on a Light chassis. He didn't have the same instruments installed into his head as Deacon or Ethan, being completely bald with a matte gold sheen an intricate stylized etching along the temples of his forehead. His voice was stern yet soothing, the intent designed to keep her calm and focused when required.

"There's a cat girl there?!" she asked, believing she just got her hopes up.

"No ma'am, an anthropomorphic dog I believe. He's doing well from what has been reported."

"Ah. Well, a quick hop over there to see how well the elves are doing at the same time wouldn't hurt either. I need to see how well they've repaired their city, maybe check in with Weren about what he intends to do about dark elf expansion outside the forest now that they are free to do so."

"You sound a little disappointed empress."

"I… I-I'm not. I just… I kind of just wanted to meet a cat girl face to face… that's all…" she felt a little embarrassed, given that she had a thing back on Earth for collecting cat girl plushies, toys and action figures. She liked the look of the ears and tails mostly; it was just a small thing to keep her occupied when she wasn't working on a project or focusing on another time intensive hobby. One of her friends had thought it would be cool to try and cosplay as two of them at an anime convention, but she declined due to timeframe intersecting with a game development crunch. She wasn't big on dressing up as character either, she didn't think she could do them justice with poor sewing skills.

"By all accounts, it would only take an hour or so, though there is a request from Gold Pine, Mayor Stafinson I believe."

"Wait, what? What request?" she asked him confused.

"They wanted to know if you would come for a winter unveiling of a statue in the town's honor."

"Oof, today? That can't be right, I would expect a notice much earlier, like a week at least. Also, why in December? Eh… is it possible to get a reschedule?"

"Do you have anything else planned for this evening?" Selene rolled her eyes upwards, wondering what her to do list was.

"I… I… oh! The… the… the thing! Yes, the thing, I was going to work on that and stuff, yes."

"And this thing, it would be what exactly?"

"That… you know, the special project in the research labs. The… you know, the… the maids."

"Ah, yes, them. How many is it now? Nine?" he asked.

"About there. I mean, having a group of personal maids that can interact with the rest of the world should be fine when I'm out and about. Won't get as many weird looks when they accompany me anywhere, like the unveiling… or parties."

"Hmm, a good choice. I thought the regular maids were considered pleasing to the eye by the citizens?"

"They were, but they were sculpted with little thought put into making them unique. The battle maids will look completely human this time. It'll make talking to anyone with them nearby not turn heads as much. On top of that, they'll help alongside the honor guard or Bronze Team."

"As if you need them to protect you these days, but we all plan for an emergency regardless." He was referring to any chance of an assassination attempt or the unlikely scenario of something currently stronger than her military. She simply patted him on the shoulder and chuckled. Depending on the automaton, their levels were either under her or well beyond at the moment. The dev was going to need to play a little catch up in a bit.

Selene headed out to the lab doors and headed inside, checking in with her science division to see just how impressive her new "team" was going to be. "Ma'am, exactly how long will this take?" Will asked as he accompanied her.

"Um… I don't know?" she replied.

"Could it take an hour?"

"Uh… er… maybe?"

"Two?"

"Erm… yes."

"Then you'll have time for the unveiling. It is scheduled at 4 pm. I'll have the security nearby inform Mayor Stafinson."

"Why are you so set on me going?"

"Because they may see it as you blessing the town to continue growing and improving. They're alive because you intervened not once but twice; showing your support will continue to keep their hopes up. You don't have to go, but it's a good idea."

 _Fuck._

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Alfred awoke with a crick in his neck and a blanket wrapped around him. He quickly jumped up and looked out the arrow slit to see the clouds were bright with the sun trying to shine through. What time was it? He remembered checking with a lone magician that night, sometimes supposedly after 2 am. He'd been in the tower the entire time.

As the Commander looked around, attempting to find anyone who was supposed to relieve him in the watchtower, he noticed five guards just outside the portcullis on each side. Somehow, he had fallen asleep at some point last night and wasn't disturbed. How he stayed upright in the chair was beyond him. "Private, what time is it?" he asked through the door. One of the guards turned around and saluted him.

"Sir! It is currently noon by the sun dial." He looked over the side of the wall and squinted to shield his eyes from the glare the snow created. In the distance, Galdin's forces were camped still, all holed up for the winter with campfires burning brightly. Alfred already knew the General didn't give up, but to stay there for the next month, two months or even three while in the cold, he'd lose men by desertion guaranteed.

"Who gave me the blanket?"

"Sir, it was Sergeant Marin." His eyebrows raised at that information. She was up and about, somehow not keeping still and recovering. Had the priests somehow found the mana to heal her whole arm?

"Where is she, private?"

"We last saw her going to the southern gate sir." Commander Dalonas nodded at them and headed down the ramparts towards the stairs to reach the ground floor, passing a guard shack and a catapult along the way. The walk took a good twenty minutes as he grumbled about her not relaxing and taking care of herself, though in the back of his mind he was glad she was alright. As he turned the corner he caught view of her standing and talking to the soldiers stationed at the barricades, her left arm still not healed, a stump just below the elbow wrapped in bandages along with her left eye. Some of the smaller bruises and cuts were gone, though the larger ones were only made half the size.

She turned around and noticed him, her blonde braid whipping behind as she smiled. "Sir. I was just-"

"Why aren't you back at the temple? You should be lying down until the priests give you a clean bill of health." Marin's smile dropped as she wondered if he was going to yell at her.

"Commander, I didn't think to… uh… they needed every bed they could get, and I could move so…" she stopped and built up the courage to speak, looking into his eyes with her one. "I made a choice to get back up. I can still fight when needed and you're going to need everyone."

"I need everyone at their best Sergeant, you could stay a little longer and get some rest. Who knows, they may have more mana available to give you back your arm and-"

"They don't sir. It was either give me back my arm or let some of the civilians die, those who were carried in from collapsed buildings. You can tell which one I chose for them. I'll get it back eventually, once this is all over. I can wait, they couldn't." He sighed in frustration, then eased up and smirked.

"You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes."

"You need a little stubbornness to keep all of this going, sir." Alfred nodded at her as they both stared for a moment, unsure what to say next. Almost as if on cue, they both realized they hadn't stopped, with a unified aversion of their gaze and embarrassment on their faces. Something had sparked between them through all the battles from yesterday, kindred spirits.

"I'm… going to check on the stores of supplies…" she finally added.

"That… that would be good, Sergeant… I'll… I'll see you later then, once I check on the mercenaries and their training…" They both turned swiftly and walked away from each other, though both added a glance backwards while they headed to their next task.

"Sir. I've been looking everywhere for you" the lieutenant said as he came around the corner and startled the Commander.

"Wha, what? I… I was here. W-what do you need?"

"Sir? Is everything alright?" Alfred took a moment to calm himself and clear his throat.

"I'm fine Lieutenant. Status?"

"General Galdin isn't looking to attack us today we believe, snowfall is expected which will hamper any attempts to try and breach the walls. The men are in good spirits, at least at the moment. The reinforcements we received with the mercenaries joining has evened the odds now. Quite a few of them have top end equipment and are well seasoned, even a few magical items. A priestess had an interesting idea when I checked on the wounded that I thought should be brought up. The nobles, their families… they may have a wizard contracted to teleport out to bring in supplies. They could easily outlast us with fresh food from Aureos."

"Hmm, that's good news and bad news. Well, the nobles are of little concern right now anyways, assuming they don't somehow bring in more wizards to perform that same ritual in the congressional offices. Erm… are there soldiers stationed at the vault doors to the bunkers?"

"Yes sir, just in case that very thought becomes reality. Involving food, sadly we lost the few magicians who knew how to speed up growth of plants in a collapsed building, however we found some seeds that supposedly are magically enhanced. If we can get a small covered farm going, we can maintain our supply if we're careful."

"Indeed. Grab some men and see about getting an enclosed garden going. I'm going to check on the mercenaries and see how prepared they are."

"Yes sir." Alfred lightly patted the lieutenant on the back as he jogged away, with a slight amount of snow falling for just a few minutes. This was going to turn into who could outlast the other. He was fairly confident now that they were the ones to outperform in this regard. A trebuchet was being built to replace the previously destroyed one, showing that they had at least some resources to continue retaliation if Galdin attacked.

 _ **Four Hours Later**_

Selene walked out of the palace entrance while putting on gloves for the event, dressing elegantly in a cold weather dress with an insulated trench coat; there was no need for the extra layers except psychological for the empress. Morlanion and Elsei were going to accompany her along with his parents after their discussion about trade openings for Eil'Ta Forest. Hrist and Bryn were already in Gold Pine waiting for them to arrive, checking in with Giles and Moira and shopping secretly behind her back for some reason. Giles had asked her at one point why there was an anonymous request for a magical dagger that could regenerate one's health slowly to be sent to the castle. She couldn't answer and cancelled the order, thanking him for informing her.

As the front gates opened to the castle with the convoy heading out, it stopped immediately as a man tried to sneak towards the opening with an invisibility spell. The spell was abruptly warped with a magnetic resonance scan and laser grid tracking of the area, with the intruder being barely within a three-hundred-foot range of the walls and losing the ability to hide in plain sight. He realized very quickly that he had screwed up when a security sniper targeted him with a rifle, multiple dots appearing on his chest.

Instead of being smart and just sitting there for guards to come up and question him, he ran forward, with multiple warning shots fired in front to stop him. Two Light security charged out and made it to the man in a couple of seconds, knocking his legs out from under him and putting cuffs on his hands. "Attempting to trespass on castle grounds with an illegal use of stealth magic is considered an attempt on the empress's life" he was told as they dragged him to standing on his own two feet, frisked him and found two weapons, a small dagger with a paralyzing poison and what looked to be the equivalent of a thunder stone and a sleep potion. "Flashbang and sedative found."

 _He's a robber, not an assassin. He's also very stupid._

Her window rolled down as she looked out at one guard. "Ma'am, he was carrying a weapon on him while attempting to enter the castle grounds with a stealth spell used." She got a view of the dagger, the length of the blade. While it was a medium size and made of steel, it was of no threat to her, probably break against her skin. The main issue was the intent once he was inside.

"Use **[Truth from Lies]** on him. Why the hell is coming way out here, there's nothing but my castle" she ordered. The security commanded a response after using the spell, gaining his entire plan for entering, along with an attempt to bribe them to let him go. A hymn was sung quietly from some unknown book, though there was mention of the word goddess in it.

"Your majesty, he had intent at a kidnapping. It was meant to be a forced marriage... with you. He's a follower that believes all of his work will be praised by you, that you are meant to be his wife." The dev's eyes widened in confusion. The man was insane, that much was certain. His arm had a badge sewn into it of the supposed religion he belonged to, simply using her moniker of the Clockwork Empress.

"Yeah, no. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, he goes straight to jail. Make sure they get him some psychiatric help first in the medical ward there, determine if its treatable. For his sake, it better be, or he's sitting in a cell for the rest of his life. If it is, get him the help he needs outside prison bars" she said, annoyed at the prospect someone would try that. The thunder stone was probably there as an escape tool, with the sleep potion to knock her out somehow. Her resistances would have just ignored it entirely, as her Hud told her the ingredient listing was weak. The vial held not much more than a sleep aid akin to Diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl. If he had somehow managed to get by security and used it on her, she'd simply ignore it and turn him into a smear on the ground. Being caught saved his life, for what little that did now that he was heading off to be interrogated and have a medical checkup.

The convoy continued on along the well paved road, with the custom steampunk limousine escorted by HRVs. The entire time, the rest of her entourage talked about the unveiling, supposedly not of a statue of her thankfully, but of an intricate stone carving of a tree, a Gold Pine. It was made by a master stone carver, a homage to how the village had grown into a town and soon to be a large town, hopefully to become a city or as Selene had put it, a metropolis. The entire statue was designed in pieces, with multiple extensions planned as the town got bigger, to show the growth and prosperity of the people.

While they chatted, she checked on random news events from her staff, anything to keep her occupied for the short trip, even though her friends riding along could have easily entered her into the conversation. A small glass of champagne was poured for her with a white gloved hand sitting right next to the empress, the first of the battle maids tending to her. Adesha was her name, the last name was based on a color, White. To simplify the aesthetic design, her hair color was also white in a long wide braid, with a very pale complexion and red eyes, pink lips smiling at her warmly. Her entire body was far more lifelike than the regular automaton maids, with warm biosynthetic skin and a pulse in her wrists. Adesha even had a heartbeat. That didn't mean she couldn't tear through a reinforced wall to protect the empress.

The battle maids were considered a separate chassis type now, designed differently from automatons or androids. As an android could technically be even more organic in design, battle maids were purposefully built to be a go between of the two, emulating human emotions and care for the empress but at the same time capable of wading into a battlefield if need be. Adesha would be the leader of the team, with no name provided or needed for it. Someone had mentioned to call it some amazing name like "the Circle Nine" or "the Divine Nine Winds." The dev didn't really care about any of that, as internally it would compose of two fireteams, the main colors and the combinations, with adaptive mergers of them when required at her behest.

"Thank you, though the alcohol can't even do anything to me anymore" Selene quietly said to her.

"You're welcome your majesty. The placebo effect could still help with calming you. I take it you don't really want to go?" Adesha asked.

"It's not that I don't want to go, I just don't have a speech ready if they want me to speak or anything. Wasn't exactly prepared for this."

"Then don't speak. It's not as if they can force you to do anything. Just enjoy being with your friends, you've earned it."

"True." Adesha beamed at her as they continued on, with basic reports from her staff talking about the start of clearing the plots of land meant for the museum in Gold Pine and Glass Dale, the dolosse being poured into the coast near Sweet Water Harbor to keep erosion contained near the piers, as well as checking on the stock market and where companies were cropping up most. Despite Gold Pine being close to the "goddess" of the empire, Glass Dale was surprisingly quick to get on its feet after the rebirth from the ashes, and now was squarely competition to Silvinholm with far more modern developments in trade. While Gold Pine seemed to be the brains that created new opportunities similar to Silicon Valley, Glass Dale was starting to become a powerhouse in finances and storage, with a request for funding for a new academy to be built nearby.

As the convoy barely passed the main road entrance into Gold Pine, now slightly more redesigned for ease of movement for pedestrians with future city planning for arcing walkways already in the works for the far-flung eras, the empress received an intelligence report from Grey that an attempt was made to conceal objects inside a massive cloud heading towards the clumped together Hawaiian islands to the west of the continent. Thermal scans from satellites showed something that surprised her and made her fairly annoyed and agitated.

 _Dragons. Fucking dragons, a large group or clan of them it seems. You bastards better not come over here to pick a fight or I swear I'll give the go ahead to wipe you idiots out._

The group seemed to be very diverse in broods, with all of them metal, though one single chromatic was in the mix. Due to them heading away from her empire, and not even inside her controlled airspace, they would be left alone… for the time being. If they started anything though, it was a quick end planned. "Keep an eye on them Grey, let me know if anything else crops up."

"Yes ma'am. By the way, I'd like to also share that the tunnel heading up to the dwarven fortress, at least the outer underground ring, has been breached. Faith eaters are using their puppets to fight back against defenses, with numerous reinforcement lines set up to fend them off. Makeshift plans are somewhat working to their advantage, but it's touch and go. If they slip up once, it could shorten the timeframe."

"That'll take a good day or two before we can consider walking in and offering to talk, given how hardy they are. Shouldn't underestimate those battleaxes and squat legs, plus the dwarves have a knack for sealing stuff up when it gets too rough. It wouldn't surprise me to see them pour molten metal down the tunnel" Dominic said as he chimed in.

"Agreed. Keep an eye on both. Also, lemme know if another power spike is detected in Aureos, I want to know if the king decides to use that faulty artifact and what it does."

"You wouldn't per chance remember any of the World Class Items, would you ma'am?" Dominic asked.

"Me? I implemented the features for Yggdrasil, not the models or the types and capabilities. I mean, I've helped with art design before, but that thing I just don't remember. Different team, different cog in the machine to get the game out on time. For all I know, could have been an expansion design that I wasn't a part of." Now she wished she had tried to peek over their shoulders at what they were creating for the players to use; it might help in understanding what she might be up against if someone did pull out some incredible display of power. Some things made it to the cutting room floor, only to be put back in later.

 _For all I know, a player might have created the damn thing instead of just going off what we put in. The creation tools were available to try and figure it out, though nothing was allowed that could wipe a server… I think. That would just be silly for someone to put that in, the drop in the subscriptions would be crazy… but interesting publicity. Then of course, they did seem a little… out there in the grand design of things… nooooo, there's no way there'd be some sort of apocalypse artifact. Impossible. Maybe. I know of that one rumor of a WCI that cast six tier 10 spells for demon summoning, but that was a set amount of them each time, not an unlimited army, and also not that high in levels._

"Understood ma'am, just checking." The coms ended just as the convoy stopped and the doors opened. The group slowly exited before her as cheering could be heard outside, with it continuing up until she scooted over and climbed out. That was when it became a roar of applause, impossible to hear any one voice as they saw their ruler, some for the first time since they had moved to Gold Pine. Selene gave a quick wave to everyone as they continued to the seats set up for them, a pathway through the massive crowd made by security autos as the people whistled and waved back.

She got a chance to see firsthand a group of the zealots that prayed to her, looking and acting nothing like the crazy man that tried to sneak into the castle. They had their heads down and hands clasped, full robes and the clockwork emblem on their shoulders, singing some sort of hymn they had come up with. "And be she who walketh these lands amongst us mortals, pray unto her for divine salvation against the darkness of others, for her light shall forever-" they passed far enough for the dev to barely hear them anymore. Hrist and Bryn both stood on the platform waiting for them, their Pegasus standing nearby with feed bags. Asterion nodded his head towards Selene, seeing his original owner and hoping to get some attention.

"Hey there big guy, sorry I haven't come by in a little while, things have been a little hectic" she cooed to him as she gave a rub near his ears and neck. Then she walked up the steps and sat down comfortably, waiting for the unveiling to start as people packed into the makeshift bleachers. "Grey, can you get some surveillance on the religion based around me?" she asked, opening her coms yet again. What she would do without that capability, the dev didn't know.

"What did you want to find out?" he responded.

"Whose making up those hymns? I heard a few lines before being unable to pick out their voices a minute ago. I hope they aren't coming up with something odd about me and skewing words I've said."

"We've been getting some analysis on when and where they sing those already. Most are peaceful, almost like bards telling tales of your exploits to everyone."

"And the others?" she questioned.

"Some of them warn of your 'divine retribution' if anyone breaks your trust and attempts to oppose what you consider righteous and good." The dev scoffed.

" _They_ do not know what I consider the right thing to do, I do. No one around knows of the engagements we've fought though, beyond Sweet Water, how the hell would they somehow figure I'd come down on them? I mean, raining brimstone is within my capabilities, but it's not as if I'm going to do that… pretty sure I won't… maybe… regardless, we've been careful about witnesses to any skirmishes, friendly or otherwise."

"I think they're just trying to build the morals of the faithful, to live their lives by the laws you've emplaced. In death, they hope to sit with you in your heaven beyond heavens, ignoring any that was made by other pantheons and considering what they have crafted a poor substitute for the souls brought into your embrace.

Surprisingly, this is one of the few religions that wants to forego any sort of fighting. There's no call for crusades, no care for self-flagellation and no suppression of women, expecting your 'divine warriors' to do all the work. Whoever has started the religion thought the rules out carefully and were very detailed, suggesting at or near upper high school or college level education. They don't want to anger you." Selene was both relieved and yet concerned they were that afraid of her, thinking she might have a darker, wrathful side if they didn't adhere to the correct teachings. It also made her worry they'd always expect her armies to defend them, afraid to take up arms to protect another innocent.

"I have no idea what heaven they're referring to, at least just yet. I mean, I have a castle… wait, no one has tried to sneak off to inspect the foundation for the space elevator, have they? I mean, we have the cloaking generators set up right?"

"They may be adding in things for the fervent to cling to, as all religions believe in some sort of afterlife their deity has made. Some faiths believe in one over arcing place that the entire pantheon has built in cooperation with each other, along with a smaller dimension sectioned off to their personal deity, such as Elesia's endless light made physical. Involving the elevator, no life signs beyond animals and a few gryphons have been noted within a fifty-mile radius of the restriction zone." The dev exhaled in relief, accepting his response.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages! We have-" Stafinson was at the podium with his speech written in front of him, the megaphone attached to the front for all to hear.

"Gotta go, unveiling is starting. Keep me posted." Grey acknowledged and ended the call as the speech continued, talking about the start of the great town, his forebears building the first homes and eeking out a living here. He continued with the history of the place, of the forest and trees the town was named after, how they grew through tough dirt into a strong and powerful standard and testament to life, equal or taller in size to most others in the surrounding forests of the valley and beyond. Adesha stood by her empress's side, awaiting any request that she could help with while listening to the mayor.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Tariq awoke carefully as his young hand came up to his head, feeling bruises and cuts gone from his body completely. There was some sort of tube in his arm with fluid along with another wrapping up to his nose and pushed into the nostrils, he couldn't tell if either was taking water out of him or flowing in, with cool air being pumped through the latter. As his other hand reached over to try and pull both off, a metal woman of unknown origins came over and blocked his fingers. "Please do not remove that, child. It is for your benefit. You are dehydrated and need to recuperate." He stared at her with widening eyes, wondering where she had come from. The mechanical woman placed something on his forehead, for what reason he wasn't sure as it was removed right after.

"Wh… where… where am… I…" he rasped out as she took some sort of cup with a stick poking out of it and pulled out the small sponge attached at the end, requesting for him to open his mouth. The boy couldn't understand why she wouldn't just give him the cup to drink from, but maybe there was some reason she was being so restrictive of his movements. As soon as the room temperature water touched his tongue, he closed his mouth and sucked out the liquid as hard as he could, though he didn't feel as thirsty as he expected. Was this due to the tube in his arm? "Where am I?" he asked again.

"Currently you are in the dark elf capital in Olva'lore Forest child. Do you feel strong enough to move?" she asked. He turned his head slowly and looked down at his body, covered in clean bed sheets. There was some sort of shirt he was wearing, with an odd smell in the room, almost like an alchemist had set up his shop inside and was playing with different ingredients. Tariq slowly sat up with assistance from the metal woman and took a deep breath. He coughed immediately as she tilted his chin up to help open the air pathway in his throat, spraying some sort of mist in front of him lightly that he inhaled and soothed his coughing fit immediately.

"How… how did I…" he stopped asking as he remembered the white hair, the elven woman leaning over him. He could have sworn he was dying right then, seeing their god sending down a chosen to bring him up for everlasting peace in the realm of eternal slumber, dreams made true finally. The stories had said they were notoriously beautiful, hence the thought in his mind. He struggled to bring his legs out from under the covers, the woman gently trying to keep him from doing so.

"You are not yet well enough to get up young one. What is your name?" she asked, her green gem eyes, at least he thought they were eyes, tracking his body behavior the entire time.

"Ta…" he thought for a moment. Artinia didn't care about knowing anyone from their close neighbors, just taking what didn't belong to them. His name wouldn't mean anything right here, especially to the enemy of their enemy. "Tariq… my name is Tariq…"

"Tariq, you have a minor concussion your body needs to sort through first, along with starvation. Your body is mostly healed, but you don't have the energy to move correctly without harming yourself. Stay here in bed, we will provide a meal for you to eat." She stood up and waited for him to attempt to get out of bed yet again, but he had already seen now that they didn't mean any ill will towards him and simply waited. She walked away, only for a metal man to come in with a tray of assorted food for him to devour. "My… thanks…" he said as the boy, no older than ten, tried to show some appreciation for the much-needed assistance.

"You are welcome. Please eat carefully, most of the food is of lukewarm temperature and will not burn you; however, ingesting too quickly may cause swallowing difficulties." The metal man walked away, though he doubted he wasn't being watched somehow. As his eyes finally landed on the meal placed in front of him, he noticed it was a diverse amount, with some sort of soup, soft crackers, some sort of mixed fruit bowl diced up, two drinks and some small steamed vegetables with a dipping sauce he couldn't quite understand what it was made of, but was far tastier than anything he had eaten in the past three months. All of it wasn't to give him the nutrients his body needed, as the food was just there to stop his stomach from growling or causing hunger pains.

Once he was finished eating, he tried once again to get his legs out from under the covers, to immediately have the same metal woman show up and attempt to impede him gently. "I… may I… see the outside… please…"

"Do you have need to relieve yourself?" she asked him. He knew what that meant.

"Yes, and I also have need to see what is beyond this tent… if I may…" he quietly said.

"You currently have a catheter emplaced and bed pan, you don't have to be moved to the restroom to do so." He sighed in frustration, doing his best to curb his expectations for who he knew he was, though that made little difference in another land. A slight movement of a bag nearby tugged on a special part of his body below the waist as she checked the level of fluid inside.

"I wish to see outside this tent, now. I… want to see where I am. Am I a captive here?" he sternly said, his age belying someone who wasn't to be discounted as a mere child.

"You are not a captive Tariq, you are a patient in a hospital being tended to. Moving you at the moment is not advised, headaches and blurred vision may affect you" she replied calmly.

"Let me at least see where I was brought, then I will willingly come back in." The metal woman took a second then agreed, picking him up swiftly from the bed and placing him in a metal chair with large wheels on the sides, footrests provided. Then she attached the catheter bag to the side of the wheel hair and stepped behind the handles, bringing him towards the flaps of the temporary hospital, the guards at the entrance opening them to allow the boy to see the city in all of its repaired splendor. Elves walked freely around to shop, though it was clearly towards the end of the day.

His eyes landed on the same woman who he swore he had seen out in the forest, before he lost consciousness. Princess Silara was strikingly beautiful as she stormed towards a staircase heading up to the Stonewood palace gates. Though there was a childish crush taking root in his heart, he knew that he wasn't yet old enough to marry like his second older brother did at sixteen. If by some miracle she was still available in six years, he would do what he could to prove he was enough of a man for her to take notice of, though it was notoriously difficult to woo an elf he heard. Tal Salunbal had no issues with dark elves, though they also did not have friendly relations. When Artinia made their first attempt to enslave or destroy the forest and its inhabitants, his father decided not to intervene. That might have cost him and his family an ally, though he did not yet understand world politics quite as well as he would like.

His brown eyes surveyed the rest of the city, at least from what little he could see given the placement of the hospital. After ten minutes, he accepted he was going to be brought back inside to continue recuperating, though he was informed once he was healthy enough to stand on his own that he would be allowed to leave, only to be sent to a refugee camp not far for transport to another location. He noticed something very odd about the tent as he was wheeled back in; the cloth that it was made of seemed utterly different from anything he had ever seen, with a slight glossy sheen with reinforced yet light skeletal frame holding it up. It looked nothing like what the dark elves could ever make, especially with the metal people looking after the sick inside.

"Are the elves allied with someone?" he questioned, mostly to ask himself. The nurse stopped the chair and picked him up to place him back in the bed.

"You are currently within the borders of the Clockwork Empire; Olva'lore Forest is a part of that empire." Tariq's young face seemed to gawk at that. When did the elves fall? Was this the new name of Artinia now that they had taken so much territory?

"Is… is this what Artinia calls itself now?" he asked calmly.

"Negative. The Clockwork Empire is under the rule of our creator, Empress Selene. You are safe here."

 _Creator? These… these things aren't golems! Who is this empress that can craft such intricate constructs that can speak like humans and do more than menial labor or fighting? She must be very powerful to have an army of these creatures at her beck and call._

"Th… thank you for the answer."

"You are welcome. We believe you will be healthy enough to move on your own by tomorrow. There may be a requirement for physical rehabilitation. Please listen to any commands asked of you, they are for your health and benefit." The woman left him to tend to other patients, a few of them he could see through the openings of the pulled closed curtains. The other slaves who had escaped with him were almost all alive, though one was missing, an older lizard boy who looked out for him while hidden deep in Paldos City. He made a silent prayer to whatever god his friend Kal'neth believed in that he survived.

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

The unveiling of the masterwork stone carved tree was an incredible morale boost beyond the economic boom they were going through already. The crowd seemed to be made up of almost the entire town, with all of them wanting to see this momentous occasion, some crying, a good amount of them being men. Selene stood up and made light conversation with Stafinson and Giles, with Abbey getting a chance to listen to Elsei and Morlan. "Hey lass, did you hear about the company in Glass Dale trying to undercut their workers?" Giles questioned her.

"I heard, though it doesn't look like we'll have to do anything if all of the guilds are going after them anyways. It's kind of why I had all of you take command of those job specializations in the first place."

"Ah, brilliant as always. Yes, we're refusing to allow any connection to them in any way, with all other guilds pulling support. They're losing employees while we find them new jobs, they aren't receiving new ones either." The empress listened carefully, already realizing that she was dooming the company to collapse by not directly interfering. They should have treated their people better. She had no sympathy for those who would take advantage of others under their employ and expect to be bailed out. Her empire was not the U.S. government, there were far too many systems in place now to get those employees into new better paying jobs. The guilds were one such system, capable of adapting and building beyond their initial job specialization, the equivalent of a union.

Moira came by and gave the dev a hug, not even caring that she was surrounded by honor guards. She received one back as the innkeeper, now owner of an apartment complex as well, spoke about the influx of visitors arriving and then deciding to stay after a time. The stout woman was almost in desperate need of some new wenches to stymy the requests for drinks. The empress gave her a heads up that it might be a good idea to start calling them waitresses or waiters. Moira took that to heart and agreed.

"Ma'am, situation update for the dragons" Grey informed her through coms.

"Go ahead" she said as Abbey explained to her the events in Gold Pine, that a mural was now painted on the side of the old smithy and her position as Assistant Mayor now to Stafinson. Selene was doing her best to multitask between two different conversations, one with her smiling at all the hard work her friend was doing paying off, while the other involving empire security and intelligence gathering.

"One Gold Dragon flying east heading towards the semi repaired Dragon Eyrie, no escort, the rest are sitting back on the island network. It's riding a low-level air stream, getting here in half the time."

"Probably thinking they can get through the top hatch that has been sealed up." The Eyrie now was sporting a brand-new automated blast door and elevator to replace the crumbling stone the red dragon had previously torn apart, equipped with auto turrets and spotlights. Whoever the Gold Dragon was, firing a warning shot might be a good idea. "ETA?"

"Two hours ten minutes ma'am. Wait… minor teleportation was used, cut that down to thirty minutes, just outside the scrambler system range. Should we evacuate the draconological research team?" he asked her.

 _I've had bad relations each and every time one of these flying purses shows up, always starting something… but this one left alone while the others stayed on the islands to the west. I don't know, seems like it isn't an aggressive movement, though last time I thought I could come to an understanding with one of them I got locked in a fucking bunker._

"Not just yet, the doors can easily hold them back along with the security force defending. I don't know if I'm going to regret this, but I'm going to put out the order to hold fire until they take a more hostile stance." The tunnel network that previously entered into the deeper parts of the Eyrie were all sealed up, being little more than passages through the stone to the real structure inside. If there was something hidden in those caves, dig teams could easily make new openings and filter what was inside.

"Just got informed, security will hold back, though they have a target lock with just about every weapon there, ma'am" Dominic reported. "You've got shadows in the sky just in case." Abbey waved her hand in front of the empress, wondering if she was spacing out as she hadn't really answered for a minute or two to a question she asked.

"Sel? Hello?"

"Ah, sorry! Sorry, just thinking that's all. What was the question? Long day taking its toll."

"Ah, well I was wondering if by some chance the railroad you had built might be put underground, potentially having two going at the same time."

"Oh, I uh… well we already have a secondary railroad for royal use, probably get something worked up. Why, is travel a little slow?" the blacksmith's wife put her hands up defensively.

"Oh, not really, I just wonder if it would make it easier for those who want to leave Gold Pine for Glass Dale at the same time the train is coming back that's all. Would it take too much work? I'm sorry if I suggested something that would require so much effort."

"Uh… well, it would require excavation of the road, reinforcement, a tunnel to be installed, railroad to be laid, wiring and cable, I… well we could but-"

"That's fine! That's fine! Forget I asked! Really. You must have so much more to worry about now. How many towns and cities is our glorious empire up to now anyways?" Abbey said, shaking her splayed fingers to stop her from thinking about her little suggestion.

"Um…" Selene did a check on how many were now incorporated in her Hud with the map reports. Given the total population was now at roughly nine million, with that more than likely expanding to fifteen million once Artinia was completely taken over, the towns and cities registered didn't have as many people living in them as would a place like Silvinholm. There were quite a few villages that took up the slack. "Roughly around one hundred, give or take a few. This doesn't include the villages." Abbey whistled. That was the combined number, though it sounded bigger to anyone that didn't do the math.

"It must be very exhausting dealing with all of that. But, then of course, you are considered a goddess now, am I right? Probably not as bad as I'm thinking it is" her friend said with a giggle and whispered a little as she elbowed Selene gently.

"Ah… yeah… heh… I didn't choose that label though…" Abbey joked with her involving the followers, though she mentioned that they were productive around the town, with donations for the homeless, what little of them there were given the systems in place to get them temporary rent free housing, jobs and educations.

"Five minutes out" Grey and Dominic both reported.

 _I know I should leave this to the security, and I know I said I'd let the android ambassadors talk to others, but I'm getting tired of these idiots flying in and thinking they have the run of the place. I need to give a piece of my mind to that Gold Dragon. I also need to make sure once and for all if they really are all selfish and think of nothing but building their hoards._

"Heads up, rolling breach for the dwarves, they're trying to regain a foothold. Also, intel on the child refugee from the hidden escape tunnel leading to Paldos City. Name is Tariq; we cross referenced that with any intelligence we've gained from Tal Salunbal… one of seven children of the Sultan, Gazi Haref Arun. Tariq is the youngest." Grey posted a dossier of the Sultan with satellite pictures of him leaving his palace.

"So, wait, what the hell happened? Why is his son an escaped slave from Paldos City? Capture? Sale? Kid got lost on a trip?" she asked, wondering how they all missed that.

"Kidnapping and human trafficking, chances of finding him would have been slim to none. Could be what the monks are looking for now" Will explained, adding into the conversation. Pictures showed up of the monks making camp, the leader looking up and closing his eyes to take in the cold air. The dev's eyes landed on the markings of his sleeveless muscled brown arms. They looked incredibly familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen the design…

 _I made a magical system that used similar tattoos to that, but it was never implemented in any of the builds because of the side effects. Yggdrasil certainly didn't have that as it wasn't copyrighted to them. It can't be… there's no way. Has to be just normal tattoos or mana infusion or something._

"Shit, so we already know where they're going to try and head towards… the dark elves don't need a bunch of aggressive monks interrogating everyone, then trying to physically rescue the prince _and_ cause an international incident with us… god damn it, three things at the same fucking time…" she muttered.

"You don't have to be at any of them ma'am, all of it can be taken care of without your intervention" Will told her quietly.

"I know that, but we were already working on me showing up for the dwarves anyways. Which one can be handled immediately, which ones can wait?"

"The Gold Dragon is just about to… they landed just outside, realized the top hatch was sealed and aiming. They've… transformed into a blonde elf, female. Security has her contained, she's not moving or trying to fight. The dwarves just barricaded a second defensive line, they'll hold for the next two days. The search party won't arrive in Olva'lore Forest until three days from now." Selene sighed in relief, Abbey hearing it. There was a schedule to keep up with it seemed that gave her some leeway.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Ah, no, just… I uh, sorry to say, but I can't exactly stay. Got to get back to work and all." Giles gave her a hug as they said their farewells, with Stafinson kneeling and taking her hand, thanking her for being there for the unveiling. She nodded at him with a smile and headed towards the convoy, though was stopped by the group of followers that were singing hymns. "I really don't have time for this, whatever it may be."

"We have come to inform you, goddess, that a brother of ours does not see the same way we do. He has gone to start something involving you that we do not condone, straying from our path."

"The load of crazy that was just outside my castle walls? Yeah, met him. He's being treated by medical professionals now… in a prison…" They all looked at each other.

"Then it is by your justice that he will be defined. It will be remembered for all that wish to be saved by your divine light, that your home is holy and shall not be tainted." They began to sing their hymns again, not moving from their position.

 _Except people have been invited to visit already, so that defeats what they're saying. I really don't have time for this._

Selene scoffed and used her amulet to teleport right to the Eyrie front entrance, leaving the convoy to pick up her entourage and the crowd awe struck at the scene. There, sitting on a rock, was the transformed gold dragon, seeming to wait for someone with a title to arrive. There was a little silence between them as the dev just stood there, sizing her up. The form was clearly just there to talk, easily capable of swapping back to her more intimidating winged visage. "I've got a lot on my plate right now, so let's just get this done quickly. What exactly are you here for?"

"A human that wants no small talk, interesting. I take it you are the ruler of these lands, what was once untouched by your kind?" the elf said.

"That's correct, and don't even think just because I'm human I am incapable of fending you off. I've already handled four of your kind before, what's a fifth?" The gold dragon smirked, thinking that the causes of death for the previous four was due to an army, probably with extensive losses. She still had no idea how strong the empress's military was.

"I don't exactly take well to threats human, I did not come to start a battle, though I will end it if you attempt anything. I will defend myself as well."

"Then what did you come here for? Other than to sit on a rock and look bored at me." The gold dragon shifted and jumped off the boulder, walking along an invisible line and keeping her hands out to balance as if she was on a tight rope.

"I have come to see that this Eyrie has been taken by your kind. We've come to reclaim it. It is an ancient home for many broods, one that we would like to have back in our possession. I am informing you that we would like you to leave our abode. Please, do so."

"Nope, sorry, I can't do that." The elf seemed shocked at that sudden response. Most humans would have feared her kind getting angry that they didn't get what they want. "That's not going to happen."

"I don't think you understand, human. This is ours, always has been. You have tried to claim what we have always owned."

"Not from where I'm standing. That place was in ruins when we found it; since then, it's been cleaned up, with a draconological team investigating the meanings of all your babble written on the walls. We put in new doors, swept the floors, put a new coat of paint up, even put up a little garden, I think. It's ours now. Find another 'abode' to live in please."

"Young human, I-"

"Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. It seems we didn't get the regular formalities out of the way before we started talking about this. Your name is?" the dev said, cutting her off and flustering her a little. Grey was listening in through a security model nearby, offering a heads up for negotiations and how to perform psychological tactics on her. Gala was working on different options to have this whole meeting end without a fight, with the empress getting something out of it.

"Zazastrelaex, though… if it assists you in addressing me… you may call me Zaza."

"Zaza, interesting, though I may still use Zazastrelaex. I don't know how many humans you've really spoken to, but I can read and write. You can call me your Empress Selene." There was a slight twitch from Zaza's left cheek at hearing that. Selene smiled at her, undeterred. It was done to let her know who was in charge here.

"Empress Selene… you need to remove your people from the Eyrie… it is important to us…"

"You and the group of dragons of assorted metallic broods still sitting on the group of islands to the west." Zaza's eyes widened. They shouldn't have been spotted at all, there were no ships anywhere, no magic detected trying to scry them. How did she know this?

"Yes… we want our ancestral home back. You will relinquish it to us."

"Nope. Let me put it to you this way. I don't get anything out of this, so it's clearly not a good deal. I have no idea how you think being entirely one sided and offering nothing would work. Maybe you figured your… what, majestic form would intimidate me? As I said, I've taken out four of your race already, one with a metal spike launching up from the ground and impaling it in one strike. You don't scare me. At all. I'm not going to tell the people here to abandon their history gathering and leave the lights on for you after all the work they've put in." Zaza seemed annoyed, walking towards the empress. The security aimed their rifles at her, with Selene putting a hand up for them to hold. The elf peered around her oddly, squinting as she did so.

"I can sense peculiarities of your aura… reminiscent of someone else… something like a… player… but… so much different…" she said, backing off a little and crossing her arms over her chest, an ever so slight hint of worry in her eyes now. The sun was setting, causing an orange and yellow glow to cast over the area with little snow fall nearby. Zaza seemed to nod slowly, realizing that maybe her original plan wasn't going to work, at all. Her support, the other dragons, wasn't going to be much help now that she didn't know what Selene was anymore.

"So, you know of players. That's quite interesting, really. I'm not one of them though" the dev replied, hoping to throw her off even more. That statement let Zaza know whatever she was, not to antagonize.

"I… can see that now. What do you want in compensation?" the gold dragon asked.

"Nothing, or at least nothing that you would consider worthwhile. Pretty sure big strong dragons would walk away from some of the things I'd request." Zaza scoffed.

"Surely a ruler such as yourself wants riches or magical items to help them in whatever conquests they march towards or lead their people. We can provide if it means relinquishing your hold on the eyrie." The empress sighed and brought her hand up to her forehead in a facepalm.

"Look, let me break this down for you. I don't need any material resources from your kind. Gold? My treasury is almost filled, I might have to excavate for more floors. Resources or materials? Nothing you give me will be as strong as what I'm manufacturing right now. Magical items? Probably low tier for me."

"Even this?" the elf questioned, pulling out a ring with a dragon's tooth carved into the gem on top. Selene's Hud registered it as a Wild Magic crafted item from what Orlo and Turnie could find out, though the quality was about on par with a World Class Item. The ability of the ring was still an unknown though.

 _I'm almost there with making Artifact quality tier. I really shouldn't care about this… much. Once I get to that, I could make my own, even stronger version with all the modifications I can add. Then of course, I have absolutely no idea what this thing does yet, so I could just insert my foot in my mouth. Damn it, this might be a fair trade._

"And it's use would be?" she asked.

"The power of this ring can part seas themselves, contain aquatic creatures as toys. It was made from a lost tooth of… a rampant lost friend…"

"Leviathan?" Selene questioned, fishing for intel. Zaza seemed startled. That information made her wonder how much knowledge the empress had, while what the dragoness had just said explained what had happened at Sweet Water. That proved the sea dragon had somehow gone mad, not truly hostile, just insane and not knowing what it had caused. That made the dev almost feel sorry for him, with a chance of dementia having a factor.

"Don't tell me you… you…"

"Nope, haven't ended him, though I do have troops looking in the event he shows up to cause more trouble. Does he have the capability to open portals to the plane of water? He sicked four Grand Kraken along with an army of aquatic creatures on a harbor of mine, all wiped out or at least mostly… the army I mean" the empress said, wondering if she really did remember all her development research she had to do. Multiple planes of elements, something something plane of chaos, spellplague. There was absolutely no guarantee any of that was real here.

Zaza did her best to hide her emotions as she just narrowed her eyes at the auburn-haired woman. No one on this planet knew about the krakens, or at least lived to tell about it. "Who… are… you?"

"I already gave you my name. You should sit down, you look a little pale. Well, at least paler than before." The adult wyrm shapeshifter shook her head and went to sit back down on the boulder, trying to figure out Selene.

"Even I am unsure what you mean by plane of water. The krakens live in these oceans, though few survive long enough to become… grand… mostly due to infighting. But you must have already known that… dragoness…" Zaza explained, fishing as well to see if the empress was one of her own, just hiding in plain sight with strong magic and didn't want to be found out. The dev laughed and shook her head at the failed probe for information.

"Not even close for the race, but nice try all the same. Sorry you don't have anything to really offer in exchange for the Eyrie, but it's going to remain under our control. That ring doesn't really do anything functional for us. I wish you luck on finding another place to live." The woman started to walk away, having the elf dumbfounded.

"Wait, this ring is beyond compare! Don't you understand?" she asked after the retreating form. Selene stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Ok, so it makes water move around, big whoop. It seems like it'd be more worthwhile for you to use than me."

"You can permanently keep the oceans back. That can expand your empire to the sea floor! More land, more farms to feed your people, easier travel, control of the sea against those who would attack your homes along the coast."

"Aaaaannnnd I don't care? I mean, yeah, most rulers would jump at the chance to get that in their possession, I understand this. I'm not most rulers. I'm sorry." A quick example of **{Molecular Reformation}** was cast on the ground with a flick of her wrist, lifting a massive pillar of stone and dirt and casting a metal frame around from the iron and burnt out impurities that was superheated into steel, all in the span of a few seconds.

"Tch…" Zaza made a noise, unsure what else to say. If they attacked, they'd be destroyed, that much seemed certain without even testing those metal soldiers all aiming at her. This… whatever she was… had quite a bit of power available to her. "Wait, you cannot do this."

"I just um, did. Find somewhere else to live. I'm not here to start something with you either, but if you try and fight for what we just remodeled, for what you abandoned and we have taken care of and tried to reveal the history, to learn from, I'm turning you all into a dragon scale pimp suit." The empress turned back around and walked away.

"Wait… wait! We require this Eyrie! There has to be something we can provide! We need it for our broods!" she yelled after her.

"Whyyyyyy do you need this place so badly? Make another! Seriously, you can part the sea with that fucking party trick, yet you can't pop a fortress out of the ground or something? Dragons are supposed to be powerful; I don't understand how you can't just poof in a new place to live, I don't understand why any of you would even live in caves! Wait, I lived in a cave once… never mind, forget that last bit, that would be an insult against myself, whoops." Selene knew of the tier spell **[Create Fortress]** , though she liked her **[Pocket Dimension]** a lot more. She'd like to think the dragons could cast something akin to high level tier spells at least, given most of the other races could only get up to sixth tier. Creating a new home should be easier than baking a pie for them.

"It is our heritage, where we have kept our eggs for so long. It was also where we helped delegate how to deal with issues amongst our race since time immemorable. You want us to be living there… human… it would benefit your empire."

"Last time I had any dragons anywhere near here, two got shot out of the sky because they were coming in aggressively, one tried to eat my lead draconologist and was impaled by me, and another tried to stick me in a magical bunker as treasure and was a thief of eggs. Your kind have put a bad taste in my mouth so far, Zaza. I need a little more than-"

"Eggs?! What eggs?! Where?!" the dragoness jumped off the boulder and bolted towards the empress, a security model jumping in front of her and blocking her path. The elf had barely enough time to skid to a stop and bumped against the automaton, with the soldier not even moving an inch. Her face had a desperate look, her eyes searching the woman behind the guard. It wasn't anger on her face, but desperation.

"Why do you need to know?" Zaza backed up and transformed, her scales radiant in the fading sunlight. A QRF rolled through the nearby trees and aimed, multiple HRVs with a mobile SAM carrier. A grumbling sound came out of her throat, sounding almost as if she would try and incinerate the empress with a breath weapon. It was just her sighing, doing her best to calm down and focus.

"Those are our stolen children, empress! Where are they?! We must retrieve them immediately! I know exactly what dragon you had met before now! Where is he hiding?! Please, this is important!"

"He's dead, I blew him up." The gold dragon stomped the ground and roared, though the security held their ground.

"No vengeance gained… this cannot be…"

 _Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? Wait… damn it… she hasn't tried to attack me, she's offered a ring as payment that most people would start wars over, she's been mostly professional… she's desperate… they're just as diverse as we humans in personality it seems as long as they can't intimidate to get what they want. I'm planting a stereotype I made from previous encounters on her. Fifth time could be the charm… maybe… doubtful, but maybe… if she proves the same, I guess the stereotype will hold._

The empress turned around and carefully scanned the dragoness, turning on most capabilities. Level 90, Gold Dragon so not hiding her race… size was two hundred seven feet… diet _wasn't_ humans… age was 623… karma was high… lawful good.

 _Aaaaaand that proves my stereotype was wrong. Damn it._

"If I tell you where the eggs are, will you promise not to beat the crap out of the people who have them? I kind of would like them to survive the encounter" she questioned. Zaza looked down at her and leaned close.

"Tell me."

"Uh uh, not until I hear the promise. They don't need even more bullshit happening to them right now. I've got an investment in them holding their barricades for a little longer."

"Barricades… dwarves!" the dragoness deciphered what she had said somehow as her wings helped raise her into the sky and take flight, a long odd whistling roar coming from her as she headed for the Kaldanas Mountains.

"Huh. How the hell did she… where do you get…" The dev checked in with Grey while completely baffled at the connection made, who informed her that the dragons on the islands were heading now after the leader. "Damn it, she better not cause them to lose anymore men or I'm going to have to speed up my schedule… I am not going to explain to the mountain king about the dragons, at all."

"I won't tell if you won't ma'am" Will said. Dominic and Grey agreed.

"We really need to practice a little more on keeping hints out of your negotiations, ma'am. You're still a little off with your choice of words" Gala told her.

"Yeah, I know. How the hell do you get dwarves from barricades? I would have thought humans or orcs or something, not dwarves. Now if I said tunnels or mines, then yes, but… barricades? Flying lizard Sherlock Holmes right there." She sighed in frustration and made sure there were a few Lazarus Systems ready, just in case they somehow found out she tipped the dragons off. The dev didn't owe the dwarves anything but resurrecting anyone who was killed by the draconic creatures as a good will gesture could tip the scales in her favor.

She put an order for Zaza or the others to not be allowed inside the Eyrie, at all, not until they offered something up worth the damned place. A plan started to form in her head, aiming at maybe giving in under a very specific condition, however. "You know your grand escape has made those followers worry they have offended you, ma'am? They're looking for a way to apologize." Selene facepalmed.

 _ **5th, December**_

"So… this is the whole clan here now… great… wonderful…" The empress said in sarcasm while yawning, standing in front of a fairly large group of dragons, most with interesting harnesses on their wings and chest holding their eggs. Where they got the leather, she didn't know, though it might have been something magical they created on the fly. "Don't tell me you picked a fight with the dwarves to get back those things."

"These 'things' are our children, human, we would fight the heavens for them."

"Has the transfer of the Eyrie been completed?" another asked, a male silver dragon.

"Nope. Still owned by me. The deed hasn't been transferred and never will." The dev sat down on a makeshift stone chair popped out of the ground and waited for them to try and negotiate. There was no need to get angry, given almost all of them had on average a chaotic good alignment with a relatively decent karma.

"Enough of this! The Eyrie has been ours since the beginning! Who is this mortal to lay claim to our home?" The voice came from none other than a red dragoness in the back, her alignment seemed to be somehow registered as lawful neutral. Why she was among the metallic clan standing in front of the small human was beyond Selene.

"I'm the landlord who had to clean up all the trash and replace the carpet due to squatters. I'm also not seeing anything other than a ring being offered by the supposed previous tenants." Zaza put her eggs down and shapeshifted back to her elf form, walking up to her.

"What can we even offer that you would want? You already discounted an artifact that most would fight their own kin over." The dev shrugged and looked around at all the scaled faces looking down at her.

"I dunno, you could become citizens of my empire if you want. That would mean you'd be under my rule, kind of like the high elves and the dark elves. Also, you don't bother the team learning about the Eyrie, having new history to put in the museum helps everyone understand their world. I'm kind of expecting you to not accept this, given what you are and all." The gold dragon's elven face dropped. She couldn't be serious. A laughter spread through the others as they thought it was a joke. No dragon bowed to a human, or any lower mortal race, ever. Zaza, on the other hand, could only vaguely sense how strong she really was.

"This is a joke, you are pulling our tails, yes?" the silver male, Gelg, asked. Selene just shook her head slowly.

"My way or the highway. You live here, you don't eat any farmer's livestock, you don't harass any of my citizens because you share the same citizenship. You get all the benefits that come with that as well, all the rights. That basically means no adventurers coming around to steal hoards or try and kill you, no armies coming to invade, you get to live decent lives. I get immigrants that can teach about your kind, explain wild magic and anything else that the other races don't fully understand. I'd say it's a pretty good deal in both directions."

"And you also expect us to somehow fight in your wars" the red dragoness snapped.

"Nope, don't give a shit about you being in any skirmishes and frankly, you'd just get in the way of my military. I don't even want to try and show any of you off, if I wanted to, I'd get a clockwork dragon built for that. Oh wait, I sort of already did that." With a wave of her hand, a huge form flew in and landed made of some unknown metal, with gears layered along the joints and serious armor paneling everywhere else. Jets seemed to puff at segments throughout acting as small thrusters along the wings, the maw slightly open with a heat emanating inside along with glowing eyes. It was massive, easily dwarfing an iron male sitting in the clan.

"What is this abomination?!" one of them snapped.

"No, that's a clockwork dragon, the abomination was something I fought roughly about a month ago, two very different things. If I want to, I get to show this thing off anywhere I feel like, so I don't really need any of you. I'm offering a chance to get your home as long as you bend the knee… claw… wing… whatever. Again, I'm seeing a good deal here for both of us. You get your ancestral home, get to be happy Clockworkians with all the nice stuff offered; I get historical accounts of things you guys and gals have witnessed or been a part of, translation of draconic, maybe a few other minor things… this heavily favors you all, seriously." The group looked around at each other.

"This can't be… we can build another…"

"This has history in it for us! As well as… that… We cannot!" They started arguing with each other, debating on the choice. The dev got a heads-up notice from Robert involving one of the science teams finally fixing all the development of the meat trees. They could be planted whenever she wished, producing protein chunks with the texture of chicken, beef, different types of fish, rabbit, even venison and a few others with more to come with altering the mutation. That answered the feeding issue for the dragons. It also offered a chance to transform ranches into more farms. The ranchers wouldn't need to worry about feed, though they would need to worry about waste disposal and an upgraded fence to keep wildlife from sneaking in. There also wouldn't be a lot of greenhouse gasses emitted either. Becoming a complete vegetarian without foregoing the benefits of meat or dairy was a real thing now.

"I… accept." Zaza kneeled to her, with the others shocked that she would do so. As she looked up, Selene just thumbed behind at the door.

 _I was not expecting that. I really wasn't. I thought they'd just say fuck it and leave. That's proof there is something very important hidden away that I need to know about._

"Head on in. By the way, I am serious about how rent is to be paid in the form of assisting the people throughout the empire and educating the team here. I don't have time for freeloaders thinking I went soft on them." The red wyrm stomped forward, trying to ignore the puny human in the way.

"I wouldn't do that Narastrael." The red dragon stopped and looked at the kneeling elf. "She is more than meets the eye." Selene just sat there, her arms crossed, not really moving as she smiled up at the dragon attempting to bypass her.

"My house, my rules. Don't like it? Go, get out of here. The fact I even see a chromatic dragon amongst metallics must mean you made friends with them in some way, either an alliance or whatever. You're the outlier here from what I can see. Is there even a room with your brood color on it?" The others simply stared at her, wondering what she would do. Her reputation as a chromatic that was now a part of this clan was on the line now. The red dragoness growled in response, glaring at the empress, then softened quickly as she looked at the rest of her clan.

"I… yield… by the ancient ones, this is mortifying…"

"Head in, mind your head, don't step on any of our stuff. If anything is broken, please be sure to call maintenance." Each dragon finished with bowing to her, then strolled inside the main armored gates, no paperwork due to the fact that Selene didn't think they would even try to sign.

What they found was a clean tunnel entrance heading to the main cylinder a kilometer in radius, with a spiraling ramp fully installed to each massive chain of chambers branching away, making the whole place feel like a giant tree hollowed out the mountain. There were structural supports placed throughout, with lighting strung everywhere not allowing one single shadow to be seen. It was also incredibly clean, with no dust found, the floor reinforced with steel rebar concrete slabs where it didn't continue down into the depths further. The branches had enough space for roughly twenty-five full grown dragons each, though the empress didn't quite know how large a brood could grow to. A small tent city was in the middle with Erina and her sister studying fragments.

"Wha… dragons?! They aren't… I mean… they're… don't tell me… are they going to live here?" Yelena yelped out as they passed by. Four gold, three silver, three steel, two bronze, two brass, three iron, two mercury and a red. Not one platinum or copper was seen. There was no guarantee a platinum even existed here.

"And they aren't even trying to eat us, very interesting. I wonder if I can ask some questions of them, maybe get past some blocks in our research here" Erina replied as each brood settled in, placing their eggs carefully down. "Oh, they're going to eventually bring a hoard, it's going to be interesting to catalog all of it."

"Don't do that, just… just don't do that" Selene said as she came up behind the two women.

"But… oh… I was hoping to…" the dev shook her head, worried about the end result. The last thing she needed was to hear about one of the students or Erina getting hurt or eaten because she looked like she was stealing something. Yelena gave her sister a light bonk on the head for even thinking that would go smoothly.

 _The dragons can bring more stuff as long as it isn't taken forcefully from my empire. I don't care where they get it, as long as it isn't from my citizens… or cause some big ass monster to show up looking for its doll… oh please don't piss off something that's bigger than you guys, I don't need Godzilla showing up wanting his limited edition whatever back…_

The red dragoness looked around, with no large brood chamber set aside for her. Selene sighed and decided to show some mercy, given she had been a little bit of a bitch towards. "You, this way."

"That's the copper brood."

"So what? I don't see any copper dragons in this group. We'll build more branching chambers as we go." The dragoness pointed with a claw at the writing on the wall next to the supposed new home. It must have meant copper or platinum in draconic. "Oh, for fuck's sake…" the stone that the etching was on was ripped from the wall and knocked to the ground with **{Molecular Reformation}**. "Happy?! There, home. No one will take it and say it belongs to someone else. Empress's orders." The creature didn't know what to say. This human took full control of the Eyrie, didn't even care about what used to belong to whom. They now had a home, though the question now crept up… why didn't they have one before this?

"Each chamber is made with the proper-" promptly cut off by the flustered dev.

"WE HAVE AIR CONDITIONING HERE!" Selene snapped at her. "Seriously! What, do you want to live near the core of the fucking planet?! Ice?! We can get a freezer in here or something! Pretty sure that's fifty floors down! They just excavated all of that rubble! Pick one! I mean come on! This is now yours! I'm giving it to you!"

"Narastrael" Zaza said as the red dragon looked up to the gold. From what the dev could remember, reds were supposed to hate gold, silver and copper. However, there were some tales of good red dragons that completely flipped the alignment system on its head. This might have been one of those cases.

"Fine… I accept."

"Once the coppers drifters and, if the ancients allow it, a platinum arrives, you'll provide a new chamber for them, yes?" Zaza asked the empress.

"Alright, fine, sure, whatever… wait, when they arrive? Where the… never mind, I'll get an administrator over here to answer questions and put you all through orientation." She didn't want to inform them that they weren't that high on her priority list and didn't want to sound even more like an annoyed stuck up bitch, doing her best to stay professional despite her outburst.

"Orientation?" the gold dragon asked.

"Yeah, you know, laws of the empire, rules, policies, what your rights are as… as… citizens… probably would be a good idea to hold some sort of class about this… and have you all shapeshift for it…" Selene looked around and saw the adult wyrms walk out of their chambers, the eggs placed down as they got a chance to explore a little bit. It felt like her first true immigrants coming in getting their green cards.

 _No national anthem to learn, no pledge of allegiance, probably should have them taught how to spell in at least_ one _of the many languages here… even if it isn't English, I don't want to try and figure out what the hell draconic translates into on paper… Erina would talk my ear off…_

"The benefits."

"Right. If you're hurt or sick, provided you can't use some sort of magic to heal, hospitals and clinics are free, etcetera etcetera, you'll get the rundown a little later. I have a question though… well, two questions now that I need answered as your empress." Nara and Zaza both stood there in full scaled form, looking at each other. They weren't as scary as anyone thought, at least the ones willing to talk and not eat something smaller than them. "First, _why_ were you needing to find a new home in the first place? We know which direction you all flew from, it sure as hell wasn't from this continent. That's pretty far from what we can see. Without that air stream from the islands and that teleport, we saw that by the way, it would have taken six hours by jet, I know this because I've been to Hawaii. Running from something?" Nara glared at her and huffed. "It was a question, cool it. This lets me know if we need to be prepared for whatever is behind you."

"A kingdom that had been reborn into a golden era decided to surrender to another. We lived there for a time, but could not accept the new ruler, an undead of incredible power with beings from his crypt enforcing his will. We had heard rumors that this would come to pass, though not with such a dramatic showing of force in such a short amount of time."

"Showing of force? Your kingdom got conquered?" Nara grunted and stormed into her chamber, not wanting to hear anymore. It was painful it seemed to hear of her home cooperating with the undead.

"What we heard was that they manipulated others for their own ends. Those rumors were apparently very old, as they had since grown in strength and were just as capable with an all-out war through vassal countries and a growing army of undead instead of manipulation. Now, we are here, hoping to somehow rebuild our reputation. I believe you humans would call us… outcasts" Zaza explained.

"I believe the term is refugees, not outcasts. Sorry to say this, but from what I can find out, your racial reputation is shit around here. Dragons do not care about anyone but themselves, that's what we've all figured so far. You're going to need to prove this false."

"The few cause problems for the many, word travels fast from those very actions as they tend to let one survivor escape to warn others. No, it is not, but it matters little when we have such difficulty changing that. Politics amongst us is… strenuous at best, violent at worst, especially when alliances are few and far between; the fact we breed slowly and live long lives is also a factor, making it difficult to recuperate any losses in a fight. Most of our kind are solitary as well. There have only ever been two kingdoms that had dragons have direct connection with the government, one being to the far east. Our… misuse of wild magic has played a factor into how others see us though."

 _That basically means there are villains ruining it for the rest of them, just like us humans. One acts like a dick, they're all dicks to us. Stereotypes, I'll squash mine, thankfully. I really didn't want to keep thinking they were all like the previous four idiots. Regarding their politics, I kind of feel sorry for then; If one of them tries to show mercy or kindness, it can potentially get others to treat them poorly or take advantage of the situation. It's like a bunch of high school girls picking on the one that isn't popular, diving on any perceived weakness. Narastrael probably is treated as inferior in any other red's eyes, might even be killed. I'll go easy on her…_

"So, you ran… flew… up here with… what is this… twenty?"

"Correct. The eggs the dwarves had, they were part of our broods, stolen by a notorious thief, an iron dragon."

"Yeah, I'm trying to figure that one out. I thought the iron brood were supposed to be renowned for their size and strength, not much of a thievy kind."

"One of my kind can be just the same if not properly educated or tempered. Narastrael is supposed to be at odds with Gelg, one of the silver brood, yet they find common ground. Do you not have many different criminals or heroes in your empire, from all walks of life?"

"Point taken, sorry. Now, my second question is… please please please, don't tell me you beat the crap out of the dwarves… I know you took your eggs back, but I hope the fortress isn't trashed…" the empress pleaded, bringing her hand up to her face and covering it in worry.

"They refused to give them back. There was no other option, they wanted to keep what didn't belong to them. We did our best to keep damage to a minimum though, only defending ourselves as we made our way in, not seeking out those who kept back. They did nothing to earn those eggs. You said you had met the thief and ended him. Is this true?"

"Yeah, he got to see an explosive I tend not to use often. I didn't take your kids. I looked at the logistics of taking care of the… broods, small broods at least, or batches in this case; wasn't worth it. Little tip, there are restrooms built here now. Please use them to relieve yourselves, because no one is going to shovel but you. Same goes for your chambers, try and keep things clean. I don't care about the hoards all of you start up, just don't steal from other citizens here, I do not care about anything outside of my borders. Please teach your… wyrmlings? Drakes? Potty train them, teach them how to flush, the little lever on the side." Zaza chuckled, a slight rumble from her mouth.

"And food?"

"Yeah, working on that. Please tell me you're all omnivores, it'll make this a lot easier." She remembered the iron dragon could eat the namesake metal, but beyond that… it was probably meat. The empress immediately tasked her super farm to get those seeds for the meat trees growing ASAP.

 _How much do they eat? Does the amount change if they shapeshift into a humanoid form, or do they wipe out whole feasts by themselves?_

"You have… our thanks." Zaza turned around and slowly walked towards the winding rampway to explore her new home.

"Zaza." The gold dragoness turned her head and gazed at the empress. "There's more than just history as a reason you chose to be here. I'm guessing there's some sort of ancient magic or defenses, maybe a weapon you were looking to get. Answer truthfully, what is it? Better to answer and not have one of the research team pressing random buttons." There was a grumble heard as she turned away, mulling over the question asked of her.

"This Eyrie once tapped directly into a ley line of this world; it is where all dragon kind once started. As the broods grew, animosity came with the increasing numbers and less territory to share, eventually causing all to abandon it. This was neutral ground, protected by a mana barrier using the ley line; an undead, dracolich or otherwise, would shatter if it attacked the barrier. It has obviously fallen into ruin, more than likely not connected anymore or completely destroyed. I would like to assess if this is the case."

 _Whoa, an infinite mana barrier… probably to protect against the early dragons practicing wild magic along with the undead… keep the windows from being broken by a stray baseball in essence. I can't see anything else strong enough to attack an eyrie and surviving until players showed up. Could be interesting for a project._

"How long ago was this?"

"Long before humans were a race."

"Humans as in homo sapiens or humans as in the whole evolution ladder? Because there's a drastic difference in timeframe." Zaza let out a chuckle.

"Your… scientific naming convention for your people… is what I am referring to." Selene thought for a moment. That meant this eyrie had stood for over 350,000 years, maybe more. Considering the state she found it in, it didn't surprise her the place was mostly rubble unattended. It was interesting that parts of it had lasted the test of time, as she remembered her history courses in high school and college showing pictures of ancient human cities being little more than foundation lines in the ground now, the buildings long having been obliterated. It was a testament to the construction, or maybe there was fading magic that kept everything up and running. "… is this all you wish to speak about?"

"Uh… yes, though I may have more questions in the future. The draconologist team may ask a few as well… just try not to get annoyed with the leader, let her know if she's bothering you and the others too much" the empress explained, wincing a little at the end. Zaza nodded at her then continued down to see what else had been repaired.

 _Right… that's taken care of… dragons live in my empire now… this is going to take some getting used to… if I see one flying through the skies, don't have it shot down… oy…_

"Oh fuck, the dwarves!" the empress mumbled out as she snapped her fingers and turned on her heel, running down the main entrance tunnel to reach a waiting helibot. For all she knew, they were barely holding on now. Her schedule just got sped up.


	32. Ch 31 Pandora's Box

The helibot picked up the empress and quickly flew her towards the Kaldanas Mountains, straight towards the dwarven fortress. "What's their status?" she asked over coms.

"Currently holding back a last barricade before the puppets enter the main fortress area, then it's going to be fighting door to door. If that barricade breaks, and we aren't there, it's a done deal that they won't survive, complicating matters outside their gates and taking time to clean up from both above ground and below" Will replied with Grey affirming that.

"Why would it take time from below?"

"Because Dominic just tasked 12th Brigade to hold back."

"Wait, what? Why?" she snapped out.

"Take a look." The soldiers that were supposed to be pushing up behind the faith eaters had stalled further down at the mouth of the tunnel due to other creatures coming in to see if they couldn't get their hands on anything in the Drow city. Most of them didn't know what the automatons were, which usually meant only one thing for a good amount of the races that showed up… combat.

"Shit, how many different… whoa, it's a team battle royale? Bugbears, Illithids, vampires, trolls, Kuo Toa, there were even a few beholders there. "And they're fighting my soldiers?"

"When they get too close at least, it's mostly dragging from one side of the zone to the other, trying to scavenge for whatever they can or show who is superior in capability. Anytime they come near our men, they are promptly reminded of their mistake" Will told her.

"None of them are giving us trouble?"

"Not yet, though it is keeping them from advancing along the egress tunnel the Drow made, constantly watching their six for an attempted push."

"Drop some explosives, get spider mines deployed, set up auto turrets, send fast strikers up the cave. We need to pincer these things!"

"They're doing their best ma'am, they are guarding 19th Support as well. They were never meant to move fast."

 _Damn it, but I'm not about to tell them to abandon an entire brigade to fend for itself, no matter how powerful my military really is. I've gotten this far without losing a single soldier, I'm not about to break that streak now with foolish orders going against Dominic's judgement. He's probably thinking the same thing._

"There's something in the city they all want, isn't there? It couldn't just be they smell blood on the wind and are looking to cash in, something is drawing them there that they all are hoping to snatch."

"There is, though nothing to truly worry about. The Drow down here had found a way to solidify mana into bars or jars for storage. We've already collected a few samples for the eggheads to look into."

 _But I already have mana potions that never expire, not that I'm using them right now. Why would I need mana ba… oh, maybe a tradeable resource? Huh, might be useful for blacksmiths or even someone who runecrafts to work into their creations without need of a wizard, kind of like carbon blocks. Giles might jump at getting another shipment with some of this in it._

"So, they want to, what, eat it, use it for spells, grind it up and snort it to get high? Do we know yet?"

"Nothing concrete as their actions are currently focused on survival, not on taking from the limited supply." Selene sighed and shook her head slowly. Things were going so well a few days ago, she was jumping for joy at all the things that were tipping in her favor. Now she had to deal with an aquatic assault on Sweet Water, dragons now living within her borders, finishing up the last few villages of the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe, warrior monks from Tal Salunbal making an incursion to hopefully find a long lost prince in Olva'lore Forest, dwarves about to be destroyed and Silvinholm under siege… which technically wasn't her problem, she just made it one.

"Alright, keep me informed if they can break away." Will acknowledged as her staff cut coms. There was a small list of things that had happened that she hoped would de-stress her short flight. The 3D printer had launched with a gantry, with the inventory hopper finally latching it into place. The odd thing was… the positioning was moved. The original plan was to have the space station built in LEO, however somehow this had changed. "Juliet, why have the station coordinates changed for production?"

"Why keep the stations stuck in LEO? I got the go ahead to alter the positioning to Lagrange points and high geosync, at least L1 and L2, with another between the moon and the planet and a few other locations."

"Wait, who gave the… oh. I see. Yes, I gave them the authority to do things like this… wait, stations? Plural?" the empress asked, confused.

"Surprise! COMOPS was able to finagle two pods at the same time for both trips yesterday in a cluster launch if you will, speeding up the schedule and extending the range on the mass drivers, bless their metal hearts; technically, two of the 'convoys' won't officially start until the first one is nearly completed in its first stage, as the travel time and set up near the asteroid labeled 'big metal 1' will take some effort, so your first official station will be just between us and the moon with the second being a dome station landed on the big cratered thing.

Energy diversion is a little low to keep firing pods like that, it'll warp the coils if it continues, we've been requested to add in another main reactor and a secondary coil skeleton which shouldn't be a problem sometime this week. You'd think having six micro reactors and twelve generators would keep the place going, but it looks like they need some official core power units installed to keep up with the needs of going against the launch policies. Are you happy?" the auto questioned coyly. The dev chuckled and nodded to no one in the transport.

"Yes, I guess I am. I was a little confused and annoyed, but, even though I've named them, I'm just not used to them helping out just yet or thinking ahead. I keep somehow figuring they'll just send recommendations on what next to do, not just actually, you know, doing things to get the empire going. They send reports about what they've commanded others to perform, it's not like they hide anything."

"We'd never do that ma'am, they have no reason to secret away information. The reason why we agreed to move their positions was for expansion in the future and secrecy, along with multiple dock points around the planet without needing to go to one spot or launching at a certain time of day to take the shortest trip. All for convenience, maybe in the future to link all of the stations in a space ring, if the locals are used to seeing advanced tech by then of course. Your staff even mentioned they would talk to you about getting an underground, underwater, floating on water, and airborne city created."

"Not until we deal with the threats down below or the large threats in the oceans. I have no idea how many krakens there are, or if there are other things similar in size. Until we can be assured that nothing is going to rear its freaky head and take a bite out of a section of those aforementioned cities, I'm going to say no. Besides… why even make them? The only people who would go to either might be myself or the Valkyrja."

"Just opening up avenues to expand ma'am, things will start to get pretty hectic for real estate once Artinia is smoked and the rest of the continent is under your control, which I firmly believe. The oceans and underground are just more land mass to use if you open your mind to it, just with a bit more hazard involved. If we plan well, it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, it'd be a good proof of concept and learning experience, let us know what works with the construction and the wildlife" Romeo chimed in.

 _I never said we wouldn't, just right now it isn't viable due to the unknown threats. We need to seriously catalog everything that lives on this dirt ball. That zoo and aquarium is looking really good right now… probably add a monster bestiary containment center for study as well._

"I understand, but I'm just going to tell them no until things have calmed down. Too many things flying in all directions right now; without a population to make use of those expansions in territory most of it would just be a waste of resources. Besides… couldn't we just get city models made? I mean, those all would fit in one room…" Both Romeo and Juliet laughed.

"You? Worried about resources?" Juliet scoffed out in an amused tone.

"Har har, despite anyone thinking otherwise, I don't have an infinite amount. The fabrication units scrapping drones for spare materials, then getting melted down, along with converters and mining is still finite; I'm just stockpiling for if something really bad happens."

"Like an intergalactic war? The sun going supernova, so we have to pick up and leave? No offense ma'am, really, but the amount of supply you have set aside just for me to use with my combat engineers is staggering, there's still wood in the listing we haven't touched for the past… I mean, we haven't touched anything below graphene or gelcrete since they were developed, hell maybe on very rare occasions we use copper or steel for signage, and with Carbyne… you could outproduce the whole planet right now" Romeo replied.

"Romeo, hon, most of the planet is still in the middle ages, so that's a given. Also, send some of that our way if you aren't using what's available, you're currently talking to the queen of civilian construction here, like, you know, the girl that still uses wood in abundance for the people?" Juliet commented.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant she could theoretically build whatever she feels is needed or wanted, and if it isn't, well our recycling stations are more than capable of getting all of it back."

"True. I'll swap the stacks over to you Juls, hopefully they'll help" Selene replied to both of them, however the fact he stated there was a bunch of relatively unusable materials in her inventory that her empire, at least the part that she directly worked on, didn't need was a little amusing. Wood and even stone was far beyond obsolete, she just didn't take most of the excess out just yet as it could be fed into converters for small amounts of other resources.

"We have plenty as well, but we're going to need an influx of it soon once Artinia is just a bad memory; fixing up decrepit homes and getting them up to code, at least a decent medieval code, takes a chunk per town. Silvinholm would make me pull my hair out if I actually had any that wasn't metal. Who puts their homes so close like that?! Has no one heard of fire hazards?! One spark and a whole neighborhood goes up in no time flat! These aren't apartment complexes!" The empress laughed. She liked listening to her creation's banter, it felt so right hearing them mouth about issues happening around them they were trying to fix, just as invested in everything getting done as she was.

"Five minutes to LZ" the helibot warned her as it cut corners and dove over Eld Horn Town, Liyana looking up through the trees as she saw the royal transport up above. The girl hoped some day she could ride in one of those, if their ruler allowed it.

"Gotta go, thanks for the update on the stations." Both Commanders of construction divisions disconnected with a green wink in the channel on her Hud, and she was alone again. Hrist and Brynhildr were again off to help Skuld finally train her Pegasus, which she hadn't yet even ridden yet. The students were all hoping to get a chance to see them ride through the skies, three Valkyrja heading off to an imaginary war, their regalia stunning with custom weapons and shields for all at the academy to see.

The helibot landed just as she got info that the exotic herbs were grown and picked, ready to be used in the new elixirs.

 _Now is not a good time to have an upset stomach while standing in front of dwarves._

She tasked a company to split away from 7th Brigade that was near Sweet Water and diverted them to escort her into the fortress. As she looked up at the front gates, the dev realized she was breaking the locks yet again. "Alright… this time we're going to see if I can get something out of this…" she said to herself as she took a deep breath and remembered the recommendations that Gala had given her on proper control of her words.

As she pushed forward with a strong presence, there were no guards waiting for her, no dwarves seen anywhere, and clear damage noticed coming from the entrance to the mines.

 _Was I too late? No, there's no fog around here, they must have sent everyone to hold the line._

As she walked around the main core along the massive stone path towards what she knew was a beacon from the recon team, the empress spotted in the far distance the mountain king and his lackeys, the nobles of the houses. They were arguing as a massive barricaded door bumped and shook with strikes from the other side. "Tally of targets?" she asked over coms to the recon team.

"The Drow city had as many as 80,000 citizens, however given the-"

"The tally now, not before. I want to know how many puppets are behind that gate."

"Currently 120,000, give or take a few hundred." The prince turned around and pointed at Selene walking towards them and gasped, trying to get everyone's attention.

"You. You seem to come at inopportune times. It's like you can tell when we have bad luck thrust upon us. It's very peculiar" the king stated, seeming to mime what the nobles were thinking as they nodded.

"I did warn you about a tunnel supposedly being made by Drow."

"Then you knew of these things, didn't you?"

"Just recently found out they were down there." The king looked a little dumbfounded at that answer.

"Wait, you knew these things were down there? Meaning you had explored the Underdark knowing this would happen!" one of the nobles exclaimed.

"Please listen carefully to what I've already said before making accusations like that, considering you have no idea who I really am beyond these stone walls you have. We started exploring when Olva'lore Forest was tagged for a raid from Drow. Last time I checked, they have more experience with their ancient cousins. I wanted to make sure another raid couldn't happen, so we counterattacked. There's more down there than just these faith eaters by the way, a lot is riled up."

"By you no less" another noble replied, she seemed to be caked in makeup and a head taller than the others.

"Maybe they are looking for other avenues to fund projects just like us? Oops" another noble, this one a little younger than the and larger with very little facial hair said as he backed up a little bit in worry. He seemed a little sheepish to her.

"We're keeping a distance given they seem hell bent on beating the crap out of each other, so again, no. Why waste ammo on targets that will die anyways?"

"You brought those things up that tunnel! You-"

"The _Drow_ tried to escape up the tunnel. Their city is lost. Those things followed the last few morsels and came upon you guys. Simple. You got caught by someone who wanted to raid your fortress, but instead got sucked dry by these things." The doors shook violently again as guards tried to keep the barricade in position.

"She's-"

"She's here for a reason obviously. Are you here to offer to help with this intrusion? I must ask, you're a little late in trying to help given we were already attacked by dragons for the eggs you happened to find" the king responded, trying to remain calm despite the army of undying creatures behind the gate.

"Funny, I had dragons try and take an abandoned eyrie we found. They also said they found eggs that belong with their rightful parents. Now, given I didn't exactly know full well what they had in store, and they were at least fairly hospitable to me, they've been allowed to become citizens." The nobles were either shocked or grinning that she just blurted all of that out, somehow thinking they had the empress dead to rights, and no one would want to work with her. It was as if they believed her reputation with the dwarven people was now stained permanently, like that meant anything to her.

"You… allowed those monsters to take the eggs and bring them to you? You… you…"

"I didn't really know they'd do it, my thought was that we could have spoken on more amicable terms to get their children back. For all I figured, once they showed up with those harnesses, it was all too easy a ploy from seeing their kids and thinking they needed a home, that I couldn't possibly turn them away. As long as they abide by the laws and rules, they are my citizens, they shouldn't bother you again… unless you have something that still biologically belongs to them."

"So now you get the eggs no matter what." Selene waved a finger at the king.

"Uh uh, those eggs belong to their parents, which just so happen to be in my empire now. I have no ill will towards them as long as they mind their manners and don't be freeloaders; those eggs are not my property in any way. I really don't care how you feel about them because, well, we aren't even doing any business right now together; hell, we don't even communicate unless I initiate contact. Also, I'm going to turn this game of twenty questions on you now. What the fuck do you think you're doing trying to stand up to dragons that want their kids back while you're fighting on a second offensive? Mainly, those."

She pointed straight at the door shifting with dust falling from above. A crack was seen at the top, meaning the puppets were piled so high they could somehow try and break through the top wood and steel. 120,000 bodies squeezed into the tunnel probably didn't give them much room to move anywhere.

"They're going to break through your highness!" a guard yelled as they tried to use ladders to keep things contained.

"We… we…" the king tried to speak, but he looked at the rest of the nobles. Something was happening amongst them that the dev couldn't quite figure out, but it worried her, as if they had dirt on him and each other in some capacity or had a stranglehold on the fortress. Their politics right now weren't to her benefit… something was amiss. "That is our choice to make, we decided to do so."

"And you lost a lot it seems for that blunder. Your people must be _really_ happy with your actions."

"How dare you… how dare you think-" another crunch, louder this time, came from the gate. A hand tried to pop out. "Enough of this! If you're going to help, then help!"

"Hold on, hold on, we haven't discussed a return on any effort I put in, given we aren't allies or even directly cooperating. I want something this time after our previous relations got a little soured. You didn't want me sticking my nose in your business with the giant rat slinking around your mines, that's fine. I didn't get anything out of that other than having to deal with being locked away for an hour. I've learned my lesson from last time, and I apologize for doing that. However, now, after talking to you, we are going to cut a deal before I act on anything. Don't want to step on anyone's toes again after all."

"A deal?! Right now?! They're about to break through! And you are interfering anyways by being here!"

"And my soldiers behind me can handle them, that is if an agreement can be made between us. I came here to see how bad the situation was and potentially offer assistance, given if they did break through they'd pour into my lands right after. It seems you have a barricade up keeping them at bay, at least for a few more minutes."

"This is outrageous! We're about to die and you want payment?! Have you no honor?!"

"I did all the work last time; given we don't do anything together, no trade agreements or research coalitions, I have a right to be suspicious of you just as much as you have being suspicious of me. Little tidbit though, I've been truthful. I can't say the same for your nobles though, feeding you false information. What did they tell you when I first showed up? I was rampaging around the forge and broke in?" Another wooden panel popped out of place, with a new metal one hastily smashed in to ward off the arms.

"By the ancestors! What do you want?!"

"I want the dome the hoard was in and any constituent connections, equipment and items inside those parts… minus the hoard."

"She just wants to steal all the magical equipment there!" One older noble snapped out.

"You seem to be hard of hearing or like to repeat the opposite of what I've explained, as I just said I don't want the hoard. You probably already shoveled it all out now, which is fine, should obviously go to you to pay back for all the lives lost to the iron dragon before I showed up. I want the vault it was housed in and anything it is connected to."

"The mines are connected to it, you want those too?!"

"Ah, that would be wrong, sorry for not stating that as well, my apologies. I want just the vault, as in the entire layout, not the stone you mine through or the ore veins. Before anyone asks the next question, I know someone will mouth at me, my reasons are my own I don't have to tell you why. Take the deal or leave it, we aren't exactly allies here." The top of the gate was breaking as the dwarves got ready to defend the rest of the fortress.

"You'll be killed here as well! You're standing right next to us!"

"I'm fully capable of getting out of here and waiting for the creatures to attempt to escape from both main entrances, then mopping up. I _get_ the vault either way, dealing with you just shows that I'm not a complete monster. I'm trying my best, but obvious suspicion seems high right now. I could always come back later once you've had a chance to think on this."

"You are just like Artinia with your Clockwork Empire. Humans are all the same it seems."

"I'm seriously trying to understand what you mean by that. Artinia kept trying to invade, I'm trying to save your lives, your home, push back an enemy, but I better get something for it or I'm wasting my time and resources for your benefit. I'm not your mother, you are not part of my empire, and it isn't as if you send ambassadors out to meet with us or trade anything. You aren't the only dwarves on this planet, I'm certain of it, and I'm also not the one striking you down." The prince saw the gate crumple a little more and shrieked, making him look far weaker than his title should bely. They had been whittled down by three major events happening to them so quickly, though one was their own doing.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Ivan Torrent – The Power of Will)**_

"Yes! Yes we'll give you the vault!" the king shouted at her as his own honor guard got ready to defend. "On my word! Just stop them!" Selene turned around and carefully walked towards the gates as another part of it buckled. She motioned for the guards and other workers to move away from the door, with most thinking it was suicidal. The barricade kept getting pushed back, with more and more of the wood breaking, hands reaching out but couldn't get squeezed through from the mass of bodies behind the gate.

The dev stretched her hands out and focused, not on the gate itself, but behind it on the stone tunnel. The barricades were knocked away with a final push, the doors crumbling and falling to the ground with a massive mass of arms and screaming trying to fall forward. Her hair started to glow golden in concentrated highlights streaked through the red. As the woman reached out with her hands open, her fingers in a grasping motion, the puppets did their best to try and fall forward like a wave of death coming for her.

With a concentrated thought, a combination of **{Molecular Reformation}** and psionic **[Telekinesis]** slammed the side of the stone inwards from both sides of the tunnel while the psionic barrier pushed the ball of biological destruction back, sandwiching the puppets and mashing them together like paste. The first 200 meters or so of the fortress the faith eaters had made their way through was now sealing shut, waiting for the rear to be cleared. A few limbs were chopped off in the process, dropping to the ground and flopping around, scaring the hell out of the men and women still anywhere nearby.

"Can 12th pull up behind now with 19th?" she asked over coms.

"They just got some time to do so ma'am. They're heading up. Incendiary weapons should take care of the situation." That meant it would take another few hours for the area to be cleared… and a very bad smell was going to linger on that side of the city. Meanwhile, the dwarven nobility collectively and proverbially shit their pants at what she just did, blinking the entire time, too confused to speak to each other. They had seen wizards cast spells to close tunnels, but nothing like what she had just shown, usually causing the ceiling to collapse down, not the walls to close in. That's when the dwarves realized, the company of soldiers around her wasn't to help fight off the faith eaters… it was to turn on them if they tried to backstab her.

"You'll pay for this, somehow" the king grumbled out, looking at the nobles for agreement, as if he hoped they accepted his words as what they would say. That was when the empress turned and stormed towards him, the guards of no use as she pushed them away and stared down at him.

"I'm going to pay for this? I just saved your asses, now I have an army coming to clean up the back drain of your tunnels, and you cannot for one minute say thank you? Seriously, you cannot think for even a little bit to show appreciation, that we actually thought about your lives instead of just letting this all happen? I… I…" she bit her lower lip and looked towards the ceiling, clearly annoyed and also realizing their internal politics had more than met the eye. "Whatever, I'm done talking to you. We have tried to extend an olive branch not once, but twice showing we aren't Artinia. Next time it's your choice to attempt to meet. Live or die, I don't care anymore." With that, the dev stormed off towards the mines, with two guards wondering if they should somehow stop her even though she was promised the vault.

"Let her go, it's not as if there's anything worthwhile in there anymore. We agreed. As long as she doesn't stick her nose into our ways this is fine. As long as they don't start scrounging around in our city…" Selene heard from far behind through the vocal sensors of an automaton rifleman. The brand-new repaired gates to the mines were opened, allowing her to leave without issue, heading down into the myriad network sprawling through the side of the mountain.

"Will, Grey, Dominic. I've taken care of the dwarven issue now. Any info on what the dwarves are doing to themselves? I got a feeling the nobles have the king by the balls back there, that he isn't really in charge."

"You're not adding me ma'am?" Gala inquired.

"I thought you were in the middle of public relations. Didn't mean to out you on this. Something fishy is going on inside this underground city, wondering if it's having an adverse effect on the people."

"I thought you didn't want to be the police for the whole world ma'am?" Will chuckled.

"I don't; I'm worried that they might try and, I don't know, cause a world disaster somehow that we'll have to clean up. They were all for keeping those eggs and not sharing them, which obviously turned out badly. I'm just seeing a lot of the reactions being done by poor intel given by nobles, that then make the king look like a fool."

"So… you want to save them from themselves?" Will asked.

"Internal strife can make a government unstable, then potentially collapse. It's one of the reasons you don't want anyone to have WMDs without knowing they'll stay civil and not sell them off" Gala replied, with Grey right behind her.

"We don't yet know the full layout of the fortress, and if they are in fact attempting anything with their runecraft. Technically this makes us look like we're jumping at shadows… however, some of those shadows actually have some substance to them" the Director of Intelligence commented right after.

"It could be nothing, I'm just seeing them be a little shifty around each other more so than even me. Have some dark teams inside the city for long term reconnaissance and evaluation; it's possible I'm just overreacting about their attitude to us but there could be something I'm not seeing. I'd rather not get a one-time view of the city falling apart, have high elves come along hunting nearby and see, I dunno, part of the mountain collapsing down on top of them due to infighting."

"Understood, we'll get those teams in there and keep an eye on them."

"Yeah, just looking, not until we see something that needs an intervention." Before the dev could end the conversation and enter the remains of the vault, now dark and foreboding, Will told her one last thing.

"Interestingly, Zazastrelaex informed us that we might want to look out for copper eggs somewhere else, as there were none found there. Her 'clan' would have picked them up, regardless of being from another brood."

"You mean the dwarves might still have them or the iron dragon stored them further in the caves or?"

"We don't know, never got the chance to fully investigate the dwarven mines just yet. It's entirely possible there was a backup site the iron dragon used to stash them away. One of the dark teams could run an investigation while they are on the inside." Selene cast **[Light Orb]** multiple times, setting them high as a few of her soldiers set up auto turrets and portable armor barricades to keep any miners or guards from snooping around. This was hers now after all. Once the temporary welcome mat was set up, they proceeded to install lights along the damaged walls with portable battery packs, the mediums moving any large debris around.

A metal panel from up high disconnected from the ceiling and slammed into the ground next to Selene, making her look up and glare as if lady luck was trying to screw with her again like last time. That was all that attempted to hit her, as despite the ordinance she used on the dragon, the dome wasn't completely obliterated. There was obvious extensive damage along the walls and ceiling, but the bracings mostly held, with only minor stone boulders falling in after some plating was dislodged.

The floor held up well, with dust and dirt all around. The hoard was almost entirely gone, bar maybe a very thin layer of gold coins not yet swept up from the indented paneling. There were circular supports running along in an intricate design, as if a foundation for something else should have been sitting there. For all she knew, the place could have been a real bunker meant to house a small town in the event of a war outside, though it was certain the dwarves never built it.

As she walked along the ridges, the nobles and king walked up towards the defensive perimeter, barred from entering by her soldiers. "Why are we not allowed to enter?! This is still within our mines!" the king snapped, though there was a definite hint of hesitation in his voice, not from fear aimed at her, but from his party it seemed as he looked for acknowledgement. With a casual flick of her hand, her eyes not even leaving the ground which she walked carefully, the gold coins and a few platinum flicked up and rolled across the ground past her automatons and right to their stubby legs.

"Think of this area now as an embassy, foreign soil until I can get all of this dismantled and taken out of your little mines. Then it's all yours again, the empty stone."

"So, your claiming this area as your property?" She rolled her eyes and glanced in their direction.

"Obviously you don't understand what an embassy is, and I don't really feel like educating any of you with your hostile attitudes. You see, I get to deal with any consequences of this place now, not you so you're safe and sound. Bar anything stupid happening by your own actions, we won't bother you anymore. If you really want to talk, send an ambassador next time that understands anything in foreign relations. Now, if you'll excuse me." A multi panel bullet-proof electro-chromatic glass wall was set up that would turn opaque as soon as power was activated, keeping any prying eyes from trying to figure out what she was looking for.

 _I'd rather they not figure out this kind of magic or tech, whatever the hell it is. Better in my hands obviously than theirs given how they look like they're all about to stab each other in the backs._

She pulled a chair from her inventory and flipped it around, sitting with the backrest facing forward and watching as part of the company lightly blasted away dirt from the floor. The dev looked around at the walls, seeing behind the first paneling an extra layer that hadn't fallen out.

 _A double layered wall? Is the thing still active? The doors were wide open._

The empress stood up and walked quickly to the wall and hit it lightly, at least to her, and saw a dent appear where her fist struck. Whatever magic or tech had kept it in shape, it was disabled now. A structural support pillar was ratcheted up to keep anything else from collapsing as a small inventory hopper was placed on the floor to allow extra recon autos to be brought in. One armor panel was picked up and showed the whole thing was etched and warped with the same discoloring Damascus Steel had, though no electronics or special tech was seen in a chipped off corner. This was starting to look like special magic spells, or a ritual was used along with very high-end alchemy.

As she walked back to her chair slowly, her heel tapped against a section of the floor that made a different sound from the rest. The dev stopped and started to move from section to section, listening.

 _Ting… ting… tang… ting… ting… tang… tang… tang… something is right here._

A recon light helibot was brought in and scanned the surroundings with the same features Orlo had to detect the layout of the eyrie so long ago. What it found startled the empress. There was a well reinforced stairway leading down to another tunnel, heading deeper into an unknown area. The bunker she was currently in was the main entrance it appeared. This wasn't a storage place for a town… it was the beginning of a facility.

Selene tasked multiple mediums to carefully help her in removing the floor, as the almost imperceptible latches and locks were very well hidden under each floor panel that needed an electromagnet to unlock. Once an opening was made, multiple flashlights were aimed down from rifles along with some popped flares dropped in, just in case the Drow had somehow tunneled wrong and had a branch off. No life signs were detected inside but it didn't stop her from being careful. A fireteam was brought with her honor guard as the empress slowly descended down the stairs further into this new unexplored place. Even though her eyes could see in the dark, an extra light orb was brought out just in case to see anything special that she could miss, traps or objects of interest.

The underground armored tunnel had a long worn out rail cart system, so it looked like she needed to continue on foot, walking along without pulling out a buggy to speed the process up. No breaks were found in the tunnel, no real damage from the bomb going off above it. The whole trip took a good half an hour, leading away from the staircase to a small branch of rooms with one massive one in the middle. The interior looked clearly steampunk in almost every regard, meaning someone understood electricity, phlogiston and weird science to have built all of it. One room looked to be a small bedroom, another was a kitchen, a third was storage.

In the main hall was a raised circular platform with wiring and cables hooked to a massive contraption, its use unknown just yet. There were windows interspaced along the outside, seemingly meant to allow viewing whatever was supposed to be stored, though one "door" seemed to be broken and the interior empty. Multiple desks lined the outside of the platform, with one in particular having a chair sitting in front of it. Lying there was a human skeleton, draped partially over the desk and holding a necklace. There were piles of books, documents and paperwork sitting on the desk, along with what should have been the remains of food long since dust on a plate.

What seemed to interest her the most was a holding container propping up a black large crystal, the size of her fist, glowing with a white and light blue color, winking every so often. Selene lifted a book off the desk and blew on it, getting rid of nearly an inch thick of dust. As she opened it while her escort surveyed the area, the pages inside seemed to tell about a diary of a man, a player it appeared from Earth.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Ólafur Arnalds – Lost Song)**_

" _ **Day 1: Bought this book, it's one of the few ways I can see keeping notes of what myself and my granddaughter are doing here. One minute we were enjoying trying to play the game, the next minute there was a glitch of some sort with the servers, everything went haywire and we're now in this… this New World. I'm unsure what to really do, as the people here in this town we found don't really recognize our attire. At least the coin we use gets us by for a little bit, precious metal is precious metal after all.**_

 _ **I've seen some incredible events in my time in London, but I don't think I'd ever seen real magic. Games got pretty close but watching a wizard here is a sight to behold. No one here seems to understand science really, which is in a way sort of a good thing for myself and my granddaughter. God, my son would kill me if he knew I got her to play with me. How was I supposed to know this would happen? She was interested in hanging out with her granddad, it was a fun bonding moment and she was happy, which is more than I can say for that stupid boarding school they were going to ship her off to. She doesn't need to learn to be a proper lady at her age, she's six! She needs to learn to be a bloody child!**_

 _ **I guess I'll have more to write later once I cool off and had time to think, given I can't exactly get a computer obviously."**_

The empress pulled up a second chair, creaking then suddenly crumpled with her falling on the ground as she attempted to sit on it. "Ma'am, are you alright?" one of her autos asked.

"I'm fine, just… I forgot time takes its toll on everything." The dev got up and dusted herself off, created a new metal chair and placed a cushion on the seat from her inventory to read more, flipping through pages as it told of their adventures now stuck here just like she was. Whoever this man was, he knew steampunk and how to create it, at least some of it. Her tech tree was what she only figured was her own creation, though now that she got a chance to look around, it seemed this man originally played Warped Steel: Steam and Occult. The game unsurprisingly never took off, with a low subscription count of cultist fans. Selene had never worked on it, but she did know of some of the design choices as one of her professors in college did develop a feature that was the basis for any electric tool crafting and use in any game from then on. Most of that that she'd have to wrack her memory to remember now.

 _Damn, you've been dead for a long time, that's easy to see. Where is the granddaughter? Clearly not here, her skeleton isn't found. Grown up maybe and moved on with a family of her own?_

" _ **Day 15: We're doing good for what that's worth, made a bit of a name for myself as an alchemist, though it's not as if I can show the hobby skills I have from WS. We got hit by bandits once, got a chance to really show those bastards what for with a rocket fist weapon I cobbled together. I think I got a nickname from the locals after that, calling me the 'Steel Fist Grandpa.' As long as they don't try and kidnap my granddaughter again, I won't go after them. She's gotten particular good at taking care of the cabin while I make my runs into town and firing that rifle, helping where I can. We've been able to make a decent living so far, saving up to move into a real house I want her to live in, not out in the forest."**_

"Ma'am, we've found ammunition in the storage room" her soldiers informed her. A lever-action rifle was brought in, looked like an old Winchester model. Who was using that could have been debatable, as the granddaughter might have played as a Marksman class or a Gunslinger. The theme of the game was Wild West with steampunk mixed in. _Why_ this man would allow his granddaughter to play in a game that requires shooting at her age was beyond her, though children did sometimes act more mature than their years allowed. The empress flipped more pages, wondering where this creation in front of her started coming in. The chronology seemed to change from day whatever to actual dates now as she picked up another journal, then another.

" _ **March 8th, still unknown year: Damn that blasted fever just won't go down for her. She got sick after we tried helping down south, some sort of flu or something. She's been a trooper this whole time, but it's catching up. She must have caught what the people had down there, but luckily there's a wizard back home who can take a look given we have the coin now. Even if he can't, I know some home remedies to take care of her. We all get sick once in a while."**_

" _ **March 9th: I just found out what I signed on for to help with and threw the coin purse in their faces. I'm getting my granddaughter out of here right now, what they said can't be true. The disease is supposedly magic immune and cleansing immune from mixtures, meaning a wizard won't help. What the hell was I brought in for then?! Somehow come up with something new?! Had I known this I would have kept her back at the cabin! She's getting sicker, all because these wankers thought having an alchemist come in and brew up some potions would save their lives, didn't tell me how deadly it was, and now are hoping I'll stick around. I know they're desperate, but they could at least have spilled the beans! Bloody hell, this place can fade away, my granddaughter's life is on the line and more important than theirs in my eyes!"**_

" _ **March 15th: My granddaughter is getting really bad… the wizard couldn't do anything… I've gone through concoction after concoction, some of them throwing her into a coughing fit, others at least easing her pain… there has to be something out there that can fix this, I need antibiotics or some vaccine or whatever the hell this thing has as a counter… I can't let her go like this, she has too much to live for… even in a place like this…"**_

Selene stopped reading for a moment and looked at the skeleton, lying there and grasping the necklace. She was starting to get an idea of where the young girl went, and it didn't exactly involve growing up. No real scientists, no doctors due to magic making the apothecary trade somewhat pointless… not branching in multiple directions tends to pigeonhole a civilization into being unable to cope with some issues. It was the same with Earth and the companies that wanted to monopolize growing any produce with genetically enhanced seeds. The 2080s were an utter catastrophe as multiple waves of plagues washed over the lands, destroying crops everywhere, though it at least caused those corporations to go bankrupt. "I can already tell where this is heading, sadly" she said quietly to the skull.

" _ **March 20th: Her breathing is raspy now. I don't know if I've slept in the past few days, doing what I can to make her comfortable. She's never going to see her parents again, her father. She probably doesn't even remember what they look like now after all these years. That face she makes when she's grumpy, that smile when she learns something new I teach her. The only thing she can do now is try and keep me calm, as she somehow knows… she isn't staying for much longer. I've tried praying to every god out there, and none of them fucking answer. To fucking hell with all of them for allowing this disease to try and take my granddaughter! I haven't truly given up yet, there's still one last mixture I think I can whip up. Just hang in there, your granddad isn't letting you go just yet…"**_

" _ **March 22nd: It didn't work. I didn't know what to do, so with her last few hours I brought her out with me to see the sunrise. You know, she wanted to be an astronaut, go up into space, see the stars, somehow visit other planets. I used to tell her she could be anything if she tried hard enough. Given the technology in this world, that seems so bloody far off now for her. I just… I just held her as she watched, smiling and trying to let me know it was ok, a sixteen-year-old trying to comfort an elderly as she just drifted away. I'm the one who is supposed to die before she does, you understand? I am! This isn't how it's supposed to be."**_

There were clear rips from multiple pages torn out with a few marks of the tip of a feather smashed into the cover. He was hurting at that point. The loss of his granddaughter was a tremendous blow to him.

" _ **March 23rd: I found an odd trader in the town as I tried to find an undertaker, I just didn't know what to do about a coffin. I wasn't about to bury her without something to cradle her body. He was trying to get rid of some magical items I had never seen before, but then again, it's not as if I really gave a shit. I bought a black gem, probably the size of my hand from him. Supposedly it was a soul gem, almost impossible to create in abundance and usually used to try and create a connection to communicate with the dead, though the man didn't exactly understand all of the items he was offering. He tried to sell me other random gubbins, though he could tell I wasn't in a good mood after everything. Maybe I'll use the gem, somehow, to speak to her, at least set my mind at ease that she isn't suffering anymore."**_

There were a few darker spots on the pages, discoloration that didn't seem to be the same as the edges that seemed to coincide with tear drops and a little scraping of ink not quite making words. The dev looked up at the gem, now wondering why it was pulsating. A thought that occurred to her was that the age of the granddaughter had jumped from six to sixteen, meaning there were multiple journals around that weren't on the desk. Given that there were no years written in either of the two she was reading through, it was going to be interesting to figure out the chronology. There also didn't seem to be one mention of the granddaughter's name, though there were some torn pages, smudged words here and there and faded letters.

" _ **March 25th: I… I don't know what I was expecting, should have asked questions of the damned trader better or talked to the local wizard who is now moving. The soulstone doesn't**_ **talk** _ **to the dead, it allows you to contain the soul of the dead for other means; she had been resting in peace for under a day and this blasted thing sucked her lingering essence from her body. This is something a necromancer would use damn it! Bloody hell, I sealed her up in this fucking thing! She's trapped! If I get my hands on him again, he's not living to see the light of another sunrise."**_

" _ **March 26th: I think it was the booze talking, but it got me thinking. The stone could be used maybe to somehow make a new body for her. The game had a really basic form of cloning that could be created, at least in WS, but it'll take a whole lot of work and a whole lot of power. It's also the soul of my granddaughter, I don't even know if she'll remember much of anything or if her memories even come with given how the thing worked in WS with the mechanics and all. There's no instruction manual on how soulstones work, at least beyond the chant I used! Maybe that's all the bloody necromancers want, a soul to work with in their dark schemes. Still, if there is a chance this could… could bring her back and see her smile again, have my granddaughter back… I've got to try."**_

"So that's what this whole thing is for." Selene looked up at the machine before her, realizing this was a steampunk cloning chamber, though not quite what would normally be expected. She knew of the mechanics for killed characters in Warped Steel, ones that were hit by an attack from a boss with certain debuffs that the devs warned about. Those debuffs could delete a character, regardless of being above level 5, which was far harsher than Yggdrasil's mechanics. Someone would build the thing for the guild, resources would be fed into the machine, and a new whoever would pop out. The costs would be higher each time it was used, making death in the game not a great thing to have happen if you had that debuff. It also made those hardcore raids very unpopular to most casual gamers and promptly removed, though the schematic to make this seemed to stay. This was the reason most players in Warped Steel had very high health, might have even been considered 'tanks' regardless of class in this New World.

The dev skipped through pages, finding out that he had gotten the materials to make the bunker, intricately reinforced it and had a wizard enchant each panel to give it more resistance to electricity and heat, allowing it to withstand unparalleled damage by anything not a nuke… which she happened to use. It didn't quite explain the protection against physical force, though that might be lying around in one of the rooms. It seemed to take him a good few years to get the structure built, knowing that his age was getting up there. The journal ended with her finding another just below it, cleaning it off and noticing the schematics he wrote down, all the little pictures he drew… along with some drawings that survived the test of time from his granddaughter, standing and holding hands with her grandpa, eventually turning into portraits of him as well as herself.

" _ **December 1st: It's getting cold around here, been around another ten years since I got this place built and I can't for the life of me get enough heat to build up from the furnaces. I've nearly got the chamber completed, the problem is getting the necessary reagents to pump into it. Poppet, I'm so sorry, but I had to grind up your bones for one of those. It seemed right at the time, instead of using something some grave robber dug up, could be cursed and all and I wasn't taking chances. Somehow I feel like I'm desecrating your old body, but I'm positive I can fix all of this. I'm getting tired as these old bones of mine aren't what they were before. Hard work getting this whole thing constructed, harder still to try and scavenge what I could for the cloning chamber. Would you recognize me after these years have passed?"**_

" _ **December 5th: I just got some news from an incredible wizard… no… he called himself a mage, battlemage it seems. Do those exist? Two different spell casters? Probably some sorcerers around as well maybe. He had a young boy along with him. The young man told me no memories of their past is stored in the stone, that what I was getting wouldn't be my granddaughter, they would be someone new. I was going to knock him out right then and there, but I somehow was afraid someone would give me that knowledge and that he'd easily defend himself. If I somehow did find the last remaining reagents, would it really be my granddaughter inside? Or just some young woman I brought here, unsure what was what in this world, having to relearn everything and using her same essence? Would that mean she's just reincarnated?"**_

" _ **December 24th: It took a few more days, but I have what I need. I know it won't necessarily be her, but I also know it still has some of a connection, just getting a new chance at not being sad, to not need to think about never seeing her father, my son, again. There's no shackles to her life, she can learn whatever there is on this world. I'm hoping I still have enough time to teach her once she's 'reborn' in hopes maybe, just maybe, she has the same dream to become an astronaut or going to the stars. I can at least set her on her way for that dream with some extra tech made."**_

 _So Teagan met this man long ago, probably with Gabriel when he was a child._

There seemed to be some pages torn out of the second journal, which caused her to look around as it was the end of the book. She finally found them under the skull, lifting it carefully so as not to disturb the dead. The necklace fell out of the hand and dropped off the side, though she caught it midair and brought it up to her face. The small latch door opened to show a pretty impressive small painting of space. It probably belonged to the girl. A little bit of fluorescent paint seemed to be on the stars, more than likely something that glowed in the dark.

" _ **January 2nd: There's a blizzard outside, can't go out for more supplies right now. Bad news is I don't have enough power to start the chamber, and some of the reagents decay over time. I might need to start from scratch once I get a second generator made and a capacitor to cover the power spike. There's also another problem… I think, I think I had a heart attack this morning, might have worked myself too hard. I'm really afraid I'm not going to finish this. Well, enough writing, I'm going to see if I can take it easy for a little bit."**_

" _ **January 9th: Blizzard isn't letting up, and three of the reagents are dried up, one of which was some of my blood used as a catalyst, a separate ingredient in hopes I can somehow bypass the randomization that I dread so much. Shouldn't be a problem to get some more drawn again, but I'm going to wait until I can rest a little more. I'm really tired the last few days. Sleeping more, eating less. Stuck down here without someone else to talk to makes my mind wander, to all the fun times I had with my granddaughter. The first time she fired that rifle and brought dinner home here, never forget it. She grew up a little that day to help take care of both of us here. I'm going to have a new one, that much is for certain, or maybe a daughter this time. I'm too old to have a daughter… no, don't think about stopping. Keep thinking about finishing this."**_

" _ **January 10th: Another heart attack, this one… isn't stopping… feels like an elephant on my chest… I'm afraid… I'm afraid I won't see any of my family on the other side… if anyone reads this, I'm sorry I couldn't finish what I started, I'm sorry… I couldn't bring her back. Please don't destroy that stone, don't damage it, don't sell it around or use it for jewelry. She doesn't deserve that. And not one necromancer better touch it either. That little hopeful soul deserves better, a new life."**_

Selene put the papers down and just stared at the soulstone, then looked up at the giant machine in the middle of the dome. "Well, I'm sorry that this all happened to you, old man. I… can't say I can really do what you want, given this is steampunk tech I don't even have right now given the design. I'll… see about reading through the schematics, but I'm not going to promise anything." She was speaking to the skeleton right in front of her, with obviously no response expected. There was a somewhat calming silence that seemed to sweep across the place, as if his ghost was able to at least rest in peace at hearing that. "Damned impressive what you built here by yourself. Hopefully you can rest in peace, I can at least promise I won't damage the stone."

 _ **Four Hours Later**_

Hrist and Brynhildr finally came back to the palace, though it seemed a little empty of any organic beings at the moment. "Jeeves, where is the empress?" Hrist questioned.

"I believe she is in the furthest study, General." Both women got on a small cart with driver due to how large the palace really was, needing a vehicle inside to get to the rear of the massive estate. Once they reached the study, both could see walls were disconnected from railing on the ground and cabling was strewn around. As they both walked in, they could see an impressive pile of… stuff.

"What… is all of this?" Bryn asked as they looked around, seeing autos cleaning and spraying down pipes and metal panels, with Selene sitting on a chair and scrubbing a socket point down and trying to read through multiple open books. Plastic tarp was strapped to the ceiling to keep dust and debris from flying around along with stopping the carpet from getting dirty.

"It's what I got from saving the dwarves. Hey, when something says tab A, and you see slot A, you usually assume tab A goes into slot A right?"

"I… maybe? Yes?" Bryn said with a confused laugh. "Why?"

"Just trying to understand the reasoning behind these schematics. I swear, some of it feels like it was written in reverse. There are steps missing, I'm positive on that. I mean, this picture right here is a piece of this, and then it just jumps to half the finished product. What the hell." The empress picked up a glass of water and drank from it, sighing deeply after. "Some of this I can't make heads or tails of."

 _I swear this looks like the manual to build my old Ikea furniture in college! Just more technical!_

"What is it that you brought?" the blonde shield maiden asked as she continued into the room, stepping over a large pipe. "Also, why did it have to be in the palace itself? Shouldn't this be in your labs?"

The dev stood up and turned around, watching some of her workers flush some of the equipment of any gunk sitting inside tubes out to a waiting vat. "The labs are going to be moved soon, didn't really want this to go with it. There's plenty of space in the back of the palace, easier for me to reach."

"Shouldn't your scientists be focusing on this endeavor Selene?" Hrist asked.

"Probably… I decided this was going to be kind of a personal project, at least partially for the time being to catalog everything and read through what was available. There's some magical items that seem to be incorporated and I don't want to send them off to Nikola and Robert just yet, mostly because I'm worried we'll strip any beneficial effects off while reverse engineering."

"Any other particular reason?" The empress looked over at her friend.

"Curiosity. The design is quite a bit more antiquated to what I use for my tech, though some parts are pretty ingenious. Still, can't figure out the power input, it doesn't make a lick of sense… might be why he was bottlenecked in some cases, could fix that with a stronger generator… not like he had much to work with for power… as there wasn't a reactor…" she seemed to be trailing off into her own thoughts as her blue eyes wandered over everything that was brought back. The bunker was still being deconstructed in the mountain, with any prying eyes not allowed to see where they were taking everything. What surprised the empress was the fact the dwarves didn't know about the bunker this whole time until hitting the wall while mining or the dragon showing up. There was no telling how long it had been hidden away. Core dating would have to be used soon.

"Selene?"

"Huh? Oh! Right, sorry, um… you're both back. You uh, went to the academy, to help your sister… fly?"

"We did, you didn't notice?"

"I did but you didn't leave a note, I heard you went to see Skuld. I dealt with a few things today, apologies if my mind is split in multiple directions."

"Your days are never dull it seems" Bryn joked.

"Sometimes I wish they were, at least once in a while so I can keep up with all the events happening now. It's why I have the administrative staff here." Bryn looked at the top of the machine as cleaners sifted through bolts and screws.

"So, what is this anyways? You found this in the… what was it… the hoard vault?" she asked, looking at her sister.

"This was below it actually."

"Did you know it was going to be there?"

"What? Hell no; I was expecting to find something behind the main walls, maybe figure out how the defenses were set up. I had no idea there was an underground facility, never crossed my mind. I kept thinking it was a really intricate wizard's storage room or something, with the bunker a sort of elevator down for the real hoard. I was very much wrong."

"Do you know what it does?" Hrist questioned her.

"I know what it's supposed to do, just not how to get it to really work yet. First thing is first, cleaning and organizing the parts, then setting the thing up in a place… not here… then prep, installation, yada yada. It won't be up and running for at least a week I'd guess. Could take longer than that to study the whole tech branch."

"That long?" Bryn chuckled out.

"What? What's wrong with a week?"

"Nothing, just I thought seeing how quickly your automatons constructed buildings that this would be simple." Selene sighed in annoyance and a little embarrassment.

"Fact is this is reverse engineering I'm going to need to do, I'm not using the same equipment. It's going to take some time to understand the concept behind it. I'm kind of shooting in the dark with my own tech and seeing what's similar."

 _I also need to know if it's the same thing as the theoretical design for a cloning chamber from the main tech tree… or has links to the Lazarus System… A real cloning chamber would just make a copy of someone, but with no memories to transfer and just a soulstone to read from, it would be a blank slate body sitting there drooling… something else has to be imprinted into it that this machine adds in, maybe basic education? Is there a steampunk hypno training computer attached? Did we bring it back already?_

Another cable was coiled up on a large tarp, an ID tag attached. The empress had an idea of how the whole schematic was to function, though her steampunk designs didn't quite line up with the power requirements this thing could use. It was like AC to DC conversion; except she didn't yet understand the conversion rate. What she definitely knew was that if she plugged in one of her generators… the whole thing could blow from an overload.

"This is all of it?" Hrist queried.

"Still going to take another day for the rest of it to be dug out of the stone and brought here. Most of the tunnels and walls are of some interest after we got a chance to take a good look at them, makes me wonder if they were reinforced to protect against power dispersion like lightning; I guess keeping the ceiling from collapsing down on his head was a main thought process for all of this… I found the equipment that made the doors impervious to damage by the way."

The dev pointed to a burnt-out block of gears and wiring, overloaded by the bomb she had set off. To the empress, it was a crude structural integrity field generator, something from the likes of Star Trek, and there were twelve of them in total. That in itself was enough for serious study from a full science team, not so much to use as there was a similar schematic already available, but to understand the deviation in the tech branch. It also opened up the question of just how primitive steampunk could get before it was just considered running off magic instead of science.

"We'll uh, we'll leave you to your project, your majesty" Brynhildr told her as she patted Hrist on the shoulder and motioned with her head to leave.

"You don't have to, I mean it's not like… whoa whoa whoa, don't organize the gears by size, group them by section! I need to know what went where later" Selene responded, splitting who she was talking to midway towards her workers. Hrist looked back at the empress as her sister smirked and headed for the door, the dev waving her hands for her autos to reorganize as they had not truly been ordered to do anything specific beyond bring the pieces in, clean them then tag. Her pet project was going to take some time to complete, what with everything else coming to pass.

 _ **Midnight**_

"Ma'am? It's the middle of the night, you really should go to bed" Adesha informed Selene as she sat in the middle of a circle of books, a pillow behind her and a cup of coffee next to her left knee. The wolves were all lying nearby, each of them asleep, though probably annoyed that they weren't on her bed. The auburn-haired woman was flipping through pages of one tome while double checking another, recording her findings on a thin laptop. A half-eaten sandwich sat on a plate with some cheese and fruit as a side. A part of the machine loomed overhead, an internal sprayer for the supposed cloning chamber.

"Huh? Oh" she replied as she looked up, forgetting the time. "Sorry, was just…"

"Just reading through everything you've found?"

"Seriously, this is… this isn't my steampunk. I mean I know there are different paths one can take, Dieselpunk, Arcpunk, Silkpunk, continuing on to like 30 different types now; the problem is I have to understand his reagent crafting first. Some of this… here… right here, crystallized fire as a heating source, crystallized lightning for power. This goes back to primitive alchemical stages, using primal resources to get each section to work right; earth, fire, wind, and water with derivatives of each, ice and lightning etcetera. There's even mention of a heat ray using all of this. I think I stumbled onto Elementalpunk." The dev turned a page and pointed right at it. "Some of these designs look like ancient ideas of what sci fi space combat would be, with the ray guns and bubble helmets. Others look like-"

"Empress. I know you're very interested in this, but you won't figure everything out in a day. I understand if you want this to be a pet project and hold off from handing it to Nikola and Robert, however it might be a good idea to let them in on it so they can at least advise."

"I know that. I've already given them a heads up, they'll come by to at least look at it tomorrow. I'm more worried we might inadvertently damage the soulstone, which is why I'm being careful with it. The journals said something about breaking the stone into pieces doesn't let the soul out like I had seen in old games, it requires a ritual of some sort. Maybe that's just because of whatever material this is made out of" she said, picking up the object, seeming to be warm to the touch and softly glowing "and there might be other designs with different uses." Selene sighed and put the stone down. "I'm just worried we'll just lump this whole thing in with every other project we do. This is the reason I never really touched necromancy, can't bring myself to screw around with souls or life force."

"You are worried things won't go according to plan. Perhaps you should wait until tomorrow morning so that you have a fresh mind to understand what is in all of those books."

"That's the thing, I understand what he's using and the general concept, I just need to catalog just about everything. I'm more fascinated by how some of it works. The main source of power is shards of an elemental plane made physical in this world… it's either one of two things, pieces of a real elemental which seems reasonable… or elemental poop."

"So, you have experience with this type of steampunk?"

"Oh, not on this particular one, I never got the chance to work for that company. I just remember studying different fuels for each version and a few of the discussions my professors had. There are quite a few that just kept building up. Luckily, most of them used the standard periodic table of elements and not unobtainium or some special material." The empress stretched and yawned, looked at the soulstone and sealed the outer container. She then got up and placed the container in her inventory. It would have to wait until she could get the whole machine rebuilt. "Alright, I'll head to bed."

"Sleep well empress." The dev walked out of the room as a regular auto maid came in to pick up the dishes, the wolves waking up and following along. Once she was inside her bedroom, another battle maid helped her get undressed and into her pajamas, one with bright red hair braided and coiled up into two buns on her head and a pair of red rimmed glasses.

"You should go to bed earlier than this empress, it's not healthy" Briane told her softly.

"I woke early for the past few days, it's not like I can't attempt a noon nap while heading somewhere. Besides, wasn't there a study that said humans were originally sleeping in two shifts, bi-modal? I mean, it'd make dealing with my day to day easier in some cases."

"Possibly, though that could affect when you meet with any officials in the future by having your circadian rhythm thrown off. It could also cause strain on events you would have with your friends and citizens."

"True, though any audience these days, bar a foreign incident, is able to be handled by one of the ambassadors usually. Eh, I guess I'll do my best to keep an eight-hour sleep schedule." The empress climbed into bed with her wolf pack jumping on and settling in, Luna fighting for a bit more room as she shifted to get Blue to the corner. The dev hated seeing them get aggressive with each other just because they didn't have personal space to rest. She made sure that Briane would remind her to get a new bed made, larger than a king size. This wouldn't have happened if Luna was the same size and weight as the others, but she was still getting bigger. Her 'older siblings' were now less than half her mass. Blue was still the fastest though.

"Good night empress. Sleep well" the redhead maid said as she turned out the lights.

 _ **Morning, 6th, December**_

Gabriel cleared his throat and walked into the dining room to do his best to socialize with everyone, keep his mind off the loss of his surrogate father. As he entered, his eyes landed on Selene sitting at the head of the table reading intently from a journal, two more to the side. There was no telling how many she had already gone through. "Good morning your majesty" he spoke as he sat down and checked the menu. She looked up at him and gave him a quick smile before returning her attention to the book. "I take it what you've found is interesting?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, you could say that."

"Some new and magical way of improving all of this that you have?"

"Uh, I don't know about improving it, but this does give me an idea of other avenues I could have gone for with tech. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." At the moment, she knew of quite a few sub genres of steampunk, with a good few of them incorporated into her tech tree already or having a branch off that she wasn't using. The other forms that weren't included were usually so ensconced in using exotic materials wholly connected to a specific universe, usually requiring resources taken from creatures, to make them normally unfeasible to produce anything with their features used in her designs. This might be one of them.

"Is there any way I can help? I… would like to provide some assistance to keep my mind focused." The empress looked up at him and smiled again and nodded.

"Well, um, I could use some magical documentation in a hands-on advisory position to help Melsia out. She's been my magical magistrate assisting with all sorts of things involving the nontechnological side of the empire. Most of it has been the judicial and administrative side, though you could add a new view for how dimensional magic works. Who knows? We could come up with a merger of both tier magic and dimensional, maybe add some wild magic in." Gabriel chuckled a little and looked at his cup, now being filled with orange juice.

"I appreciate that offer, but wouldn't I be stepping on her toes? She seems more than capable of dealing with it better than I can."

"She knows of the laws and regulations of magic, she doesn't have the direct experience that you have beyond borders; she also doesn't understand dimensional magic. I figure you could help with letting her know just what criminals and other lands tend to do with spells, how skillful outside magic wielders are, whether we should be harsher or easier going with new spell casters in schools and academies."

"You believe I have experience playing around on the other side of the law?" he asked, raising his eyebrow with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I never said that, I said you could provide information based on your experiences during your travels. Criminal events don't necessarily mean it was you causing the ruckus, just that you might have had run ins with wizards or magicians that weren't exactly law-abiding citizens for whatever kingdom you were in."

"True, I could provide some insight for how they perform their wizardry. Could help the empire." The dev nodded in acceptance, though behind the small smile acknowledging him as a new citizen within her borders, she was a little stressed that morning. She just got word that the dressage, at least the second day in Werelosil, did not go as well as planned. Apparently, a panther had somehow gotten spooked in some capacity and attacked a well to do breeder. The man is swearing to the heavens that the dark elves should never have been allowed into the empire, that the empress should remove the race from within her borders on account of one mishap. An investigation was already underway, though people in that town were still uneasy around the new additions.

"Gabriel, do you remember going to that bunker in the past with Teagan?" Selene questioned.

"I was very young, not really interested in the area your majesty. I'm… unsure what I'd really remember, though I don't recall ever entering that place before. Why do you ask?"

"It seems there was an acquaintance of your surrogate father's that built that."

"Hmm, intriguing, though I had already figured that the iron dragon had put no effort into the construction of such a place, or the dwarves for that matter." The dev shrugged and listened to his account of his travels with his master.

"Ma'am, we have an initial report from a dark team after just one day hidden away in the dwarven fortress. Just from a preliminary analysis, there is a cold civil war going on between houses and the king it seems, causing him to perform… unruly actions in order to keep everything in order or keep one of the houses under control" Director Grey informed her over coms. Will joined in as well, listening in.

"Ah, that would explain the fidgety eyes between all of them and the poor intel they keep feeding each other. No one wants to give the other a leg up in power, to the loss of their people. Sheesh."

"It gets better. We found a primitive research lab hidden away. The copper dragon eggs are apparently unaccounted for back at the eyrie for a reason, as they are actually being used in experimentation." Gabriel seemed to be explaining his experiences with other lands, not necessarily just with magic, but their culture as well. While it was very interesting to her, she had to switch back and forth between his conversation, Grey and now the others coming in to eat breakfast. Morlan was talking about his training with Elsei, who kept glancing back at the dev as if asking with her eyes when it would be her turn. He had barely even started.

"Wait, so, so they still have the whole copper clan of eggs there, _and_ they are experimenting on them? Shit, that's not what the dragons are going to want to hear and that will cause a lot of issues…" she grumbled through coms.

"Are you going to tell them?"

"Are you kidding me? Fuck no! That's asking for more problems. I can see them flying in and just blasting through their already beleaguered fortress, which is still the main hub and trade connection to the outside world for the villages hidden underground, just to take those back… the shitstorm from that would immediately set us at war, could cause strain with my citizens too if they somehow found out their new neighbors go on a rampage every time something involves their broods, tension would go up quick." Selene was doing her best to hide her frustration in front of everyone else as she talked to the director. "What sort of experimentation are they doing on them?"

"Apparently, from the documents copied, attempting to perform mind control infusion and bulk up its form once it hatches for rapid growth. Also, runecraft armoring with golem steel as a harness."

"So, keep it loyal and somehow make it grow to an adult quickly? Both at the same time does not sound healthy for the creature, adolescence and hormones are going to play havoc on it as it shoots through cellular growth; there's also a high chance of cancer I would think with the cells rapidly building up. Even I'm careful with any sort of genetic enhancement usage and I have a _volunteer_ for my project. The chances of making those things go insane without proper understanding of their minds are too high. Even I'm not willing to play with a dragon's brain without full knowledge of their anatomy here."

"Which is why I'm suggesting we keep a special forces team nearby in case they hatch, break containment and go on a rampage."

"Can they be a threat?" she asked.

"Not to us, though it could take out the fortress due to their shortsightedness in this endeavor, then head for the underground villages to wipe them out. Playing with fire without knowing how it works is a good way to burn their house down after all. A dragon, even a young one, that doesn't listen to anyone and just tries to destroy because it has gone insane won't do anyone any good. A group of them… that's asking for the final nail in their coffin."

"Let's see where loyalties lie for each noble and see what can be done to unfuck their politics. Maybe we can get some refugees out of this." Grey chuckled at hearing that.

"The best way to unfuck their politics would be just integrating into the empire ma'am, but somehow I believe that won't happen for a little bit without us invading; I could be wrong though. Best course of action would be to see who is connected to who, get some dirt on each one and see if we can't somehow sway their actions to move away from trying to manipulate something that up until we showed up was the top of the food chain. By the way, Nikola was able to have one of the science teams figure out how to implement multiple serums that could be injected into the water supply throughout our borders" Will added.

Selene involuntarily facepalmed in front of everyone as they wondered what was wrong. "Sorry, just trying to keep up with everyone's discussion around the table" she told them with a weak smile as she continued to listen to what Grey had to tell her. "Please tell me it isn't what I think it is."

"If you believe one is the basis for gene manipulation for the populace, then I guess you already got word about it."

"Oof, no I did not hear about it just yet. Oy… I'm not about to start playing with the DNA of my people, that's just… I'll tell him to scrap that project."

"It might not be a bad idea under strict circumstances. No need for vaccines, just incorporate the delivery into the water supply."

"Yeah, and then I can move onto loyalty serums and splicing in animal genes for wings and other stuff. That's a really slippery slope I just can't afford to be near right now. Last thing I need is to turn my empire into a dystopian society of brainless citizens in under six months. I don't want to earn that medal."

"They are just an option ma'am; that's only one capability. We could make sure that their bodies recover twice or three times as quickly from the flu and common cold, immunity to cancer, improve rehabilitation for coma patients. The list goes on."

"It's an option that I'm not going to use right now. Vaccines aren't even understood at all just yet for the average joe, they just know checkups at the clinics are good for their health and the government is trying to make sure they are happy and thriving. Their medical knowledge is trivial at best, given they have access to magic. I'm starting to see an issue that, bar a magic immune disease or ailment, casting a spell to cure anything doesn't give them any real information about what was harming them. Adding anything into the water beyond acceptable cleaning chemicals is a good way of building a dumb society that doesn't understand what's happening around it. I'll hold off until he can assure me with some sort of precognition that it won't screw the pooch for everyone in the future. I don't know if I'd even add it on a voting ballet, too afraid to see the results."

"That's your choice ma'am. As an aside, I know about the bunker you are having taken apart and brought here. You should really let the science teams take a look at the main equipment, doesn't have to be the soulstone. It could take quite a while for you to understand every facet of that tech, given it seems to be based in elemental power" Grey replied. The empress internally sighed and agreed.

"Yes, yes, I agree already. They're coming over to take a look in an hour or so. I'd just rather have Gabriel and Melsia deal with the soulstone with me."

"Nikola and Robert don't have to touch that, just the machinery and schematics, though I would suggest allowing them to at least scan for any abnormalities. Until there is a better understanding of the fuel sources, it might be advantageous to scrap the whole contraption once we have a full schematic into a much more efficient version using our steampunk."

"It's not exactly a more efficient version, just a different way of powering its designs. Having bullets from the beginning that are explosive or could be used as flares at a moment's notice is a pretty impressive feat given all I had were crossbow wielding washing machines." Will chuckled at that.

"Given that those washing machines are now fairly effective as mobile barricades with heavy assault mounts when used in urban environments, I'd still say your form of tech is much more adaptive, economical and easier to scale, along with much more capable of being powered indefinitely. I have to admit, that shielding system would be nice to divert force across an entire chassis."

"That would be up for debate, though it's not as if I have much experience with this. I never played the game, just had to study pieces of it in college. Well, whatever, we can send the armor paneling and electronics over to the eggheads, they can work their magic… sheesh, that line has more than one connotation now, doesn't it?"

"It does ma'am. It does indeed" Grey laughed a little.

"I'd like to hold onto the journals, get a timeline at least written up myself. They'll get the schematics, though some of it needs some restoration given the environment the paperwork was stuck in."

"Dry, low humidity, underground with a sealed off entrance. Shouldn't be much more than a little fading to touch up and clean off grime. I'll have a team clean out the spare study. Thankfully the palace has modular walls in the rear for adapting to different events held, so it shouldn't be difficult for the interior decoration to be replaced." Will replied. "If I might ask, I understand you didn't want to bring these parts into the labs due to deconstruction happening soon. We could have put all of this in storage."

"The main warehouse is underground and I didn't feel like bringing more parts to clutter the place up to restrict egress for all of the bigger military tech hidden below… which would probably be a moot point for them given the size of their feet and treads… that's also another reason, I didn't want them to break anything before we had a chance to analyze what was available."

"By chance, what is next in your training, Morlan?" Elsei asked as she looked between her partner and the dev sitting at the front of the table.

"I'm unsure, I've heard a survival course is required, though why I would need that right now is a mystery given what we've already had to deal with. Is there something I'm missing, your majesty?" Morlanion asked as he turned his attention to the empress, confusion apparent on his face.

"Ah, uh… well, the course would provide more experience in using anything beyond magic to heal wounds, evade enemy forces, surviving with nothing but the land to keep you alive. If you're forced to stay behind… well, whatever enemy lines that crop up in the future… you'll be able to continue without support using your knowledge of your biome."

"But… I already know how to fish, how to hunt and find beneficial herbs, I understand how to discern what is poisonous and what is not… I'm not quite understanding what else needs to be explained." Selene put her coms call on temporary hold while she talked to them.

"Do you know what will help against burns in all environments? Can you find water in a desert? Can you find your way while in an ocean or with next to no landmarks? How do you replenish your electrolytes in the field?" she asked him.

"I see your point. I'm unfamiliar with some of the land in Tal Salunbal, the sand dunes to the south. This will be interesting. What's an electrolyte?" They both continued to talk as the dev returned to her call.

"Do we know how old the child's soul is held in the stone?" Grey asked.

"It's not as if you could call her a child anymore, a teenager is more apt. It was noted she was sixteen when she died."

"That's unfortunate, she had a long life ahead of her given that she more than likely was up to date in vaccinations from Earth. What will you do once we've gained understanding of this new tech?" Will asked her.

"I… hadn't thought much about that just yet. It could improve the Lazarus System or allow resurrection spells to finally bring back puppets from faith eaters. I really just wanted to understand the core mechanics of the fuel sources and how it diverged from my tree. Everyone has a slightly different way of designing steampunk. Beyond that… I don't know. Release the soul in a new life? Oof, how to go about that, there's no telling if they have any knowledge about how to live alone. Reeducation will be needed, like trying to help someone who has had a stroke cope with eating and drinking."

"Given how it is contained, it's possible that general resurrection simply won't work on it anymore, though the science teams would have a better answer for that. Was there any information about what you might expect?" The dev explained what she had already found out so far, helping them understand that the chamber for all intents and purposes would bring back someone brand new, not the teenager that died.

 _How the hell does that work as a game over mechanic? Most MMOs have some sort of graveyard you have to hike from to reach your corpse or just respawning in a town. Maybe changing how the character looks due to the death, hence they need to sacrifice some time and resources to get their avatar appearance altered like a durability penalty? Would make dying an annoyance in Warped Steel, force a player to head back to a camp or town to revert to a saved form, not really much more than that. It probably couples with damaged equipment, maybe randomized gear? Randomized stats until some sort of gene bank is reached to fix up everything? Would make charging back into a dungeon risky. I'm starting to see why the game didn't do so well._

"This is untested waters here, I haven't the foggiest on how he even got a soulstone to work with this thing. If I had to hazard a guess, you'd add your blood in normally so it would save your sample for if you died, though I'm unsure how he jury-rigged something to read the thing."

"We'll find out eventually. Just have to be patient." A notice appeared requesting assistance in explanation of laws to the dragons, as one of the iron dragons seemed to have an issue with taking specialized equipment that happened to be 'lying around.' They simply didn't understand the concept of government property.

 _Shit. Fine, one more visit couldn't hurt to help them learn they are citizens and to not steal something shiny. I'll give them a pass for this time as long as the equipment is returned._

A second notice arrived explaining that the warrior monks, led by a man named Aldemir, had arrived in Olva'lore Forest and were aggressive in their actions until warned by the prince. It caused a bit of an incident, though everything had calmed down and they were awaiting a formal hearing patiently… in restraints. Apparently, the monks were arrested by security models and disabled with riot gear before they could try and 'rescue' the young boy. This caused a very visible facepalm from the empress in front of everyone as she just sighed. At least she could try and converse with them once the dragons were educated a little more on how to integrate into their society.

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

They had succeeded. One minute the envoy was telling the crowd to calm down, the next she was running away with her escort as they all cheered in victory. Their village was now free from the rule of the Clockwork Empire, of the rule of that bitch at the top telling them they had no right to have slaves. Who was she to tell them how to have others beneath them? Just as the demi-humans would treat them as food, his home and neighbors would treat others as mere tools as the gods allowed. The dark elves should always be below them, those damned tree huggers.

Their next task was to send a message to their glorious king now, to let him know that they were still there, to let him know about what had just happened. They needed to write as much as they could about what they saw, the soldiers under the bitch empress's command in hopes that his majestic rule could fight against her.

What the man cheering at the forefront had not expected, however, was the sound around the village going quiet; not one sound coming from birds or animals that weren't livestock. The pigs and cows were doing everything they could to break out of their pens, sensing something was going to happen. Horses broke away from their stalls and galloped into the hills. "Look" a woman said as she pointed towards the distance into the sky.

As the man's eyes turned upwards, there were streaks of fire arcing through, bright beams of light… and they were all coming down on them. "GET DOWN!" a farmer screamed as one struck a building, blowing it into toothpicks as the remainder came raining down as whistling or screaming death from above. The body of the crowd was blasted apart as people launched into the air, already dead from the concussive blast. The man in the front slowly picked himself up to see the carnage that had fell upon his village, from the incredible display of power the empress had. "To hell with the king… we have angered a god."

Most of the buildings were obliterated, his own home gone. Their fight to make others bow before them, unwilling to perform a hard day's work for themselves, was their undoing. This was punishment for their choice. The few that survived the first volley tried running, anywhere, in hopes of somehow surviving this divine retribution.

He had enough time to turn around and see the next volley being fired, uncertain of what was exactly charged with their decimation. He simply kneeled on the ground and prayed that in the afterlife she would forgive them for their sins just as the second cluster of shells landed.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

King Teiyan Erelius II awoke, finally, surrounded by a large group of his harem. As he slid from the arms of women, and in some cases a few men, he got to his armoire where a servant was waiting patiently to dress him. Today was the day to hopefully get some news back about the army he sent to Caerel Mines, what their position was and when they would engage. The young man somehow already knew the outcome, as a snicker popped out of his mouth while his small cloak was latched on carefully. He'd have a light day of enjoying himself before finally using the artifact tomorrow.

After an extravagant breakfast that he didn't finish, with one of the female servants backhanded for spilling a drink on the ground, he headed to a coliseum to get a chance to see the new stock of warriors. They were not slaves by any means; the swordsmen and women attempting to show their martial prowess, even with their lust for combat, wanted to win any of the lofty rewards available.

As he sat down in his royal chair, the crowd cheering as he arrived to view the oncoming battles, an advisor stepped in quickly to warn him something was amiss. "Can this wait?" he asked in annoyance.

"We… it…" the advisor stuttered out as the king glared at him. He already knew how to answer. "Yes, your highness." Teiyan smiled and waved for the onslaught to commence. Combat was swift in some cases, while brutal in others as stone pillars were raised from the ground on crank lifts to provide cover against the archers.

A female warrior ran around a corner only to get decapitated by someone hiding nearby, to the joy of the crowd; that man was promptly hit by a throwing knife, with another man crushed into the ground by a mallet. The entire visceral display brought the viewers to cheer at every lost limb, every death, every glorious drop of blood and victory. Traps were activated at inopportune times to spice things up when the team battles started to draw out too long.

The entire time, the king sat and watched with a few laughs escaping his lips as he saw how gruesome some of the warrior's deaths were while eating grapes and drinking wine as they scrambled through gauntlets and each other to reach a prize always placed in the middle which they had to deliver back to their gate. The entire event lasted two hours, with a victor finally proclaimed followed by the stragglers receiving 2nd prize and third. There was no fourth or fifth, they simply got to leave with their lives and heads low.

"Your highness… we should let you know something very important now…" the advisor spoke quietly as the king turned and looked at the toady. He sighed in frustration and waited. "Your messengers, the headmaster of the wizard's academy himself along with his second in command, have not returned after sending notice to the army to retake Caerel Mines. This is odd."

"Perhaps they have gone to make sure my glorious soldiers actually complete their mission? They've usually been quite reliable."

"Except why wouldn't they send some apprentices?" The king furrowed his eyebrows at that, wondering why they wouldn't send their lowest that could teleport. For a minute or two he sat back in his chair thinking. It was impossible, there was no way they would backstab him after providing the artifact, now useable, to their ruler.

"Bring the seer to my throne room immediately." As the king got up and stormed out towards a waiting carriage, his mind started to dart from reason to reason, most of them flawed due to his insanity. Perhaps they were willing to die alongside the soldiers, turn themselves into liches? Maybe they had some incredible spell to end the Minotaurs once and for all? They could summon creatures to assist in the battle, to increase the odds of victory.

By the time he reached the palace again, the old man was sitting in the throne room and prepared. Teiyan fell into his throne more than sat, as he waved for the scryer to proceed. As the smoke billowed up and formed a small portal from which he could see through, his eyes widened. There was no army heading towards Caerel Mines, no wizards assisting them. The troops had disbanded and deserted Artinia, heading west towards the unknown. They weren't getting paid enough for suicide, they'd rather take their chances in the west.

The wizards, especially the headmaster, had slipped into Silvinholm to take shelter with the nobles, a very light betrayal. Why would they try to escape if they were in charge of the academy? Were they afraid the artifact would simply destroy the whole city when used? The king was starting to wonder if using the item was even beneficial to him at all… though it hardly mattered now with his anger and rage rising. Treason on a grand scale had happened, one in which he would never forgive them.

"Leave. Now" he ordered. Everyone in the throne room did their best to scramble out the doors, including the guards. He was left in silence as he got up and looked at the artifact strapped to his side, huffing as he got ready to throw a temper tantrum. A long roar of fury erupted from his mouth as he pulled a sparkling gemmed sword from its sheath, little more than decoration, and started attacking the armrests of his own throne. Little damage was done to it, a few nicks and carving off of some ornate wood and golden filigree. He heaved and threw the sword across the room, hearing the clanging as it fell onto the marble floor and slid a few more feet. They were all willing to abandon him now, to betray him, their ruler! If they wouldn't follow orders, he would bring creatures in that would!

"It finally is that time… time to finally receive loyal servants who understand me!" he cackled out as the king ripped the artifact from his belt and stormed towards the nearby balcony, aiming it out towards his city of Aureos. None of them down there cared about listening to him, no one understood his reasons for doing what he did. They were all pathetic, weak willed ants compared to his grand presence. His intellect far surpassed them, that's why he thought the way he did. "NINE'S OWN GOAL!" he screamed out as the artifact glowed brightly, the gem reacting as it was held by the crying form of the stone woman.

A beam shot out of the gem as it seemed to scan the area, doing little more than that. Was the artifact broken? Did it not work correctly? His advisors had told him something might be amiss from the notes provided from the previous owner.

" _ **WHO DO WE SERVE."**_ He heard a booming deep gravelly voice, though from where he couldn't be sure. Was it inside his head?

"You… serve me!" he snapped out.

" _ **CHOOSE FROM WHERE WE COME."**_ Teiyan was confused as to what the voice meant by that, as his eyes scanned his own throne room.

"There." The artifact glowed brightly as a small tear appeared in the center of the area before him, growing in size as a red portal warped and flowed. On the other side appeared two voluptuous women, no, succubi slowly leaving the hell that they lived in. They walked over to him seductively and seemed to fawn over his form, licking his ears, caressing his chest. He was unsure if they were interested in him or seeing how he tasted… so that he could be food.

" _ **CHOOSE FROM WHERE WE COME."**_

"I already did."

" _ **CHOOSE FROM WHERE WE COME."**_

"I already did!"

"He is asking from where you want other portals to arrive at. You want more of us to come to this world, don't you love?" one of the succubae answered the question mulling in his head. He looked at her as she fluttered her eyes, a long tongue slipping out of her mouth and licking the side of his lips as if a snake testing the air. This artifact didn't just open one portal, it opened many due to what he stole from Xaxara. There was no telling how much power he had taken from her for this object to use. He could request demonic forces to erupt practically behind enemy lines!

"I want one near Silvinholm, one near Caerel Mines, one in Caerel Harbor, one at every one of my pathetic villages and towns!" he cackled out.

"Ooh, sorry love, forgot to mention that. There's just enough held power to create nine portals. However, once they're open… we can bring others who can create even more." Teiyan walked to his throne and sat down, one of the demons sitting on the left armrest while the other straddled him. A light red fog seemed to emanate from the portal now sitting in the middle of the throne room. He thought for a moment on key locations that needed to have the entrances to hell opened. This was going to be interesting, to finally have soldiers that were stronger than anything he had seen, to have servants like these succubae fawning over him, to have godly power. This was what he always wanted, Xaxara and her brother were useless compared to this object created by some incredible sorcerer. Then of course, both gods did whatever they could to ignore his requests or counter them. Their true strength was never really seen on the mortal realm.

"One shall be here obviously. Another near Silvinholm. One near Caerel Mines, one inside Caerel Harbor. Five at the gates of Aureos, to spill forth and swarm over my lands and protect the capital. Any who are perceived as not loyal to me will be slaughtered… then move on to Tal Salunbal and Seong Neow Republic, the damned elves and into the west." With five portals in front of the gates and walls of the imperial city, the chances of escape from anyone was all but gone.

" _ **THE CHOICE HAS BEEN MADE."**_

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"You know, this would have been easier had you just explained why you were here. Creating an international incident isn't exactly playing nice with far off neighbors" Selene informed Aldemir as she sat across from him at a table. His arms were bound behind him as he looked as if he had on a mask of stone, emotionless as he gazed at her with brown eyes. He was muscular with a lightly armored white robe, no sleeves and had one pauldron on his left shoulder. Small pouches were tied to ripped spots along the torso of the robe, leading down to the belt. His sandals were well taken care of, clean even after so long traveling from one side of the continent to the other.

What interested the empress the most was what she was expecting to find on his body, proving that she had indeed understood what the tattoos on his powerful brown arms were. "You now know why we are here, and what you have taken."

"I know why you are here, though we didn't take the prince. He was kept as a slave in Paldos City, escaped and is now in our care. You jumped to conclusions."

"You lie for Artinia." The dev rolled her eyes.

"Why does everyone think we're from Artinia? You see dark elves around here? Yes, last time I checked Artinia hated them being free. You're currently talking to the empress of the Clockwork Empire buddy, show a little more respect please. I would hope you're more intelligent than that." Aldemir sat properly in the chair, flanked by two medium security autos.

"We come for our prince, release him and we will leave without issue." His words carried a modest amount of a middle eastern accent, his looks also seeming portray a man with his lineage based loosely from that area. Selene wondered if his culture had some connections to places like Iraq or maybe Saudi Arabia.

"You started a fight."

"We came to protect our prince."

"You started a fight."

"You were holding our prince captive."

"No, we were protecting a child that was dehydrated and starving, then you came along and tried to steal him. See it from their point of view. Not everyone here knew he was a prince." Aldemir raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.

"But you did?" he asked quietly.

"I have more knowledge about what is happening than my people obviously, just like I know about those woads on your arms."

"These are ritualistic inscriptions into our skin, not-"

"You learned how to do that from a Woad Master. I can tell. Don't lie to me. They've changed since you traveled here, meaning they aren't completely permanent." There was silence in the tent as the monk sat and did his best to study her, as well as try and remain calm. She could already see the chink in the emotionless mask he was trying to keep on his face. "By the looks of some of them, you were gearing up for battle, though when we first scouted your location while traveling, they were different to help with speed."

"How do you know of this?"

"I made the very abilities you are now wearing on your arms… probably on your legs and chest too." His face had two small woads on his bearded cheeks, from the designs she figured they were light healing casts. Woads were to become a special magic for a class in a game that never came out, the original creation paid for as a separate package and contracted to her long ago. The company never went through with their first game as it was put on hold for a second project, with each class being touted as completely unique from each other in how they play. The company that owned Yggdrasil wanted to buy the rights to continue the first project, but legal action was taken by a European Arcology involving interfering with honest competition.

Aldemir stared at her carefully. She sighed and leaned forward. "You inscribe the woads into your skin using a ritualistic knife along with bloodletting. Then you add mana enhanced ink into those wounds to create the effect, a pre-paid spell. Once you use that woad, for whatever reason it was, that woad dissipates from your skin. Then after a battle, you need to add it in again, or place a new woad there. I take it that combined with Martial Arts, it can be quite powerful."

"There is no way someone outside of Tal Salunbal could know of this."

"Did you not hear me? I created what you are using." Though he didn't look it, Aldemir was stunned, his bearded jaw hanging ever so slightly relaxed as he wasn't as stern looking as before. He couldn't believe it, this woman, this empress knew everything about a closely guarded secret among his people, even his own monastery. Point for point, she knew everything about how he could fight, what each symbol meant, how much skin it took up, and that it was in essence a wound that was permanent on his body until the woad was used.

The feature of the class Woad Master was that it would choose which symbols to add onto their body, lowering the total health of the player which was substantially higher than everyone else as their health bar _was_ their mana bar as well. As they normally didn't use armor, this was a requirement. As a woad is activated, it would disappear, providing the lost health points back to the player and the requested spell cast instantly with no cooldown. This could severely throw off any healer classes with the spikes in health the Woad Master would suddenly have, as well as allow burst damage towards bosses. There were hundreds of different sized symbols to use, each with different effects, and all taking up prime real estate on the body, limiting how many strong woads could be added on, with many taking up area akin to a Yakuza tattoo on the back. This made it a class for experienced players only.

"May we take him from here?" the monk asked, speaking quietly as if giving up. If she was the creator of what he used, then he realized she was by far more powerful than he ever could be. What she saw was a level 99 Woad Master sitting in front of her. How he had an actual level seemed to coincide with another mechanic in the New World, as technically the class never had a leveling system integrated just yet, waiting for the main game to decide what genre it was going to be.

"No, you may not." His stone mask returned again, though she sighed and looked down as she clasped her fingers together, shaking them slightly as she spoke each word. "I have plans to take him personally back to his father, though you _may_ escort him. I'm going to explain the situation that you caused, then provide his son back. You know, you're lucky the princess of the dark elves found him, or he'd be dead. He was lying in the forest barely able to move along with a few others."

"You have said he was a slave."

"That's correct, at least we think he was used as such. The city he came from was already taken over; you can't exactly mete justice on them anymore. I have a question now you need to answer. How the hell did he get put into that situation?" she asked him sternly.

"He was kidnapped. We have come to bring him back."

"Tal Salunbal, at least your capital, is in the middle of your lands. You have guards I assume?"

"He was staying at a retreat in the southern part of our borders, under the protection of a vizier. We have dealt with him."

"Ah, that might explain it. So… what, guards, maybe the vizier was paid off or something?" Aldemir didn't answer that, which seemed to prove that was what happened. "I see, so I'll take that as a yes. How long was he gone?"

"Does it matter?"

"It matters to me. Do you know what happens when someone is treated as a slave? Do you know what happens to someone's mind when they are degraded so far and abused? I want to know how long so he can get counseling."

"He is a prince of Tal Salunbal, he is strong and will always be so. He needs to return with us-"

"He is a child Aldemir. Children go through some things that they can't explain to us adults without help. How long?" The monk looked away.

"Too long."

"A year? Two? Five?"

"Six months."

 _I want to know why he was even kidnapped. That vizier had it out for the sultan then, having his own guards stop watching the prince isn't something slavers just do, they had a more complicated reason that I'll never get much intel on… given Paldos City is now empty and the man is dead. Maybe the sultan had something that he wanted? Hmm…_

"Alright… so… he's going to need some time to relax. Making him trek across your borders is foolish and-"

"We would carry him." Selene sighed and bowed her head in frustration.

"I'll take him back. No more arguing, this is almost like talking to a brick wall who doesn't understand what's going on for that kid. You are within my borders, you follow my laws, especially after your little scuffle getting in here." Aldemir seemed to clench his jaw a little, then calmed down. "You can provide escort for him, though you damned well better be on your best behavior. You're acting as an ambassador of your people right now, and so far, I'm not impressed."

She stood up and motioned at the restraints. Not once was he able to even break one of them, despite the strength he could gain from using some of his woads. What was placed around his arms at the wrists and shoulders was incredibly reinforced. By a wave of her hand, one of the mechanical soldiers unlocked the restraints, allowing him to rub his wrists. He looked up at her calmly.

"Do anything you're not supposed to and those go back on. If you think even for a second you can take me, remember I know every little nuance of your woads and my security can knock you down to size a second time. I designed them after all." Adesha opened up the flaps, with Hrist standing outside. Aldemir caught view of the Valkyrja just beyond the tent and now knew she was not to be messed with. Even he had heard stories of them destroying armies by themselves. His own abilities were feared across Artinia, though this was an entirely new country he was in now.

 _I'm lying through my teeth. I have no idea what happened after I integrated the class package, beta was a separate team for fine tuning and balancing which to my knowledge never happened. For all intents and purposes, I understand what the class can do and when, not if it's overpowered or underpowered. Given they can take an army of middle ages soldiers on with six men, I'd say powerful enough to be heroes or players in their own right, though I'm unsure what the limits are just yet. I need to keep an eye on them, the class was designed to do things a melee character wasn't supposed to, similar to a Spellblade. At least they can be taken down by my automatons… how the hell did it make it to this world if the game wasn't completed…_

Aldemir stood up carefully and flexed. Selene shoved down any worry about his abilities deep down and stood almost as tall as he was. He slowly walked to the tent flaps and waited for her to exit, keeping himself completely restrained and calm. As long as no harm was going to come to the prince from her, nothing would happen. As they both left the tent, Tariq was brought over from a small tree and noticed the monks were all released. "Aldemir!" he laughed out as he ran to hug the man who kneeled and waited for the boy's arms to be flung around him. "You found me!"

"We would search the entire world for you, young prince." The Woad Master simply accepted the hug, not returning it as if he was normally not allowed to show affection due to his status or rank. That might have been reserved only for his father and mother. "Are you well?"

"I am, thanks to the dark elves here and… these metal people caring for me."

"Those metal people are called automatons, young prince" Selene interjected. "How are you feeling?" The boy looked up at the empress, then looked at her odd clothing. She wasn't wearing her armor to this meeting, just a simple steampunk Victorian dress with a buttoned side.

"You… I get the sense that you are the one who is in charge here."

"Perceptive; I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. A pleasure to meet you." He stood at attention and bowed to her, remembering his manners.

"On behalf of the others who were rescued from the forest as well as my people of Tal Salunbal, I thank you for your hospitality given by your citizens."

"You are quite welcome. As you can see, we aren't like Artinia. Tal Salunbal may find friends here if it just tries." Tariq seemed a little enamored at that prospect as he looked up into her blue eyes. He was thinking that maybe his kidnapping was meant to allow his people to finally meet this empire.

"When will you bring him to our lands?" Aldemir asked sternly.

"Aldemir! Remember your training and manners! Unbecoming of one of the Order of the Hidden Path!" Tariq chided.

"My apologies, highness; however, we must bring you to your father, that is the only reason our force left our borders. Your safety is paramount."

"He's quite safe in my empire, I can assure you of that." Aldemir looked at the empress. Although his eyes did their best to remain calm, there was a glare hidden behind the façade. "You were knocked out by my security, not even my military needed to be here. My empire is safer to be in than within your lands, Aldemir. Don't worry. I'll bring him quite soon, I just want to see if he would be an honorary ambassador, at least temporarily. That would require a little bit of a tour, so he understands we don't mean any harm unless provoked."

"Why would he require a tour if he's going to head back to our palace?" Selene rolled her eyes.

"Tariq how often are you sequestered away, never to see the outside of your royal walls?" she asked. The boy looked at Aldemir and stuck his tongue out, the answer already given with that response. She knew exactly how he felt being hidden away, though it seemed it was for good reason for the young prince to be protected. Whoever this vizier was, his plans seemed oddly thwarted already.

"That is unbecoming of a prince" Aldemir told him quietly.

"A child needs to be given the chance to be a child instead of growing up so quickly. Once he's older, he can't go backwards or turn back time." The dev offered her hand to the prince to lead him towards the dark elf palace, to meet King Weren and his daughter. The monks all followed, watching the surroundings carefully. The dark elven guards stared at the monks, remembering the altercation that had caused them to be incarcerated. Their own strength and speed was no match for the warriors from Tal Salunbal, though a single security model automaton blasted through a wall in an incredible display of power to taze each one of them with an AOE strike that continued to increase as it worked to bypass their elemental resistance given by a woad. Then the rest of its squad showed up.

That show of force told every elf in the city that the empire would not tolerate anyone harming its citizens, as they never saw what happened at the Underdark cave to begin with, just heard the thunder.

The dev explained the situation to the king, who was all too willing to show the young prince around the city, hopefully cultivating trade between his forest and Tal Salunbal. The whole time they moved about, Tariq kept stealing glances at Silara which Selene noticed and smirked as she shook her head softly. A crush at his age was something she did not want to get in the middle of. The dev didn't want to break his young heart that by the time he was of age to court her, she'd probably already be married.

"Ma'am, sorry to bother you while you're helping build relations with a far-off neighbor, just wanted to ask you a few things" Will chimed in through the empress's coms.

"Go ahead."

"Why did you decide to go instead of an ambassador?"

"I'm the best choice for this one, trust me. Knowledge of the Woad Master gave me an edge with Aldemir, he's thrown off balance and uncertain how to treat me. For all he knows, I'm the start of his order. That gives me leverage with diplomacy in the future if they somehow feel we might be their ancient mecca or start point for some of their beliefs. Making sure the prince has an easy time before being shipped back to his father helps to let them know we don't want to be their enemy, and also show them they really don't want to be ours."

"Understood. Should we consider the woads they inscribe into their skin a threat?"

"I don't know yet, we need some spies to keep a close eye on any temple or monastery they live in to better understand how strong or prevalent it is. I didn't exactly balance the whole thing, just worked out how the mechanics function. I'm still mulling it over on how exactly it got here. The game never came out, shelved for another project. It's possible there might have been a private event showing to bring in funding to polish the product, though that's just a guess. That guess makes me wonder if an investor got stuck here during the test."

"It's entirely reasonable to assume they were a Shah or prince that came here from the middle east."

"That would explain the culture most definitely. They chose the Woad Master, got transported here, somehow built up the land of Tal Salunbal unknown centuries ago with likeminded people. It's fairly impressive if that happened, given Aldemir is level 99, though his subordinates are level 90. Could mean the tester somehow figured out every skill and ability that was available to him quickly and built up an order of monks around him to defend his lands, training his followers carefully to raise in capability well beyond the rest of the humans. Morlan was only a level 35 when I met him, Gabriel was an exception as I expected a level increase due to his experience with dimensional magic." Tariq laughed as King Weren told a small joke to the prince.

"From initial reports about their culture, it seems they've done away with restricting women long ago. Both sexes hold power equally, though it appears it is seen as unbecoming of a woman to ever have a job in physical labor. Their military also shows equal mixture." Selene watched the princess break away from the group and head towards a panther group ready to head out for a hunt, to Tariq's dismay. Once he left this place, it would be some time before he'd see her again, and even then, she may have found someone to fall in love with.

"That seems like there might be some influence from Israel or a conflicting view from the tester on how to treat others. Do they have-" she stopped communicating mid-sentence as Aldemir and the other monks all looked at each other, then turned in the direction of Tal Salunbal.

"Something evil has appeared within Artinia's borders…" one of them quietly spoke. Somehow, they could sense what was happening.

"Ma'am, we have confirmation that the artifact has been used" Grey reported immediately. "Nine portals have opened, most of them in, oddly, strategically poor locations. Most of them are out in the open, one of which has appeared behind General Galdin's camp near Silvinholm."

"Huh… so it's true, they really did put one of those in… fucking idiots…" Selene whispered to herself, no one else hearing her. "What's the threat analysis? Can we fight back?" she asked through coms as her staff all chimed in.

"We've already got reports of multiple level 100 demons swarming out of each portal, nothing below it seems, though nothing above. Positions are Aureos Palace, Caerel Mines, Caerel Harbor in the water, near Silvinholm, five in Aureos with all of them being splayed at the front gate and walls for spread trajectories. Composition seems to be whatever can get through the portals, though they have grown to a relatively large size."

A camera view popped up on her Hud showing a few massive demons squeezing through the already huge portals, with some of them being a hundred feet in height. Not one of them was higher than max level for Yggdrasil. The smaller ones were gnashing their teeth and surveying the landscape, looking for any living creature, human or otherwise, to slay for fun.

 _Was that a restriction of the artifact or the creator? Something blocked the maximum from going higher, and yet I was expecting a range of levels like the spell_ _ **[Armageddon Evil]**_ _. Still… the numbers in my Hud say there are well over a thousand demons already out and about, trying to find things to destroy. Last I thought, each spell that could summon an 'army' of demons had a maximum of around maybe 150 in total due to server stability, with all of it combined being below level 80 and fairly easy to take down. Where the hell did this thing get so much power to push out… now thirteen hundred… fourteen hundred… level 100 demons?_

 _Wait, it was a capacitor… he didn't… did he?_

"They're milling about the gates, probably waiting for a sizeable force to occupy and destroy the remainder of civilian population that is still part of the kingdom. What do you want to do?" The towns that weren't under the empire's control were quickly being evacuated as civilians ran for their lives at the wall of demons climbing through and holding position until there was a sufficient amount to wipe them all out without letting any escape.

"What do you mean what do I want to do? We fight."

"Yes ma'am. All air fleets will be prepped and ready to go in fifteen minutes for an airdrop, which by our estimates will be how long it will take for the army outside Silvinholm to be wiped out once the demons commence attack. The situation there is currently at a standstill with a breach from last minute trebuchet shots, incapable of being closed at the moment with so little mana available to the wizards that are part of the rebel military. All our forces are mobilizing towards the frontlines. I guess this time you really will be getting Silvinholm and then some."

"Might I suggest we hold off temporarily in saving that location until Galdin's army is wiped out? Demons don't usually care about collateral damage, and that camp is between them and the city. Could also allow for a grand entrance to rescue them knowing those monsters out there were routed" Grey commented.

"It's possible if we time a teleport with 1st Air Fleet right above, could provide a surprise counter" Dominic replied.

"Do we need to let that army be destroyed? There's a possibility they'll break and run, hoping the rebels will take them in. Not every army needs to be fought" Gala responded.

"True, though that General will be a nuisance. He should probably be eliminated regardless" Selene told her. "Let Hrist know she's needed in 2nd Air Fleet and Brynhildr for 3rd. We're going to keep this contained and push in, have QRFs wrap around the sides and keep them from spreading beyond what's left of that kingdom's borders. Artinia is done for, that's clear given the king just doomed his own people in hopes of having new ones. How much time until the demons filter enough of a force to start a full assault? Are they outright attacking anything right now? You said something about them just milling about."

"At the moment, just clumping up and securing their front doors, though why they are doing that makes no sense unless it's also acting as a respawn point to come right back through; their essence might get collected each time we kill one of them, making it annoying to keep their forces locked down until we're on top of each portal… unless we want to act like ghostbusters. Bar our military and maybe the monks from Tal Salunbal, no one out there has the capability to defend against them. Just one of the demons could slowly work its way through most of the Artinian borders. We're going to need to be quick, while there aren't many more villages and towns between us and Aureos, those that are need to be gotten to quickly to stop any unneeded loss of life. We… should also check for survivors in Aureos as well" Dominic reported.

A wireframe map was brought up in her Hud to show just how few villages and towns still belonged to the Kingdom of Artinia, roughly around 25-30. How they didn't notice the empire creeping up on them and keeping everyone from knowing there were mechanized soldiers sniping scouts or keeping any wandering adventurers or traders from blabbing was an amazing feat. Stealth systems helped immensely in that regard.

"You don't need to meet the king face to face in some weird heroic duel like seen in movies, do you ma'am?" Will asked her.

"Absolutely not, as soon as we are near the palace which may not be today, strike teams head in and eliminate him. I don't need to know the motives of a certified madman, I don't need to even see his face unless he's verified as a corpse. We figure out how to close the portals either before or after… then… somehow figure out how to unfuck the rest of Artinia after this miniature Armageddon fell upon them. Shit, I'm not looking forward to the cleanup and integration… or the damned church of the Clockwork Empress expanding with new sheep joining…"

"Just as an aside, we might want to keep the monks and the prince in Olva'lore Forest for their protection. I doubt there's going to be a threat to Tal Salunbal bar aerial stragglers, and it would give the prince a chance to stay in good company with the dark elves, build up a bit more of a bond that could be brought back to the sultan" Gala informed them.

 _ **(Recommended Song: End of Silence – Polaris (featuring Kamila Nyvltova))**_

"Agreed." The empress looked at Tariq who was wondering what was happening and kneeled before the boy with her hands on his shoulders. "I'm going to need to have to cut this tour a little short, though King Weren will surely be able to play host for a few more days, the city is beautiful. I apologize for not showing you the rest of the empire, but something has happened that I need to deal with. Aldemir, I'm going to have to hold off on letting you leave just yet, I'll personally come by and inform you once it's safe to go back. In the meantime, stay as guests."

"You are no match for what is-" Aldemir tried to speak.

"You have no idea how wrong you are so let's just cut you off then and there. Take care of him. Let him learn about things outside of his homeland so that he can eventually become a better leader once he's of age to do so." The commander of the monks crossed his arms, thinking of something else to say. He simply nodded in acceptance. The prince seemed to perk up at hearing that; he didn't need to leave just yet, getting a chance to spend even more time here. "Sorry Prince Tariq. I'll see about continuing the tour after I've dealt with a particular issue." The young boy took a deep breath, remembering that he had to put on a mature air again.

"I humbly await that meeting, your imperial highness. Until you return to speak with us again." She nodded and squeezed his shoulders comfortingly as she smiled and stood up. The dark elf ruler looked at her in a worried gaze, as if he somehow could see she had gone from understanding and friendly to all business and professional.

"Something has happened, hasn't it?" he asked her quietly. She wasn't going to lie to a king below her keeping his people safe.

"Yes. Yes it has." Back at the castle, Bronze Team was preparing to load onto _Majesty's Grace_ , followed by the thousands of other automatons ready for a real war, no longer hiding. The Extreme Heavy automaton size tier, or X heavies for short, were being brought out, mounted under the massive airships and ready to be dropped along with their smaller brethren. The naval fleets, while still not having shields available, were getting ready to move back out again towards Caerel Harbor alongside one brand new battleship barely launched from the shipyard with no shakedown cruise. Secondary armor was mounted on the hull to provide a temporary buffer.

Fighter garrisons across her empire loaded up ammunition for weapons that weren't energy based, others had bomb racks filled. Selene didn't yet know how to close those portals, the potential idea to quarantine the areas until a solution could be found popping into her head with a Maginot sphere. Another potential defense was to just orbital strike each portal, maybe it would overload and act as a cascade failure to seal the opening if tuned right.

Per her advisors, this wasn't going to be too difficult, but it also wasn't going to be easy, given the endless swarm of reinforcements from each gate. A constant threat was going to be looming over the lands until the gates to hell could be closed somehow, with help desperately needed from her science division on that front. "Time to see how we measure up against demons… or should I say, time to see how they measure up against us."

 _ **[[TACOM SAT/ 1= Combat Status verified: Orange. All combat units to the frontlines. All standard military units respond with full force, rapid responders to defensive perimeters. Sword Breaker protocols have been authorized.]]**_

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A staff was heard on stone as it clanked oddly each strike, the echo rippling down the hallway to the tomb. Once outside, a hooded figure looked towards the north, sensing that one of his experiments had been used, the one that was 'stolen.' He didn't know the specific location, he just knew that someone had found a way to charge it up and activate it in the northern hemisphere. That was a lot of ground to cover right now. Two more figures walked out of the shadows, one with wings and a white dress, the other a red suit and glasses.

 _I wonder… will those in the north that we've been fighting be able to somehow defend against even_ that? Is it even on their stretch of land? _It's not as if it would work without a node with incredible power to fuel it. Would he really use it on one of his friends? Never mind, my attention right now is needed further east for the time being. At least I have a counter to it if they somehow leave whatever continent they are on._

"Ainz Sama. It is time" he heard from behind, the figure in the white dress gently reminding him of where they needed to be.

"Hmm? Of course. I was just noticing something. Greater Teleportation!" All three disappeared from the front of that tomb, known to all of the kingdoms that surrounded it, whether feared or loved it mattered little. Whoever had used the altered imitation would see how useless it was or lose their entire kingdom to their meddling. Right now, he had more important matters to attend to. The device used had limitations that even he knew would eventually cause whoever used it their own demise, in ways they would never expect.


	33. Ch 32 Shock and Awe

"So what's the full plan?" Will asked as Selene walked back to a helibot and waited inside until she could see Hrist heading for another. They'd all be apart for some time to keep each flank contained, using the flagships as bases of operations. There was no telling how long this war would last, depending on how quickly they could reach the portals and somehow close them. It could take as little as a few days, or as long as years before they could get a foothold due to the inherent respawning nature of the demons.

"The first phase is for a cruise strike straight through the portals, which will promptly arc and detonate a cluster of nuclear yield warheads, devastating what might come through on the other side. Immediately after the missile has entered, an orbital beam will lance down and clear anything around the gate, followed by a massive artillery strike and STS Missile ordinance. 1st Air fleet is to perform a mass teleport above Silvinholm afterward at a specified time to airdrop ground forces below, given it's the closest portal. Bombers will carpet the area in high explosive munitions to clear the way for our men to charge; meanwhile, 32nd Brigade and 36th Brigade will converge from the north and south vectors around the city, disable cloak and assist.

Once we've at least gotten it contained in a quarantine zone, Hrist will lead the charge on the northern flank and sweep out temporarily to take Caerel Mines and City after sealing off the upper territories. The navy will get Caerel Harbor under control while also landing marines at Alsam Harbor without demonic presence, though it's going to take a bit of effort from our larger ships for the former if there are any hostiles coming through of sufficient size. At the current moment, most of the coast is currently being patrolled by cutters and corvettes, so we need to keep on our toes for any aquatic confrontations behind our backs," Dominic explained.

The empress just clasped her hands together as she leaned forward, listening to the briefing as information flashed through her Hud. Hrist and Bryn were both listening in with their earpieces. Brynhildr was going to move quickly up the southern flank to seal off all movement towards Tal Salunbal and the Seong Neow Republic, to make sure they didn't get involved. The last thing she needed was to have other countries start becoming aggressive and pull stupid stunts, like send their armies to certain death. Given she didn't yet know if they could raise the dead as lost souls or some other shambling horror, the dev wasn't going to take any chances of bolstering their forces. These demons were going to be fighting machines only, immortal metal soldiers; there was no need for men with pointy sticks and crude swords, wispy sixth tier magic.

Meanwhile, Hrist would take her fleet and start from the bottleneck of land that connected Artinia with Eil'Ta Forest, just near Kaldanas Mountains, then teleport in to take Caerel Mines and the City just above them. Once that was secured, she'd push down with support coming up from the rear to meet Selene near Aureos, with Bryn containing the city from the back along the Artel Mountains to the immediate east of the imperial palace.

"After we have phase one down, what next?" Will questioned.

"You're going to need a lot of androids calming the populace while all of this happens" Gala noted, "It's not going to be easy to keep the people from worrying about a demon trying to break through our lines."

"They won't, not if we can keep most of the information confidential. Clockworkians only need to know there is an invading force here, and we are defending against it; to the new Artinian arrivals we'll have, all they need to know is the demons are a non-issue for us, and it's being taken care of" Grey replied.

"Once phase one is complete, phase two will be pushing any hostile forces back straight towards Aureos with a security force set up to keep each portal we haven't closed neutralized. Hopefully, our science division can figure out something by the time we're halfway. As we push forward, it's going to be difficult to gain ground given we'll be closer to their respawn points each time. I'd suggest using fast attack forces to lead the enemy astray on the fringe after our triple wombo combos, followed up with a bait and switch coming up behind. Harass, then hard smash."

"So, we need fast movers to Scooby-Doo out of there as soon as the demons start tracking them after they harass, followed up by tanks… cluster turret drops and spider mine contingents could cover the advance" Selene said as she wrapped her head around the situation. Having most of the turrets picked up after the war was going to be a pain in the ass for her military, very similar to removing unexploded mines in the waters after World War II; the only advantage was the turrets knew what was hostile and what wasn't.

"Correct ma'am. We need to keep them in disarray long enough to move up to those gates of hell, which we believe are connected to sub realms, not necessarily to each supposed floor. They're probably designed as staging grounds that if a local force somehow repelled them and made their way into their portals that they couldn't continue to rampage through whatever realm of hell they came from, like a front porch if you will. This system does act as a double-edged sword though, as they can't just spill out in massive numbers and overwhelm everything, at least not yet. They have to prepare waves to exit, giving easy chances for a welcome package to be delivered each time to keep them from trying to gain a foothold," Grey told them.

"It would take quite an impressive amount to overwhelm any of our military and push them back, though as a reminder what was just said could change at any moment. Being outnumbered 100 to 1 is still going to turn in our favor unless the waves speed up," Dominic informed him. The dev hadn't swapped her fabrication units and 3D printers to military models in some time given she figured they were at an optimum amount to adequately defend the empire. Most of what was made would be civilian construction models or used for farming to help the towns survive the winter. In fact, in her eyes, they were a little overstaffed with spares in reserve, though the navy was still working hard to kick out a diverse line of ship sizes. Production was shifting to satellites, space station equipment, and internal systems for orbit now.

"What about 4th Air Fleet?" Selene asked.

"They'll stay back near Silvinholm once we've taken it to cover our rear guard. 5th Air Fleet is almost ready to fly; they can provide coverage over the valley and the castle." The dev looked at her inventory while the briefing continued, checking on the herbs now filling a section up for the elixirs. She was going to use one right after the tour was finished, though things had changed. Having an upset stomach divert her attention wasn't going to be very fun. She would drink one later that night so it wouldn't interfere with the first phase.

"Ma'am, are you ready?" Will asked as the others waited for her to respond. She was doing her best to remain stoic and understanding of the situation, though this was the time they'd step out of the shadows partially and show their strength. They were still going to use ECM to block scrying. Artinia hasn't had ghosts stealing people in the west; they had a neighbor poised along their borders for the past few months ready to take the entire pot in this card game.

 _I can't help but be a little anxious right now. All I can think of is we'll win, eventually; just what will happen after? Trade negotiations with two other countries I'd assume, though Tal Salunbal might be reasonably open to communicating with us once Prince Tariq is back safe and sound. That, and dealing with the 'modernization' of the remainder of Artinia now a part of my empire. Oy, that's a mess that will take some effort to get cleaned up… and the dwarves too… not to mention the rest of the world will eventually want to sneak a peek at new lands to colonize…_

"Ma'am?" Gala asked. They were all waiting for a response as she seemed lost in thought.

"Sorry, yes, I'm ready, at least as ready as I'll ever be." Her honor guard loaded up, with Hrist and Bryn in the other transports looking at her and nodding. She'd talk to them later with updates on where they were and how things were going on their front. Morlan, Elsei, Donovan, Melsia, and Gabriel were staying back at the castle with the wolves to keep everything under control, each having their personal projects they were in the middle of. Morlan and Elsei especially would be no match for even one of these demons, let alone an army. As much as she hated it, there would be no goodbye for the time she was going to be up above leading 1st Air Fleet. Her pack was going to be wondering what happened to their alpha.

The helibot closed its doors and lifted off, heading for _Majesty's Grace_ , this time ready to house the empress for the remainder of this, hopefully quick, war. As her airlift landed, she was escorted to her quarters where she got changed into her golden regalia. There was always a chance she'd need to head down to Silvinholm once everything was under control to meet this Commander Alfred Dalonas she had a dossier on for the rebel military. Once she had established that she was in charge from then on, they'd move on with support coming up from behind.

The best thing she could think of was all the small favors her military had right now, regardless of being automatons or highly advanced while she changed clothes. There was no need for food supplies; ammunition was easy to provide with either exceptional logistics control and supply depots or inventory hoppers; maintenance was easy to keep up with given that each soldier had auto repair systems that could rebuild parts of the infantryman as long as its basic core, as well as power and memory systems, were still functional. Combined arms operations were easy to perform, with just about anyone else on this planet incapable of even understanding what that meant. What was going to happen before they showed up on the battlefield was what the U.S. had long ago coined as "shock and awe."

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Liberators)**_

As she stared at herself in the standing mirror, ready to head to the bridge and sit down to lead this main force down the east road towards Aureos, a slight trembling exhale escaped her lips. As quick as it left, she nodded at herself and turned around, heading out of her bedroom to where she would observe the coming battle. With her first step onto the bridge, Bronze Team was waiting for her along with the Admiral of 1st Air Fleet. Out through the windows, before the shutters closed, she could see the rest of the fleet gathered, with troop transports filled with paratroopers. She could only imagine what the insides of those things looked like.

 _Probably the inside of a can of whoop-ass._

She wasn't far from the mark with her thoughts. Thousands of military models, varying in size, were all prepped for drop out the transports, locked into place with their weapons primed. Each one had their optics set to a glowing red, full combat mode activated with orders to eliminate with extreme prejudice all hostiles just as soon as they hit the ground. The visor armor plating shifted down for each soldier, adding a very aggressive look to the face paneling. It actually concerned the empress a little that they might scare the citizens of Silvinholm just as much as the demons.

"Section two cordoned off."

"Pressurization complete."

"All defenses are online. All squadrons are ready for launch on jump egress. 9th, 11th and 16th Aggressor Brigades ready." The command deck was reporting on all the information coming in as a tactical map beamed into life on a holographic table for her to look at. Multiple points appeared showing where the portals were set up along with her ground armies pulling into place to support the airdrops. Artillery latched to the ground with a range of HIMARS, conventional shell launchers, and ATACMS among Gauss canister turrets. Then… the X Heavies showed up cloaked, towering over everything with their main cannons locking into place; they looked more mobile fortress than a vehicle. What she had forgotten was Shadow Squadron coming in to escort her flagship from the castle and landing, ready to get going alongside the Red Tails. They were the aerial version of Bronze Team, always watching over the empress from the skies.

"We're ready ma'am," Jorge told her, a nod from his armored head. They each nodded to her as she slowly sat down. Selene walked up to each of them as she looked into their optics, some of the first friends she had here.

"Head on down to the drop bays" she quietly told them. The Commander of the special forces team put his huge gauntleted hand on her shoulder gently and squeezed a little as she brought her left hand up to one of his fingers. His optics winked green for a second as the others did the same. "Stay safe, you guys."

"You know us, ma'am, consummate professionals always," Ethan replied as they headed for the door to the bridge.

"These fuckers are never gonna expect us showing up" Deacon chuckled out. He couldn't wait to take aim on what was going to be down there.

"On your order ma'am," the Admiral told her as she saw the rest of the fleet through a heavily armored window. Multiple stations were all crewed to coordinate the efforts of her soldiers, with all military forces ready to drop from bays immediately after they arrived, LRVs and HRVs coming in right behind them followed by tanks airlifted and walkers.

"Drop the hammer."

"The empress has given the command. Opening shot prepared. Nuclear launch in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6" Selene gripped the armrests and waited apprehensively.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Mark. Launch complete." A single missile was ejected from the bottom of a nearby air cruiser as it engaged its engine and shot off towards its intended target miles away.

 _ **Thirty Minutes Earlier**_

Alfred was at his breaking point with the fact that Galdin attempted to push through the opening they created at the gates somehow. They were doing something back at camp for the past day or so, which also seemed odd to never see any of the spell casters out and about attempting to attack the walls. What had happened was that they were focusing all their mana into one singular explosive lobbed by a trebuchet that bounced a few times outside until it reached the eastern gates, blowing them to hell and back. The cost, however, was that not one single wizard would be in the push forward.

The Commander had thought that the General would settle in for the winter, wait until spring and start up again or leave. Even in the snow and cold, he still sent his men forward into the hail of arrows and onager attacks, as if the deaths of his warriors meant so little.

One soldier charged him, catching the man off guard and barreling him over. He quickly rolled into a ditch scrabbling for grip as he punched and struck with the pommel of his sword, breaking away and taking a swing. While it didn't kill the loyalist, it did chop his hand off and cause him to back away screaming only to get hit with a lightning bolt from a wizard on their side. The woman was barely able to stand, casting every ounce of mana she had left and draining herself to save as many lives as possible. As he met eyes with her, stunned and calm, two loyalist cavalry rode by and struck her down, trampling the body under the hooves as they tried to attack wildly. A few arrows from archers with their heads on a swivel put an end to that push.

Commander Dalonas walked forward and saw the mangled heap that was able to help him fend off another attack. A small prayer was all he could manage before an arrow arced through the sky beyond the walls and slammed into his left shoulder, penetrating the armor. He winced and broke off half of it, throwing most of the shaft away. He'd need either a priest or a hot iron to cauterize the wound later, though right now there were more pouring through the new entrance they made. Another arrow tried to hit him square in the head, but a shield came up to block the attack from Pops. Dina let loose multiple arrows to catch the archers in the shoulders and chest, with a couple of them running from her team. A swordsman rushed Alfred again from the side as his mind was elsewhere, knocking them both down a flight of stairs and landing with the leader of the rebels pulling away and seeing he wasn't fighting one… but three. His buddies had followed as the rebels continued to clash just up the steps.

The first one swung, parried as the Commander sliced at his belly, bringing up a small sword breaker from his belt to catch the second. The third tried to maneuver for an attack, but the second's sword was captured and being wheeled around to act as a human shield. As the third tried to push through his ally acting as a battering ram for both to knock him over, Alfred kicked at the knee and knocked the second soldier down, bringing his head down to chest height. He slammed the back of the sword breaker into the man's face and knocked him out, though now the third was on top of him and keeping him pressed against a fallen barrel. There was no sight of the adventurer team that had assisted before he fell down the stairs, more than likely swept up in another battle.

The soldier growled as he tried to press his sword against the leader's neck, with Alfred incapable of putting enough strength into repelling the attack to keep it from slowly inching closer to his skin with his wounded shoulder. It felt like that might be the end of him as he struggled and did his best to breathe and growl in frustration, though the tip of a sword slammed through the loyalist's skull and came out his mouth, blood splattering towards the Commander's face. He blinked twice and rolled the body off to see Sergeant Marin standing there, her arm still not regenerated, the eye patch still covering half her vision. The woman had just proved that she was more than capable of defending not only herself with one arm but her commanding officer as well. They both panted as she helped him up, pulling her sword out of the head of the would-be assassin. "Thanks. I owe you."

"Stop rolling around with the riff-raff sir, we nearly have the gate cleaned up, and they're pulling back for some reason. With the… odd… what's that red light?" she said with a chuckle, changing tone mid-sentence as they both looked out beyond the gates. A glow seemed to emanate from beyond the camp, though they didn't quite see what it was from their position. "Not another wizard strike… I don't think we can hold that one back and-"

"Wait, you hear that? They haven't just pulled back to regroup… something's happened," Alfred told her as they both ran up the steps and pushed through his men to get a better view on the wall ramparts. As they looked out toward Galdin's camp, they saw in the distance, a good two miles beyond, was a red portal half peeking over the hill, seething and blinking as if it was a giant eye with a golden cat's iris slit made of lightning. Coming out of it were demons each time the middle warped.

"Get me a looking glass" the Commander ordered as one of his men brought him the tool, he bringing it up to his eye and watching General Galdin trudging out of his camp towards the portal with his escort. "Damn it, he knows about what's happening… the king did something, I'm sure of it." The General was warned ahead of time about an artifact that could turn the tide of any war they knew of, bring an unstoppable force forward… at least it was invincible to _them_.

One demon had the appearance of a centaur with eight legs and four horns, a grimacing skeletal face with a burning fireball in the middle of its stomach as it looked down at the man saying something to it. Galdin quickly turned around and raised his hands towards his men, showing a sign of victory. The demons served the king it seemed. However… they did not serve Galdin. Before he could head back with a smile on his face, a massive battle axe quickly came swinging in a single arc, lopping off the heads of the entire group, with the General's flinging through the air and slowly twisting from a smile to agape, the eyes rolling up.

The remainder of the loyalists quickly started to abandon the camp and scatter, with many of them heading for the walls and willing to surrender or even join immediately, turning on their previous leader now lying dead on the ground. Quite a few didn't make it very far, tripping and falling as the demons wiped out the camp and burnt it to the ground, with more collecting behind. They didn't march just yet toward Silvinholm, as if they were waiting for something… more warriors to trample through and completely close off any escape.

"We need to get that gate closed immediately, or we're done for" Marin told him as he brought the looking glass down. His eyes were filled with calm and control, though in the back of his mind he was doing everything he could to not panic. Their numbers were slowly expanding as larger and larger came over the hills from the portal towards the camp to stand in a waiting army, looking right at them.

 _We're doomed. There's no way. The gates wouldn't do anything against them. Our walls are going to crumble instantly. It wouldn't matter trying to double the size of our defenses. We have to run, escape via the western gates immediately!_

A single ball of fire was launched from one demon, arcing beautifully through the air as silence washed over everyone. As it struck, the explosion rocked the area, creating a twenty-meter wide hole and collapsing the section of wall above it, some of his men falling to their deaths below. That was _one_ attack, and it was ranged. If they threw a volley of hellfire or cast any spells, the whole city would be destroyed.

"By the gods… no way… that was one of them?!" Marin squeaked out as she stared in horror. These demons were beyond anything they had fought, the strength difference between the imps or satyrs that had once harassed their armies in the far past were nothing compared to what they were looking at. It would take just one to slowly work its way through their city… and there were over five hundred in as little as a few minutes.

"We need to evacuate! There's no hope against those things!" The lieutenant yelled from down below as he used hand signals to get men to pull back and head to the other side of Silvinholm. The lone imp that had thrown the previous hellfire laughed at the damage he had caused and pointed at the beleaguered humans. To him, it was a good throw, killing a good ten soldiers.

"Agreed. If we move now, maybe… maybe we can reach the outskirts, head south…" Alfred responded as calmly as he could, though he knew what was coming. The power was incredible from one strike. Within ten minutes, there were one thousand; within twenty, it was two thousand as the portal widened and allowed even more to come through at a time. They ran from the walls and came down to the streets below as Commander Dalonas ordered his men to retreat back, the loyalists not even once attempting to attack any of them and even helping to try and get barricades up, brothers in arms from opposing forces now finding common ground… utter annihilation. There were even scenes of loyalists dropping their weapons entirely just to help remove rubble from pinned rebels. They needed to escape the city, it was a death sentence to stay.

"Gigsen protect us… Gigsen protect us…" one soldier rambled as he held himself squatting next to a door, trying to squish his helmet down closer to his shoulders as if he could somehow hide inside of it.

"Elesia, please guide us to a new life of peace and tranquility… for I know my end is coming…" a female adventurer prayed as she kneeled, one of the few that had headed to the Abbey with the Rikter brothers and unknown mercenary team.

 _Not even Morlanion Rikter and his lover could fend this off…_

As Alfred turned around and saw multiple strikes against the wall, collapsing a massive sector and allowing him to see the army start to march a little bit forward, the new demonic threat, their eyes all locked on the little flesh bags that were hiding within their stone and wood homes. They could sense the life of the humans inside. The numbers reached up to ten thousand before the demons somehow thought that was enough to start moving forward, with massive one-hundred-foot flaming giants walking behind them. The soldiers ran en masse, nearly trampling the Sergeant as she tried to get out of the way, though she didn't have the second hand to try and get free. The lieutenant came out of nowhere and grabbed her as he passed by, getting her to safety as Alfred had to push back into a storefront to keep away from the mass of people charging through the streets. Corporal Topher leapt from the mass of bodies next to the Commander and waggled his eyebrows at him, wondering what to do next.

Alfred dashed up the stairs of the building as he could spot through small holes in the wall the wave of scared men and women all just trying to save their own skins as Topher just watched the legs charging and trying to pull those who would be trampled to safety, a herd of frightened beings all trying to stay alive. The leader of the rebels just held hope that somehow there was enough debris above to reach another roof and jump from building to building, to get away from the mass of evil heading in their direction. As he broke through the second-floor door and ran up to the third floor, massive parts of the roof completely blown away from a random trebuchet boulder beforehand. He watched as the demonic army seemed to drink in all the fear and terror they were causing, finally getting ready to attack.

Another volley, this time coordinated, was flung towards the city. There was no way to leave the third floor to another building. They were trapped.

 **(Recommended Song: Audiomachine – Dauntless)**

"By any gods that are willing to hear me… I know I haven't exactly been one of the faithful, never once cared to go to a sermon in one of Gigsen's or Elesia's temples… hell, I'm even willing to be helped by Solon or Xaxara… just… if someone is listening, some deity out there that is willing to stop this nightmare… please… save these people…" There seemed to be no real response, the balls of fire landing and wiping out a section of unoccupied Silvinholm. Still… he could feel the heat even from where he was standing. Flyers flapped their wings as they rose up into the sky, ready to dive and grab at the people just trying to get away.

 _It was worth a shot. I know I'm just begging to anyone out there who will listen. I guess… gods don't listen to those who aren't true believers…_

Before the demons could fire another volley, they moved a little closer towards the city. Alfred instinctively held his sword a little closer, as he steeled himself for what was to come. Something suddenly lazily arced through the air and headed right past the demons as they watched as well, completely distracted as it was heading toward the portal… and entering. "What the…" A massive detonation erupted from inside, a slight concussive blast launching out of the only exit and flinging the guards around it. "Did… did a god just answer?"

It was quickly followed by a beam of white and bluish light coming down from the sky, striking the portal and everything around it, with a volley of… something… fired from well beyond visual range coming down and shelling the area with impunity. This all was only just the beginning… the main spectacle still hadn't arrived. Immediately after the incredible display of firepower hit and cleared up, a holy fleet teleported just above their heads. Up above, orders were given. His jaw dropped.

"Command to commit forces is a go. Go for drop. Go for drop." The bays opened as the ships above, held up by the power of some deity or technology they had never seen, allowed a military almost like a dream come raining down, Bronze Team simply in free fall at the head of it followed by multiple paratrooper platoons. It was unlike anything the people below had ever seen, a military that could fight back against demons… and then some.

"LZ is hot, go in loud and heavy."

"Rolling out the welcome mat, send out the greeting cards." LRVs came in quickly behind as Heavies just landed without a parachute, causing tremors and small craters as they hit the ground running followed by walkers taking up position for tanks to roll in under them. The demons actually paused as they wondered what was actually charging back at them, the swarm of green and blue eyes all locked onto their forces… quickly followed by confused attacks as they had no idea what they were up against when multiple types of high tech weapons laid into their heavily reinforced bodies… and carved right through. "Scramble spooky 2-2 and 2-3, run rampant."

Bronze Team was a marvel on the battlefield as Alfred simply saw a group of black-armored metal soldiers cut through swaths of demons off the planet, practically dancing and dodging through their claws and hell bolts while returning fire with their own incredible weapons made by a god. A tank rolled past the destroyed east gate and fired on the move, with a bigger brother coming up nearby and launching twin anti-tank missiles. The sound could be heard from where he was.

 _Whoever answered my prayer… thank you. Truly._

Alfred was never one to care about gods before, but for the first time, he believed there was someone listening.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"You want me to do what?" Selene asked as Nikola was on coms trying to tell her about an odd plan he had concocted with Robert.

"Use the shield emitters on the bow to fire off this frequency pulse we're providing, quickly."

"Alright, alright… Admiral, get to it." The Admiral on the bridge ordered his soldiers to alter the emitters as was explained, then charged them back up. A high-pitched pulse blasted out, rippling across the land beyond visual range. "So… what did that do? Is it supposed to close the portal?"

"Not exactly. Interesting… so it did work…" Nikola responded as he seemed to be looking over data collected from the pulse.

"You didn't just have us do that just so you could get readings did you?"

"No, on the contrary, That was to make sure the portal couldn't be transported somewhere else. We… guessed that if we could somehow alter the polarity in some way, then the king couldn't pick up and move it to wherever he deemed fit to plop the exit for the demonic forces."

"And that just happened to be the correct frequency?" she asked.

"I… hate to admit it… but that was a theory that needed a little more testing before it could be used in open experimentation…" Robert slowly said as he picked his words carefully.

"So, we got lucky."

"Yes, we got lucky. That's not something you hear a scientist usually want to say," Nikola replied as he seemed to sigh in shame. More demons kept trying to come out in waves, though they were quickly cut down by high powered weapons as her military set up a cordon and defensive perimeter.

"Did that do anything to their respawn capabilities, if they even have those?" The dev questioned.

"No, that's going to take quite a bit more effort, more than likely take longer than understanding how to close the hell gates. However, using biological warfare inside to control the different species should make it easier to ward off the continuous waves. We've only known about this for less than an hour," Robert told her.

"I understand. Priority is to close the portals; all other subjects of research involving the demons are secondary" the empress commanded.

"Yes ma'am." The coms line ended with them as another one opened with Selene getting in touch with her Generals.

"How is it near the south Bryn?"

"Easier to deal with, though there are quite a few fast-moving demons that resemble animals. At least they get distracted by all living creatures, not just humans. It's helping with allowing us to advance quickly, should be just at the borders of Tal Salunbal by tomorrow evening. There is a problem… I've been informed by one of the Commanders you provided me, Selene. Two villages are already wiped out."

The dev blew air out of her mouth as she weighed the death toll. They weren't Clockworkians… yet. The effect still held sway on her though.

 _Lazarus Systems will be needed; this is why I built them in the first place… that's if the demons don't pull something. All it will do is destroy any undead in the area. Oof, their families elsewhere are not going to like being notified once all of this is over… if it ever will be over… Nikola, Robert, I hope you can pull a miracle on this._

"Ma'am, the perimeter will be completed in four hours, would you like to head down and meet with the officials of Silvinholm?" the Admiral asked. Drop bunkers were already prepped and launching, setting up a free-fire zone around the gateway.

"No, no I wouldn't, not one bit… but I'll go regardless. I didn't get dressed up just to sit here." She did just that for the next five minutes, mulling over questions the people below might have that Gala had helped coach her on. An ambassador would be right with her the entire way, along with Adesha staying at the helibot. The empress finally stood up and walked slowly off the bridge, continuing to practice her words carefully. What they had just seen would have them speechless, their minds not working correctly once she arrived. They'd have countless questions for her, none of them anywhere near as suspicious as the dwarves. They'd want answers she couldn't give or ignore them altogether, such as was she a goddess. At least she could let them know they were safe and control their fear, keep them from harming each other.

Her trip was far quicker than the walk to the air pad as she just sat there with her assistance group sitting all around. As she felt the ever so slight vibration of landing, barely even noticeable to herself and her automatons, the door slowly opened with her honor guard stepping out in full display. There was silence as Selene got up and stepped one foot outside, looking at the masses of disheveled people all staring, silence completely enveloping the district as they just watched. A cough was heard as they all in unison kneeled to her, a few of them lying on the ground wounded. There was a sea of faces, most of which stared at her with trembling hope.

 _Well, shit. This is going to make it more difficult to find this Commander._

"Is there a Commander Alfred Dalonas among the people in front of me?" she shouted with assistance from a voice spell, one of six. Some of the soldiers looked at each other as there was the sound of running and a little jumping over debris from a nearby building, with a man trying to stop on one leg as he scooted a few more feet attempting to balance and not tip over, gulped and slowly tried to maintain his composure.

"I am he." Sergeant Marin came pushing through the crowd and stopped almost right next to him along with Lieutenant Wertham.

"Oh my…" she muttered out as her voice left her, the view of the empress standing there staring at her commanding officer. He looked at her and nodded in uncertainty, trying to let her know it was alright as he walked towards the auburn-haired woman. Her honor guard kept watch on him as he stopped ten feet in front of her, then kneeled.

"I need you to rise and speak with me in private. My next words are for you alone." A small tent was set up by some spare automatons with the flaps opened for them to enter. He kept his head bowed as his eyes glanced up every so often, seeing the size of the Mediums tracking his every movement. Just one of them could wipe out everyone within sight, the Commander included. "Please, have a seat." Alfred sat carefully in a provided chair, still in awe at her armor and beauty. She was the goddess that had answered his plea for help. He didn't know that she was wearing a small amount of modern makeup that helped accentuate her fairly blemish-free complexion, as the makeup that most nobles seemed to wear was… it was just hideous in both of their eyes. She smiled at him, which softened his rigid form; from what he could see, her looks were well beyond that of an elf even right now, maybe even a nymph if he had ever had the chance to see one. "Relax. You are safe now."

"Th… thank you, you're… um…" he winced a little from the wound in his shoulder.

"I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire to the west. We've noticed that Artinia is now crumbling under the choices made by your king, Teiyan Erelius II. You are also rebelling against his leadership, and now need someone to guide you, or you will soon fall to infighting. The trade routes are sealed, with many of the previous connections to towns and cities now wiped away. and in time this city would eventually become a shadow of its former self."

"You… you intend to… to add Silvinholm to your own empire?" he asked softly as if raising his voice would anger her.

"That is the intention, though I had wished for it to enter under… better… terms. I'm sorry you've had to go through a siege, I'm also sorry you've been assaulted by demons now bent on your destruction. Had we not arrived when we did, you-"

"We would be dead, your… your holiness." He didn't know how to address her. Majesty? She was a goddess in his eyes right now. No mere human had this much power, a military that could defend against the monsters from hell. She wasn't anything other than a deity that listened when others wouldn't have attempted to or couldn't.

"Your imperial majesty or your majesty is fine, Commander Dalonas." His left hand slightly twitched as if he had slighted her. "Calm yourself, breathe." He did his best to relax as he took a deep breath and chuckled slightly. "Now, I need you to do something for me. I'm well aware that you have been the deciding leadership of this city while the Rikter Family has been gone. I need you to agree, in public, that you will enact my will here as I deal with the remainder of Artinia and defend the remaining population."

"Does… ahem…" he cleared his throat and collected his thoughts while she just waited patiently. He was weary from the fighting and still had the arrow stuck in his shoulder. She looked over at the small stick poking out and stood up, walked to the side of the table he was sitting at as he held his breath. As she pointed to the projectile lodged in his muscles, it dissolved. He gasped in awe as her hand glowed, the wound sealing almost instantly. "You… it…" He was expecting her to rip the arrow from his shoulder then heal it, though this way was completely painless.

"I'm sorry that it took me this long to notice that, I've got quite a few things on my mind right now so sometimes my train of thought doesn't fall immediately to your wounds. I didn't mean to look uncaring." His mouth moved to make words, but nothing came out, his mustache splaying out a little. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and realized he was making a fool of himself, a battle-hardened Commander who had thousands of men and women follow his calm and composed visage, though the constant battle with Galdin's now destroyed army had worn on him.

"Does the empire… your empire… is it… is it glorious?" he asked, unsure what to question her on. What was there to say to her, to gain answers about? He didn't perform negotiations in the past, he let someone well trained in his army scribe a declaration of surrender for the opposing force.

"It isn't heaven, and I won't lie to you about that. I know what you're thinking, and no matter what I say, nothing will change your mind on what I am. I can, however, answer questions about how you will be within my borders from here on out." Selene slowly turned around and sat again, gazing at him quietly. He took another breath and regained his composure, his shoulder no longer causing any grief. The ambassador sat next to her empress, smiling calmly and willing to step in if her creator needed any help or just didn't want to speak anymore.

"I'm not saying that it wouldn't be… marvelous… to be a part of the Clockwork Empire, but… do we have a choice?" he asked her calmly.

"As I said, I have to sweep up the now crumbling Artinia, its king now mad with the power of a demonic artifact and its people in peril. That very threat would also arrive at my borders. I'm going to end him and his tyranny. That means Artinia will be no more, no kingdom or government but the local one still here. No trade with villages, you have no farms that I can see, and the nobles are still in their bunkers ready to crawl out and attempt to usurp power. Yes, I know about them." He nodded as he agreed. Her borders would just surround Silvinholm; there was no reason not to join. If her military could protect them like the awe-inspiring display he had just seen, there was so much more that they probably could provide. Her economy was probably massive and could breathe new life into this new home of his.

"I… I see… well, I… I believe I can speak for everyone after the siege is now ended… thank you." She nodded at him.

"Do you have any other questions? I'm probably going to need to make a speech. I'd like you to be standing there to agree to this." Alfred sat silently as he looked at the table.

"Do you… do you really need me? I mean, to lead?" he asked her. She sighed out a silent chuckle as her eyes closed for a few seconds.

"I'd be lying if I said otherwise. No, I don't necessarily need you, but I am offering the position. You've done well holding everything together, keeping the citizens fed without trampling on their rights that you believed to be held by all here. You kept Artinia from slaughtering half the population, kept crime down without assistance from the mercenaries, you-"

"Your majesty, forgive me for interrupting but… how do you know all of… I mean, I'm very sorry, you obviously are omniscient to know everything that is happening, of course, I'm speaking to a-" she brought up a hand gently for him to stop.

"You just saw my military defend this city from a demonic invasion. No, I am not omniscient, though, given the display of strength, it should tell you that my empire is capable of doing more than fight. Would it not be reasonable to assume I can gain knowledge of a situation in interesting ways you do not yet know of?" she asked him softly.

"Yes, of course… my mistake, sorry."

"It's alright; you were just curious, I understand." He sighed in relief as his eyes glanced towards the tent flaps.

"Are you worried about your Sergeant Marin?" she asked. His eyes shot back to the empress as she smiled softly. "I can heal her wounds as well if you need me to, though it will be taken care of soon by the doctors I'm bringing here, as well as food, supplies, portable shelter for those with no home." Alfred's mouth fell agape as he could see she was providing them everything to survive the winter without fear of anyone being hungry or fear of a blade ramming through their backs from loyalists, no freezing to death in the streets.

"Could you… could you please… let me know of other advantages that the empire can provide… I… my apologies, I'm not exactly the best at diplomacy, that was never my forte… I can lead an army and control security, but speaking to a ruler of an empire… not exactly what I was expecting to ever do."

"I understand. Let me see…" she explained simple facts, such as free education and medical aid, assistance for homeless to gain jobs and to be productive members of society, no fear of monsters attacking anywhere within their borders, crime rate at a critical low with well-paid police and fire departments, ample food and clean water with the capability to grow their own easily with magical education, civil rights far beyond what they ever had in Artinia; slavery was abolished, women and other races had equality, the average life expectancy was almost doubled with child deaths becoming almost nonexistent now.

One important question he asked was, did the government require much from them like Artinia. While she expected loyalty from all, she informed him that bar her directly intervening, she expected the mayors of each village, town, and city to uphold the rights of the people and maintain the peace along with the commissioner of the police force. If the empire's federal government ever had to step in, the citizens needed to listen and obey, with state government a close second. The dev also told him that they provided funding or commissions for special projects, provided contracts for trade routes and exploration teams, as well as rewarded the top productive municipalities with spare income to help the people grow. Taxes were lowered from 60% to 50%, with most going back to the city to maintain the infrastructure, along with tariffs that were fairly high to keep any labor force internal. There would be no need for a wall anymore, the security staying out of visual range would keep anything from harming them. She just needed them to go on with their lives and move towards a better future.

It seemed almost perfect, though that could never be true as there were always issues everywhere. However, compared to Artinia, it was far closer to heaven than he ever thought possible. No fear of an incursion from orcs and goblins, no Minotaurs trying to attack with an army led by him needing to defend, dragons were even citizens instead of flying death! There was also no mad king to conjure up crazy plans that everyone had to obey. This empress seemed to know exactly what she was doing, though, from her point of view, most of the work was being done by her administrative cabinet and governors. The Clockwork Empire had everything under control; there was no need to be afraid or paranoid. The only thing that puzzled him was just how did she have so much of a surplus of funds to not need most of the taxes for herself.

"What… what happens if someone has a complaint? What if a law does not work for the people?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"Glad you asked. You can request assistance with a letter to your mayor, well… given you'll be in charge here, I guess that would go up to your state governor. The letter could be given to one of my automatons that will always come by every day for a minor report on the city. They will retrieve the letter and bring your issue to one of my subordinates, that will then try and provide assistance and attempt to rectify any situation you have. We've quite a few laws now in place to keep the peace, to make things run smoothly, though there is always room for improvement; nothing need stay stagnant as the empire keeps moving towards a new future.

Though they will listen to the complaint, please let the people understand that their request may be denied for what they feel is needed. Many of my laws are for the benefit of the people, not to their detriment. To alter one of them would be to alter it for everyone, which could take away some rights that many enjoyed. I can only acknowledge that they will be listened to, though warn that some may be ignored if they are… how should I put it…"

"Crazy? Audacious?" he chuckled out, then thought better of how he was speaking to her. He closed his mouth and looked away, worried what he had just said was out of place.

"More considered of ill intent or poor knowledge of how everything runs. Know that my empire is strong because it bows to no one except the chain of command I have set in place, and my subjects will not be cowed by an entitled noble or wealthy merchant all the way down to a demanding farmer. There is no classism here; I expect many to rise to a new life befitting them if they just try to reach for their dreams. We're not here to squash those. We want them to flourish."

He couldn't believe what she was saying. It all seemed too good to be true. He had to be dead already, lying on the ground with none of this happening. But it was all real. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the tent flaps once more, wondering if anyone outside had heard them speak. What he didn't know was that there was a soundproof system in place just outside. "I… I think… well, I… I don't quite have any other questions at the moment" he said with a trembling smile, his hands clasped together on the table.

"Good. I'll understand if you think of some new ones in the near future. Only fools don't ask questions. Now, I should speak to the citizens of Silvinholm." Selene stood up slowly and walked to the entrance, waiting for him to head out with her. A small stand was placed for her to step onto, with ornithopters coordinating throughout the air and acting as speakers.

"Ilana? Is that you?" Dina asked as her team was among the crowd in the street. All eyes were on the empress as she gave her a simple smile and started.

"People of Silvinholm, hear me. I am Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. Many of you may wonder why I have even come here. It turns out that we have been your neighbors for a short time, integrating your western cousins carefully as they have been unhappy with the ruling class that has suppressed all of you. There have not been dark and foreboding shadows carrying away your children or extended family, but a nation accepting those who are tired of being pushed into the dirt by those who believe they are worth more than you.

Even now, your king has unleashed a demonic invasion on your lands, believing you are not worthy of his attention, casting his own humanity away in favor of hopefully becoming one of them. This travesty, this bold action would cause the deaths of everyone you have loved. However, we have not stood by idly. Look at what my forces have done to protect this city!" Selene pointed towards the direction of the portal, explosions and gunfire with pulses of lasers and plasma heard in the far distance. "We are more than a match for those who would utterly annihilate you! Stand with us, be a part of my borders, and I can guarantee you will never have to fear something like this again! No sieges! No demons or monsters! Better lives for all! Your cousins, your friends, every other town and city is waiting for you to be a part of our world!"

The crowd cheered and applauded where they could, weary and barely able to stand with the rush just to escape; however, some seemed a little worried that their lives would be altered too much, afraid of change. Slavery would be long gone, causing those who expected to have easier lives to have to work for an honest living. The free education would help them aspire to new goals and a new profession if they just found the energy to work for it. Sergeant Marin was standing in front of the crowd and smiling up at Alfred, in which the dev looked down at her and motioned for the blonde woman to come up. Everyone watched as she seemed a little timid and slowly ascended up the steps.

With a light touch from the empress's hand, her wounds were quickly healed, multiple spells cast at the same time. Her arm regrew, pushing out from the bandages before everyone's eyes. The wrap around her right eye fell away as she just blinked back at both the auburn-haired woman in golden armor as well as her Commander. She was whole again.

"A goddess to be sure! Blessed be!" they heard whispered among the crowd. No one noticed the sigh of annoyance escape her lips or the frustration in her eyes at being called that. Anyone with sufficient power was considered a deity from their standpoint, incapable of being understood, and bowed to due to their capabilities. Most wizards should have been considered demi-gods from their point of view, or priests. These people were desperate for change, to cling to something that would give them a better future. In their eyes, it didn't matter what story Selene gave them; if it didn't fit their view of her, they'd change it to fit something better. _Mayor_ Dalonas seemed to already fall for the religion built around the dev.

"Commander Alfred Dalonas will become the new mayor of this city to keep the peace and rebuild it with my blessing. With that now said, I require a small tour to the areas that have been swallowed up in such misery up until now. _Mayor_ Dalonas, would you please guide me to the locations affected by the siege? I need to see where the worst damage has been inflicted," she said as her blue eyes turned to him. All of the new citizens turned to Alfred as he straightened his back up as much as he could, a rod slamming up his spine as he could feel their gaze. He was their leader by decree of the new empress.

"Yes… your imperial majesty." Marin walked next to him as the three moved through the crowd escorted by honor guards, Dina confused with her old friend. Selene just winked at her.

"I'll speak with you later, adventurer." Pops just shot his fist into the air with a whoop escaping his lips while the ranger smiled and bowed a little. They somehow were piecing together their own story of why she had even shown herself before, coming to the rescue of another goddess in need of her assistance. Their piecemeal idea would most likely be shared by many if they ever told them.

The tour was somewhat short, with a few buildings completely repaired to house those who were no longer able to move towards the eastern side of the city. Food was passed out along with blankets and tents, doctors caring for the wounded as the priests were finally able to get some much-needed rest. There were still sounds of battle coming from over the small hills, frightening the citizens and making them jump, though they knew the Clockwork army was keeping the demons at bay. A noise cancellation system was set up to help the people sleep during the coming nights while the war waged on.

As the day turned towards evening, the sunset falling upon Silvinholm, for the first time in a while, they were content. Slaves were freed easily, though a few of the owners were unhappy with that. Even with it being winter and freezing cold outside, there were quite a few parties thrown to celebrate no longer needing to fight to survive. The number of families wanting Selene to bless their children was high, each hoping for her to touch their foreheads as if it would give them good luck in their lives. The dev preferred not to do that, as it would only encourage some of them to perform stupid stunts thinking they were now somehow indestructible.

At one point while walking to another district, a child ran up and touched her cloak, running away to her mother as the parent held her, fearful that the new ruler would strike her down just like the mad king had often done to those who would dirty his clothes. Selene just turned around, the honor guard not harming the child as she motioned for the young girl to come back. With a gentle touch on her small nose, the dev simply made golden butterflies fly around her with a quick cast of an emote spell she had learned a week ago. There was no telling when "dazzle" spells would become useful to awe anyone nearby or cause a distraction in this world, given that joke spells had an impressive effect of causing most to tell the truth or act under her will. Mundane magic that no one would normally use beyond getting a laugh out of a player in a game now had fully functional and reasonable effects on this planet.

The butterflies danced around her as the girl just giggled and ran back to her mother, waving at the empress as the woman waved back. The spell would wear off in a few minutes, but it at least cheered the child up and calmed the people down. This was not a tyrannical ruler who saw them as lower than dirt. She was willing to play with the children, at least a little.

Once the sun was behind the hills, the reddish tinge of dusk almost gone from the clouds above, Selene finally headed back up to her flagship to relax. "You did quite well your majesty" Adesha commented as the auburn-haired woman's cloak was unclasped.

"That doesn't stop me from being exhausted. My stamina is beyond anything anyone here could hope to have, and that was just emotionally draining. I have to put up a façade in their eyes that nothing can stop me, that everything is perfect in my empire. I can't even go down with my own army, with a warning by Gala that the visage I create would be of a ruler that will be destructive for a first impression." The empress sighed as the armor was removed along with her clothes, replaced by a robe and a cup of tea placed on her vanity. Out the windows of her bedroom could be seen streaks of rapid-fire anti-air weapons hitting multiple winged demons, two Red Tails streaking by. The shields were easily holding back any attacks flung at them, no need to pull back the Air Fleet, while the soundproofing kept any noise from keeping her awake once Selene went to bed.

"You did perfectly fine your majesty. They seemed mostly in awe that you were treating them as more than mere tools." As the empress's hand picked up the cup, she checked in with Hrist and Brynhildr with their engagements.

"I'm here, Selene. Everything is going according to plan here in the north, though… er…" Hrist responded as the coms added in Bronze Team as well as the empress's administrative staff.

"Why did I send you up there and not provide escort for myself? You are my General, after all; you'll need to lead my armies" the dev chuckled out as she answered the unasked question.

"I… I didn't mean…"

"It's alright. Another reason is you'll be advancing downwards and meeting up with my fleet near Aureos, as well as having the capability to assist the navy behind you. Silvinholm was a lynchpin for my advance, I've had it well planned. Most of the combat will be at the capital and at the harbors, which is perfect for an invincible bringer of the slain."

"I… I understand. I'll meet you at Aureos then. Stay safe." What Selene couldn't see was Hrist was blushing on the other side of the conversation and holding one of her plushies while sitting on the bridge of _Empress's Conviction_.

"I will. Bryn, how is it to the south?"

"After the previous report, running smoothly, though there are two villages that seem uninterested in our intervention to my disbelief. They would rather fall to the new world that their king is bringing as if their deaths will usher in a new age with their bodies acting as the foundation." The blonde shield maiden was gesturing while sitting in the royal bedroom of _Goddess's Truth_ ; both Valkyrja had been told to treat those quarters as their own until this war was won.

The dev grumbled in frustration, bringing her hand up to her forehead as Adesha prepared her pajamas. In the background, reinforcements were being loaded into the transports, ammunition for projectile weapons was being stocked, and capacitors were being charged while security defense lines were set up far below. The fleet would be ready to leave again as soon as the empress woke up in the early morning. This was planned from the beginning that they would move in waves just like the enemy, shoring up support lines and keeping logistics running smoothly. It was also meant to calm the people below, to let them know she wasn't leaving just yet.

"Leave them alone then."

"You… want me to abandon the villages?" Brynhildr asked her with some concern in her voice.

"They don't want us to protect them. We can't force them to somehow join the empire; they are overzealous in their view of their king. Frankly, that would cause trouble in the near future with constant refusal to adhere to laws and new rules. If that is how they feel, just move on. A security brigade will move up anyways to keep any push from continuing."

"Isn't that… harsh?"

"Bryn, I'm not going to spend resources and manpower on people that do not want to be saved. There is no point in wasting effort on them. They aren't my subjects. They never will be. Security will just clean up after."

"I meant for you. Frankly, Hrist and I are accepting of leaving them to their fate. Those who wish to fight and die for their beliefs, they can do so, even if they will die alone and be forgotten. Admirable, though foolish. We are all too used to that with the countless warriors who value their faith more than their families or honor. I don't have time to try and sway them to join in the middle of all of this, the ambassadors will just be turned away. Their fervor towards their screwed up king is just going to cause problems." The blonde Valkyrja replied.

"Selene does not need those who would bring that kind of stupidity into her empire. They would just be a drain on everyone," Hrist informed her sister as if she knew enough about her friend's mindset to answer in her stead. A winged demon attempted a suicide run on the bridge of the Valkyrja's flagship, shot out of the sky by an anti-fighter turret nearby. The shields would have flickered for a moment as it diced the creature into so many pieces before it could have even scratched the paint.

"As much as I want to argue about that… yeah. I'm not going to waste time and resources on those who would just throw it away. It may be the same with the dwarves too if they unleash destruction upon themselves. I can't fix stupid, and frankly, I don't want to. Trying to pull everyone's hand out of a fire just because it's hot… that's not what we're here for. They either learn or die and make room for those who can."

"Sometimes you have to let nature take its course with civilizations and societies" Bryn responded solemnly as she looked out of her own window. "I've got to go; the Admiral wants to brief me on the next village just ahead of us. We've so far moved fast enough to save about five… well… three if you don't include the two suicide sectors."

"Good luck, Bryn; just do your best."

"Always." Her 2nd General disconnected from the channel as Hrist just sat silently on her side. Then, as if unsure what next to say, mumbled out what she had done in town.

"I… I went down with my army."

"You wanted to get into the action and crush demons. I kind of figured you'd do that."

"You did?"

"Hrist, it's hard to keep you stationary or sitting down. It's one of your perks." The raven-haired woman blushed profusely at the compliment. "I take it the town (or was it a village? Hamlet?) above got front row seats to you obliterating those who would end their lives?"

"I… yes, I believe quite a few noticed me ride Asterion into the fray."

 _That must have been one incredible display for them to see. Still, I expected that to happen. They'll want to know what kingdom rescued them that had a Valkyrja General among its ranks._

"Good. You got a chance to unwind with a sword in hand. Feel better now?"

"Mhm. Oh… I… I've just received a request for a briefing as well. The trade town to the south of Caerel is our next stop; I need to make sure the demons haven't yet reached this far yet. We don't expect much of a force to have exited the Aureos portals to become a threat; however, controlling the land-"

"Will ultimately keep them in a more confined space that can be shelled from afar, I understand. We're going to leave for Garrington in four hours as well. Don't overextend, wait for security to set up behind you and keep your supply lines protected. When you feel the time is right, move to Caerel City and mines."

"I know. Be safe, Selene."

"You too." Another disconnect as the woman leaned back and sipped her tea. Garrington would be dealt with by an ambassador android; she didn't feel she had the energy to deal with another crowd of strangers all treating her as a deity. Despite her near-unlimited stamina, it wore on her to walk around prim and proper. There was enough to deal with from high above, and walking around in something an empress should always wear would just fray her nerves.

 _I miss being treated as a trader by Giles and Abby. Riding out from the fort with my wolf pack, selling wares, listening to Moira give me the skinny on all the gossip. It was simpler back then — no running an empire or being looked at as a cosmic force of the universe._

"Do you have time for us, ma'am?" Will asked quietly.

"Yes, of course I do. Bronze Team, what's the situation down below?" she asked as Adesha started a bath for her.

"Currently stable ma'am. The rapid dominance maneuvers we prepared ahead of time has wiped out most of the force heading towards Silvinholm. We're just mopping up, all things considered," Jorge reported.

"They never knew what hit them. I got a pretty high kill on the remainder" Deacon chuckled out as a number popped up on her Hud for a scoreboard.

"You still are lower than me, Deac" Ethan chimed in as his kill counter appeared, reaching 380 compared to the sniper's 343.

"Both of you need to shut up, or our Commander is going to add his in" Turnie warned. Both of them laughed then went silent as the clearing of a mechanical voice was heard, as another number appeared. 2,894. Jorge was a miniature juggernaut.

 _Who says a tank can't DPS?_

"Get on my level" Jorge seemed to say in a half grumble with his British baritone voice. Turnie and Orlo applauded as both Deacon and Ethan were confused.

"Well, that's… you went melee for this…" Ethan tried to come back from that.

"And? He has the ability to keep everything near him. Don't start a pissing contest and not expect others to join in," Turnie replied as she posted her score so far of 327. For a healer, she was a little angel of death. Orlo's was a paltry 140, though he was supporting the rest of the team and assisting the army right beside them, improving their combat efficacy by a sizeable amount. For one fireteam, the total was an impressive number.

"You all did great. Thanks for your hard work. Are you able to break away from the battle down below?" Selene asked.

"Yes ma'am, just picking up a few loyalist stragglers that couldn't get away and are in need of medical aid. Perhaps they'll change their tune once inside the city and not lynched by the citizens" Jorge informed her.

"Alright. Once you're back on board, we just have to wait until we're restocked for another push." Bronze Team acknowledged and left the channel, allowing the dev to speak to her staff. "Please tell me there is at least some good news back on the homefront."

"I can tell you that a certain red dragon started a fight in a tavern" Grey chuckled out.

"She what?! Oh, no…"

"Apparently, it was to defend the owner against fairly aggressive drunks attempting to reach the kegs behind the bar without assistance. She willingly went into custody." The dev was shocked that she allowed cuffs to be put on her.

 _I guess she wants to abide by the laws._

"Set her free with a warning; there's no sense in keeping her in lock up."

"Involving the conversion of ranches into farms with the new trees, it will have to wait until springtime, though the owners of the land are all too happy to stop buying feed for their livestock" Felix, her Secretary of Agriculture, added in.

"So we can almost entirely go vegetarian? No need to have chickens or pigs? We can already ignore cows for milk production," Will questioned.

"Unfortunately, chickens are still required for their eggs, though I've heard the alterations to the genome of the trees is already hard at work getting that taken care of as well. As long as we slowly integrate the new florae, no one should need to eat an animal and only need to domesticate for renewable resources such as wool, though eventually even that will not be needed with synthetics once they have reached a sufficient tech tier."

"We have use for domestication, just not for many of the four-legged animals. Insects could be trained via ultrasonic frequencies to better take care of a biome. We're already working on using the drones to eat away diseased material from the plants near Azaltos Mountains" Robert informed them all as he chimed in. Another project that was on the backburner was to release a healing mist through a village or town that would cleanse diseases and provide a slow but soft regeneration effect. The ejection ports would be hidden inside the main symbols of the Clockwork Empire, the clocks emplaced in the middle of each municipality. That would combat epidemics if they ever got too serious, along with the education on vaccines and antibiotics in the near future.

A slew of minor events was given to the empress to help get her mind off of what was happening outside the windows, the battle still being fought as her automatons pushed the demons back to the portal enough to completely keep it under control. Every few minutes another wave of the heteromorphs would climb out of the gate only to be cut down. This was going to continue until they could research a way to close the portal, or to disable the respawn capabilities they had, with their essence now confirmed as being sucked back in and rebuilding their bodies. Adesha closed the blinds to stop her creator from focusing on the endless fight outside while she removed the robe and slipped into the bath.

"Do we have any progress on closing their gateways into our world?" she asked.

"Not just yet empress. We have multiple theories we're working through. One is that the death of the king is the kill switch that needs to be thrown. If that is the case, a simple cruise missile could remedy this. If it isn't, there is a possibility to cause the portals to implode on themselves," Nikola explained.

"We may, and I would like to make this clear, _may_ have a way to destroy each exit tunnel the demons are using" Robert added in.

"Does it involve the research you've been doing into teleportation systems for the towns?"

"It does, though this might take a little effort. Once each gateway is polarized so it can't be moved, at least by the king… we transport each one in front of each other."

"Is that so that they can't cause any damage to the city during its… implosion?" Will questioned, wondering if it would cause a black hole.

"The walls would most likely collapse, though we believe the damage beyond that should be minimal. The difficulty is getting the gateways to be 'warped' to each other. If we can put this plan into motion, I believe placing each portal in the palace throne room of Aureos would be ideal. If that cannot be done, then we individually destroy each exit." Nikola explained.

"Bronze Team wouldn't like that very much given they're set to breach and clear the palace once we get there."

"This would be after the king has been executed, empress; also, if we can do this before they breach, would that not take care of the situation ahead of time?" Nikola informed her.

"Alright, at least we have ideas on how to end this threat. Good work, everyone. I'm going to get what sleep I can before we head to Garrington. Hold the fort until we get back," Selene replied. They all acknowledged as the meeting was adjourned and she got back to soaking in the bathtub. Once clean, she ate quickly and climbed into bed. Four hours wasn't going to be a lot of time to rest, especially since the battle of Garrington was going to start at midnight.

As she did her best to get some shut-eye, her mind kept doing what it could to keep her awake and thinking of what next to do, unable to just let her drift off. There wasn't going to be much time to rest later.

 _ **Five Days Later, Morning, 11th, December**_

A woman ran out from her farmhouse to find her son who was screaming for her to come to see what he was pointing at. The uncle dropped his hoe as he took his hat off, staring off in the distance. There was a line forming of… something… coming towards them. "Look, mother! Look! Is that from Aureos?" the boy asked as the woman grabbed his hand, worried that an army was heading their way. She already knew what they would want, food, and shelter for their soldiers that forced them to acquiesce to their demands. What was going to arrive was far worse.

Two hellbolts arced through the sky and destroyed the house along with the chicken coop, sending wood flying everywhere. The family cowered and tried to protect themselves from the flying debris. "Run!" she screamed as the rest of the village did their best to hurry in the opposite direction… that was when they froze in fear. Waiting for them on the other side of the main street running through their village was a group of demons. How they had circled around without anyone noticing, or the guards…

Terror filled their eyes as they soon saw the remainder of the Artinian swordsmen that tended to patrol the area, little more than old men given an easy job of protecting their meager homes. Not one of them had even managed to make a noise, being torn to pieces at the main sign to their road. "We're done for… this… this can't be… what has befallen us…" the uncle muttered out.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Ciprian Costin & Ivan Torrent – Zeus is the DJ (feat Uyanga Bold & Tina Guo))**_

One of the four-legged variety of demons jumped and climbed along the walls and roofs of the buildings, heading right for them. It snarled and snapped its jaws, ready to strike. A single long-range shot echoed through the area as its head disappeared from the body, collapsing on the ground with steam erupting from the wound. The mother screamed as she held her son, looking around for what had just taken out that which would have been their demise. In the horizon, closing fast, was an unknown force heading right for them. Multiple lances of energy burst from something sitting on the top of the fast-moving wagons, the wheels moving at incredible speeds without a single horse seen. Those blasts cleared the exit for the villagers to run.

The demons were furious that their prey was being protected by some as yet unknown enemy coming to assist. As they started charging, a rapid advance force of LRVs got airborne over a hillock, heading in to engage. They weaved and dodged the ranged attacks easily it seemed, their movement erratic yet having coordination unparalleled by any military they had seen. At one point, an LRV drifted right past the villagers, the pintle-mounted heavy dual machineguns and pulse laser chattering away and abandoning those who it was trying to rescue.

At first, the damage seemed minimal from the opposing force, a few of their brethren falling from the spray of inaccurate fire. The demons felt they could easily handle such a military and became all too complacent. That was when a main rail cannon fired in the far distance, turning a line of the beasts into so many body parts strewn across the ground. The LRVs were the decoys, capable of harassing and continuing on as the light tanks caught up.

A volley of missiles carpeted the area, wiping out most of the demonic presence, fired from a fast-moving artillery line firing their lighter armament, attempting to just keep up with the more mobile army ahead of them. "Security will mop up, keep advancing." Fighters dove from the clouds above and made a strafing run, moving in different directions and coming around for a second pass. Their speed was well beyond what the winged minions of King Teiyan could even match. One of the HRVs bounced over uneven terrain and skidded to a halt, opening the doors and allowing commandoes to pile out and engage with their rifles. "Tangos front. Tangos front. Sweep our six and come up right flank."

"Acknowledged." While they were a little rough, the automatons grabbed each villager and shoved them into a group in the middle of street, watching the surroundings as the vehicular side of the military dealt with any hostiles still heading towards them. One, in particular, was slamming a massive spiked Morningstar welded to its arm on the ground in anger, standing right next to an abandoned home. What it didn't know was that a tank was coming up from behind the building and didn't really care about the issue of charging right through to flatten the demon under its treads.

That was when the fleet slowly moved over their heads, firing from above massive shells, causing small craters where the infernal minions of King Teiyan were actually backing off to regroup… they were running. Even these monsters realized they weren't going to win against an unfeeling mechanical military without serious support. What they didn't know was that the fast-moving LRVs and HRVs didn't just leave the area, they were coming up from behind to harass even further and mop up the remainder, to keep them from thinking it was possible to attack the heavier artillery.

The Clockwork military was there for all of a few minutes, then passed right through the zone and left the village, each man woman and child wondering what had just happened as helibots slowly landed behind them with security teams and one brunette with odd colored eyes smiling at them, an android. An X Heavy could be heard in the distance, trudging forward, a literal walking castle as it continued on towards the next battle.

"How quickly can we get to the town beyond this?" Brynhildr asked the Admiral of her flagship.

"Half an hour. It's already in the process of being evacuated. We may not reach it in time before it is destroyed, General." The Valkyrja slammed her fist against the armrest, the paneling withstanding her strength.

"Selene, is there any way to increase the speed of our soldiers?" she asked through the earpiece.

"You mean like right now? I can use something… hang on…" There was frustration in the empress's voice as she seemed to be doing things on the other side of the com channel.

"Is everything alright?" Bryn asked her, worried.

"Garrington is an absolute mess at the moment; it's taken the brunt of this given the placement on this chessboard. The whole place is in tatters, lots of dead... and undead. Demons raised them as cannon fodder in hopes of distracting us and as a demoralizer for the remainder of civilians. It didn't work. Watch yourself out there, if something looks human and walks in a daze, probably not alive." Somehow, unbeknownst to the shieldmaiden, **{Blitzkrieg}** had been activated by the empress, doubling the movement speed of the entire military for a set time. Security set up at the last village before Bryn's air fleet was even out of visual range. It was like everything suddenly had a second engine kick in, the LRVs at the forefront boosting to an incredible 250 mph and maintaining it. "Punch it. We gotta go." Tanks rolled right by the awe-struck humans as they all just huddled near each other, watching as the demons were not only wiped out near the village but pushed back towards one location… Aureos. The rumble of engines and wheels moving along the ground, the massive army passing right through their already damaged large hamlet was almost mind-numbing to the people there.

One lone demon, an eight-legged arachnid it seemed, leapt through the air only to be caught by an anti-air missile meant for one of its winged cousins.

"How much of Garrington is gone?"

"At least half of it before we got here. The only reason I can think of that would have kept the demons from wiping it out completely overnight was… they were playing with their food. I can already tell we aren't going to save everyone."

"The casualties of war aren't always soldiers…"

"This isn't war; this is an existential risk unleashed on an unsuspecting and in some cases loyal, populace. If we weren't here, the rest of the world would be the next target. This fucker doesn't care about the lives of others; this is him playing around as if the world is his toy." In the back of the empress's mind while speaking to her General, she worried that her slow reaction to the king's ownership of the artifact caused all of this. A quick sniper round would have ended this threat long before it even began.

 _She probably feels guilty. The issue I see is that destroying the royal palace in Aureos would have killed many innocents as well as the king. That might have been an unacceptable loss in her eyes. You can't save them all Selene… that's not how any of this works… some should be considered necessary deaths for the greater good here… you also don't owe anyone in that city your guilt or self-doubt…_

"Selene. There were always going to be casualties. You know this."

"Not from an extraplanar force there wasn't." Bryn heard her sigh as there were a few seconds of silence, "You should be good to go for the increase in speed. You aren't teleporting your fleet?"

"The problem with that is we're catching refugees being assaulted from range trying to escape villages closer in. How many are destroyed, do you know?" the Valkyrja asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Of the 30 locations not in my empire… we're already looking at 10 of them wiped out or completely abandoned, probably where you're getting the refugees. Of the remaining 20, four of them are in the process of being burnt to the ground with another six under attack. The last ten are, well, behind you and Hrist right now being dealt with by ambassadors."

"So… we can expect to not save much more of Artinia, excluding those hiding in Aureos" Bryn stated, bringing her hand up to her forehead as she leaned back in the second command chair. Her fingers moved up through her blonde hair as she blew air out of her mouth. They couldn't be everywhere in this emergency.

"Yeah, that seems to be the case. The demons are completely incapable of defending against my military, but that's us. The Artinian soldiers and militia have no chance."

"Do we have any good news?" her General asked tentatively.

"I don't know if it can be considered good news or not, but Intelligence has calculated the maximum number of demons that seem to come out per day from each gateway now that they've stabilized. One million sent per portal per day. That's nine million in total we're directly in combat with every twenty-four hours, about 250,000 per hour each. We're still in the dark if that's going to be the general math or if things might get a bit more… volatile… as time goes on." Bryn raised her eyebrows in surprise. That was a sizeable force in her eyes. The numbers could even go further as if the staging grounds beyond those openings would somehow increase in the production of hellish minions or speed up the theorized respawn timer.

"Can we keep that under control?"

"Currently? Yes. Later? I have, at the moment a ninth of that total in soldiers, ten percent of the population. I have another ten percent as security. That means I have under two million, though half of that is behind us keeping the borders protected. That tells us if we let things get out of hand, at worst we'll be outnumbered well over 18 to one. That's if we pull back and be stupid, which I obviously don't see us doing. That's not as bad as I expected, at least for now. The only difference is my military is split into different categories of units, not all of it is infantry or tanks. While the demons seem to follow a melee or ranged build, my units are spread out to cover all forms of combat and multiple modes of travel. An artillery battery won't be very useful against their melee up close, but firing from the town over will take them out before they even know what hit them."

"Were you expecting an endless wave to block out the sun?" Bryn chuckled slightly.

"I don't know what I was really expecting, just… as we move further in, it will become more of an issue in front of the walls of Aureos. It's going to be a much bigger containment zone for the five gateways sitting as the main entrance to the city; with you coming up from behind, it should make it easy enough to drop artillery batteries down and keep each portal contained."

"We're already heading to the next town; we'll be therein… odd… hang on…" Bryn stopped mid-sentence as she received a warning from the Admiral. An army of animal folk was heading towards the border of Artinia. "Oh, damn it… no, you don't need to come here and fight, we have it under control…"

"Who the what now? Who's there to fight?" Bryn groaned.

"Seong Neow Republic sent an army, roughly ten thousand. Somehow they caught wind of what was happening and figured they could hold back the demons with that number."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me. They can't enter. The fear that will cause in the refugees having that army coming in, along with just throwing meat into the grinder… we don't need more undead for the demons to use as meat shields. It's just going to slow us down."

"I'll deal with this personally. The rest of my army will continue forward; I'll catch up." The empress was silent for a moment as she realized what the shield maiden was going to do.

"Don't rough them up too much, just send them packing."

"No guarantees, but I'll try." Brynhildr ended the conversation and stood up. "I'll take Delgi down and stop that army from heading further in. Don't wait for me. I'll come back in an hour."

"Understood General," the Admiral replied as the automaton clasped its hands behind its back, communicating in machine language with his bridge crew. The seven-foot-tall shield maiden got up and stepped off the bridge, heading for the landing bay as she put on her gauntlets and placed her helmet on her head, the visor lined in a golden filigree glinting from the lights on the ceiling, the feathered wings on the side shifting as the back paneling for the neck connected to the rest of her armor. Selene didn't give her cheap knock off equipment use, Brynhildr was one of her Generals and a friend. Within minutes, she was swooping down to the ground, landing effortlessly as her Pegasus stood there and looked around.

It would take the animal folk another twenty minutes to reach her as the Valkyrja removed the spear tip and made sure her sword was sheathed securely, her mount allowed to graze much further behind. She dropped the bottom of her shield into the dead grass below her, the only patch it seemed that was a brownish crisp compared to the green and yellow surrounding her. There hopefully wouldn't be a need to slay any of them as long as they could take the hint with a beating… assuming they wouldn't just turn and leave with some negotiation. As the first pair of ears crested over the sloped landscape, the army stopped as the frontline stared at the woman standing before them. Silence enveloped the area as she just stood there, silhouetted against the empty backdrop of open plains that were still considered Artinia.

"This is not your fight. We have this well in hand. You would just throw your lives away for no cause other than foolish honor you will never gain. Leave now, tell your leaders that there is no threat. Go home to your families, knowing they are safe." She was expecting them to laugh at her and look around. Instead, they kept their cool and seemed a little confused.

"We sensed a great evil arriving in these lands. Artinia is going to fall. You cannot believe this can be done alone," the leader, a tiger it appeared, spoke to her. His armor seemed cut off at the shoulders, his bare arms showing his prints. An eyepatch with studs along the edges covered one eye along with one wooden earring in the left ear, more than likely meaning something to him as there was no precious metal. His chest was covered in brownish, banded plate armor with straps of small pouches and knives. He had a crotch flap hanging down with red pants, with two high cropped boots reaching up to his knees.

"We are not Artinia. We are the neighbor to the west, the Clockwork Empire. We have this under control; you can leave knowing no harm will come towards your borders."

"We cannot accept that. Time and time again, you humans have proven you cannot contain what you have started."

"I am anything but a human, little cat." That seemed to make the leader bristle, and his hackles raised as he bared his teeth slightly. He failed to realize that he was the one who threw the first insult.

"We have shown that we are stronger than you many times over."

"I find that doubtful given that was against Artinia and not us. Had we fought before, your nation would be a whisper of the past long forgotten. I tire of this and have a schedule I need to keep to. I say again, leave now. We are not enemies, but I refuse to allow bodies to be added to the pile for the demons to raise for their own use. This need not happen unless you force it." A clean swing to extend the staff the spear had become showed she would not let them pass. She hefted her shield effortlessly as she watched them.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Revolt Production Music – Dragon Strength)**_

The leader looked at his soldiers, asking with his eyes if they were in agreement. They all nodded as the Valkyrja didn't even flip down her visor, sighing in frustration.

 _Ten thousand versus just me… not exactly good odds for them it seems… all fairly weak compared to the demons behind me… I'll try not to kill any of them…_

The army slowly expanded as it tried to surround the single woman. Bryn didn't even enter a combat stance just yet, just watching them move with their katanas and Nodachi, Wakizashi wrapped in their belts. A few of them had spears or exotic weaponry, none of it looking imposing to the Valkyrja looking as if she was bored. Most of their armor was pitiful in her eyes, though it might have been able to protect against weapons from Artinia. "Is this really how you want to fall? There is no reason for this to happen," she shouted. The entire time she spoke, her eyes were tracking their movements, devising multiple tactics to deal with them in a nonlethal manner.

"Shut up and fight or stand aside, human!" the leader snapped as he charged her. She growled in frustration.

"I. am. NOT. HUMAN." His katana was caught mid-air and knocked to the side, her shield launching him through the crowd behind and disappearing with a concussive blast expanding from the strike point of her shield, bowling over a good fifty of them with his body. Her movement wasn't even calculable, just instant shifting to block the attack. The remainder looked at each other, agreeing to go in at the same time, their thought that numbers would overwhelm her strength. A unified yell was heard as they all charged. All she did was sigh and blow a stray lock of her blonde bangs from her eyes at their stupefying overconfidence.

 _Try not to kill them, but if they are really pathetic, then it isn't my fault._

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

"Selene, we have a little bit of a problem." Hrist was standing between Minotaurs and humans in Caerel City, just above the mines where the portal was situated inside.

"I can see the Minotaurs standing there. So, what, are they trying to kill each other?"

"The humans in the city want to fight, while the Minotaurs are trying to extricate themselves carefully. There is extreme racism here."

"They don't like any other races at all?" Selene asked over coms.

"Not one bit. However, they have no loyalty to Artinia. Caerel was a country forcefully annexed long ago. It also appears they themselves stole land from the Kohar Confederacy."

"Oof, how the hell did they manage that without getting stomped… well that's a question for another time… so Caerel Mines and the Harbor used to belong to the walking cows. Mmm, tell them to stop what they're doing and keep a distance. We're trying to save their lives; their actions are complicating matters."

"It gets worse. They refuse to join the empire if we have elves and dragons." That made the empress pause and cock her head back on the other side as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"They aren't anywhere near the city or harbor. The whole thing is a city-state practically, the elves have no effect on them. Are they seriously that bias towards others?" she asked.

"Get out of the way, woman! Those damned things need to be wiped out!" one of the soldiers snapped as he raised his sword over his head with a clenched hand, the mob shouting in agreement. No one owned the mines at the moment except the Clockwork Empire and demons, fighting through the tunnels and restricting spider mine usage due to structural integrity.

"It appears so," Hrist said softly to the dev as one of the Minotaur tried to bring an axe down on her… and was blocked with one hand holding up the axe head. "Back. Off. All of you. You currently have a demonic invasion just below your feet. We are currently holding it back."

"And we already said we'll never join unless it's pure! Humans only! We don't need your help!" the crowd roared out.

"You pink skins steal and take from others always. Not once have you ever tried to speak with us to offer anything in trade. You wretches have no right to have this city or the harbor! These lands are ours, always have been! The elements have shown us the way!" the leader of the assault force for the Kohar Confederacy yelled out, his voice drowning out the shouts from the humans.

"So it sounds like the humans there are idiots, the Minotaurs are dead set on taking back their lands even with the unruly basement dwellers… oy… I'm almost inclined to tell you to pull back and let the place get cleaned out…" Selene told the battle maiden through her earpiece. Over their heads the empress had an ornithopter hovering above, letting her know that the average level for the Caerelians was somewhere around 18 compared to the 5 for everyone else. That probably explained the hardiness and capability to take these lands so long ago from the Minotaurs.

"I feel like it might be a good choice."

"The problem is clearing out the unchecked demons once you come back… could detonate explosives to collapse the tunnels…"

"That would destroy the entire city above it; the whole mountain could come crashing down" Hrist replied to her quietly as she backed away a little, a rock was thrown at the Minotaur leader. It pinged off his left horn, scratching it lightly. He bellowed and got ready to fight.

"Except they don't want to join the empire without the elves and dragons kicked out. They want help, just not from 'elf and dragon lovers.' Sorry, we're not going to waste time on this. Let them know that the Minotaurs need back off and wait for negotiations with the Clockwork Empire which will be professional. The citizens of that city need to shut up and go back to their homes while we deal with the invasion. Afterward… whatever, they can be a city-state we don't need to deal with, I expect the stupid fucker's economy to collapse in a few years being ostracized and unprotected. Maybe offering their freedom will get them to back down."

Hrist put her hands out and shouted loudly. "Listen! Kohar Confederacy! You will leave now. The Clockwork Empire is currently annexing the remainder of Artinia during this invasion! We are willing to negotiate with you in the future if you are willing to back off. There is no need to lose more of your people here when there are others willing to do as you are asking, talk." The raven-haired woman turned back around and pointed at the humans. "If you go back to your homes, we can promise you won't need to deal with the Minotaurs, won't need to deal with-"

Another rock was thrown right at her, which she caught. A frustrated growl erupted from her lips as the people just kept shouting, her hand crushing the stone into bits of gravel. "We agree. We will leave, assuming we are not attacked from behind" the assault leader told her, his warriors still in a defensive stance with their shields ready. "We expect not to be disappointed. This is your empire's only chance to prove it can be negotiated with."

"On behalf of my empress, I thank you. We also expect not to be disappointed, given your willingness to negotiate." Another rock, this one hitting the tip of her boot. The Minotaurs were ready for a push.

"Oh, for fuck's sake… we don't have time for this, I've got about two million demons pouring towards Garrington right now with the five gates at the front of the imperial city aiming at it… Hrist, use your best judgment on how to handle this. I trust you" she heard as the dev sent a list of different weapons that could be used, lethal or nonlethal to an assistant military auto nearby.

"General, how do you want to go about this?" he asked as he came over with his rifle, surveying the aggressive humans and providing a datapad with the list. The Valkyrja glanced over her shoulder at the Minotaurs.

"Leave now. We'll deal with this. Tell your rulers that the Clockwork Empire will soon meet with them, under neutral terms with no hostile intentions." The leader simply nodded, though hesitantly, as he walked away with his forces. As she turned around, her hand came up again and caught a sling stone. This one was meant to harm her, smooth and easily able to fly through the air; whether it even could was another matter. Her eyes glared at the surrounding people arrayed yelling racial slurs.

 _I could very easily end their lives for such insolence, and yet… I am allowed to do as I please here per Selene. How would she move forward with this… how do I go about stopping them?_

"Bring in the sleep canisters. Have them knock the citizens out, do not kill."

 _ **Six hours later**_

King Teiyan lounged in his altered throne, a footrest extended to allow his feet to be put up. While the rest of the palace was unimproved by hell energy just yet, he felt having everything upgraded in a few days would be a good choice as a new prince of this unknown demonic realm he connected to with this artifact, once he felt the need. Unfortunately for him, he did not know all of the nuances of the item.

Unbeknownst to him as he had a succubus rubbing her ample chest against his head… was that the artifact was cracking. The power that had once been held inside had damaged the containment, as one of the wings simply fell to the marble floor unheard by the mad man sitting nearby, glowing energy flowing out in electric ribbons, yet unseen by anyone in the room as it was long since forgotten. Not once did he attempt to look at the item again. He had what he wanted, there was no reason to use it a second time.

"Do you wish to see your warriors rampaging across the lands that you own, claiming all that should be yours?" the second said, green hair smelling like burnt lavender.

"Yes…" he slurred out in a drunken state, enjoying being treated the way he had always wished for. A small glob of viscous black goo plopped out of the gateway before him and rolled across the ground, taking position and growing. As it gained in size, it started to morph into a mirror of obsidian from which he could look through. While it didn't scry quite like his wizards could cast, it did allow to see through the eyes of his hellish soldiers. What he saw coming out of the portals near the walls of Aureos pleased him immensely.

A literal endless wall of nightmarish creatures stomped forward, heading out to take what rightfully belonged to him. Only a few headed inwards, to control and cow the people of Aureos. Their fear, their terror fueled some of them in their abilities, as well as providing his immense pleasure at seeing them tremble before his new warriors. While some considered the humans food, even one of them picking up a stray woman and tearing her in half in front of her family, those forms were easily ordered to head out and find their meals in the remainder of Artinia. The roiling mass of demons was a sight to behold, capable of swarming Tal Salunbal and anyone else who would ever stand before his might…

"Something is wrong…" he whispered as his eyes cleared, the scent of debauchery in the room pulling back its hold on him as he willed the view to move from soldier to soldier on the edges of his lands. Nothing could be seen, just weapons used against them that were incredibly powerful, and unlike anything he had witnessed within a black electrified smoke. It seemed to move through the borders of Artinia and start closing in. The same eyes that Xaxara had shown him were moving forward. "No… whatever was to the west is coming… this can't be possible…"

"Mmm, a ruler of shadow and stealth comes here… perhaps it realizes your strength?" Another of his new concubines, this one with long blood-red hair, said seductively as she pulls away from him. A cannon shot flew from the smoke, blowing away half of a torso for one of his largest demons. The smoke was even in the skies, performing aerial combat with the winged creatures that shot out of the gateways to attempt to control the air. "It's not as if they will win; they cannot close the port… als…"

The king seemed to be straining with this new revelation provided by the scrying orb, his teeth clenched, and his lips pulled back. "I can't… I can't move the gateways… they're stuck! Why?! Why are they unwilling to move?! I thought I was allowed to transport them wherever I required warriors, were you wrong?!" he snapped as the succubae blinked at each other. If they were wrong about the mobility of the hell gates… they could be wrong about them being closed as well. Whoever this force that was coming from the shadows, they had complete dominance of the battlefield and were continuing to push forward.

"Ooh, that's not good… we might want to consider going…" his demonic harem looked at each other and seemed to share a thought with their eyes, grinning a little.

"Going?! Going to where?! Tell me!" he shouted as the blonde-haired man looked around at them suspiciously, expecting a response that would let him know there is safety somewhere else. His hand reached out and grabbed one of the succubae by the throat and shook her. "Where?!"

"Getting a little rough now, aren't we? You might want to pull my hair too, if we're going to go that route, hehe." Teiyan threw her away and looked frantically around the pillars, then stormed towards the balcony to the throne room, staring out at some of the fires that were started in his imperial city. The demons were unwilling to let him know where they were going if he suddenly lost control of his lands. They didn't need to be completely loyal if he was utterly trounced. The king was working with borrowed time.

"Maybe it would be best if we figured out who this shadow army is. It could save our hides" one of the succubae whispered behind a hand to one of her sisters.

"Or… we simply run…" the other replied. "I doubt he'll follow." The light was ever so slightly glowing even more brightly through the cracks of the artifact, wanting to escape the entire time as the toe of the left foot broke off.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Currently, up to two million heading towards us ma'am."

"They're looking right down the barrel of our guns… it's hard to miss with that much mass to target…" the empress responded as she sat in her chair, watching the mix of red, green and brown below. "Two million... that's every gateway sending what they have and then some straight towards us. Did the wave timer increase to allow so many? Never mind, what's the ETA on Hrist and her fleet arriving as scheduled?"

"We've all been delayed due to the quick expansion of the infernal armies ma'am. Your Generals will arrive tomorrow morning and slowly push inwards. 7th and 8th Division are closing off the corner flanks, moving along the ground to help seal any exits. We're not exactly stretched thin just yet, but we're getting there." Selene sat back and held her forehead with her fingers, closing her eyes. Reserves were deployed in response to that information.

 _These things just don't stop. We're making headway, but the time it takes to shell a mob of them just allows reinforcements to come up behind as we gain a few miles now. Could go for guerilla tactics and have Bryn swing around, send Bronze Team in with her army in a dustpan motion… we are going through so many spider mines and bombs its insane. Mortars are being dealt out like free candy._

"There's a report for you ma'am. It seems two wizards were caught attempting to hide in a noble's bunker back in Silvinholm. They wish to speak with 'the goddess and beg for mercy.' Apparently, they have information on what the king has and how it works, with documents verifying what they are telling is the truth." The communications auto turned back to its station as it took in more intel being gathered.

"Wait… they called me goddess… that means they saw me when I was back there… their magic doesn't work for teleportation obviously with the jammers added to protect against demonic intrusion…" her fingers rapped against the armrest as more data arrived of a countered push towards Hrist's flank. It failed miserably due to the Valkyrja being well aware of what the hellish minions were intending, and constant satellite feeds along with motion trackers. "That means they're desperate… I'll meet with them. Continue without me for a short time."

"Yes ma'am." As she used her amulet, noting that her honor guard wouldn't be coming with her, she tasked a military escort to be waiting there for the dev's arrival. With a soft wisp of light, nothing flashy, the empress appeared at the entrance to what was once the eastern gate, now demolished along with the rest of the wall surrounding the city. This was not the demons doing; her own soldiers were systematically collapsing each section for the future growth of the city once the gateways were nullified… somehow. CIWS and ADS systems were stationed along the outer defense bubble of the city to keep any stray hellbolts or hellfire from impacting. The citizens got to see quite a sight each time one of them opened up, with children disobeying their parents to watch the counter to the demon's attack detonate harmlessly in the air. While the secondary defenses worked well, the empress was a little concerned with their placement being too close to Silvinholm, preferring them to be further out in a similar way as the perimeter for towns and cities much further behind her borders. That would change later once the gateway was closed. It almost seemed like just a fireworks display to them, not knowing that just one of the hellish balls of fire could obliterate almost an entire block of buildings.

Even now, Nikola and Robert had a bit more time to understand the energies being emitted by the openings to the hell sub realms, though they were no closer to finding a way to shut them down. Robert's theory of using the prototype teleportation platforms for the towns and cities had no effect. There was a possibility it was due to the attenuation being completely off from what they were attempting to use the technology on; the main issue was trying to find the right frequency, which could take months or even years, even with the science division working hard on the project to protect her nation. The emergency plan was to simply keep each and every portal heavily guarded with a Maginot Shell, not allowing anyone within a certain range, including adventurers. The very real threat practically within spitting distance of Silvinholm could mean the city would be abandoned, along with Aureos and the land of Caerel.

 _I need to read up on those books Hrist was nice enough to pick up there while zapping everyone. I honestly wasn't surprised that Artinia had forcefully annexed the kingdom of Caerel into its borders long ago. Those people are human supremacists; I'm actually fine with not having them in my empire… if the Minotaurs attack, I have no reason to assist them. I'm not about to bring in such a small section of land in exchange for kicking the high elves, dark elves and anyone else out of my borders. The only thing I can see was that they were at least somewhat willing to calm down if I decided to agree to their ridiculous terms. The Minotaurs on the other hand… going to have to get a diplomatic meeting set up soon, they were surprisingly willing to talk as well as listen._

The few human security in the area trying to watch over the district she was walking through were shocked that the empress came back, saluting immediately or bowing. Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared once she was in view, heading towards the building the headmaster and his subordinate were held in. As the dev walked to the door and then upstairs, Alfred was waiting there talking to the guard.

"If you see them attempt to cast anything, you run and call for help immediately. If they even think that… oh, your majesty. I… I didn't expect you to arrive so soon." He straightened his uniform, showing a few cuts in the fabric from the previous battle. His clothes weren't exactly repaired just yet, as the nearby tailor shops still weren't rebuilt. Juliet was planning to send a construction team in soon to get the city in working order, though she was stretched a little thin with the war opening up the new towns and villages they had saved.

"I've been informed that these two men held have some very important documents and information that pertains to what the King of Artinia is doing. I figured that, maybe, it was in my interest to speed up this whole war with anything they can provide. What are they requesting? Mercy it seems?" she said. The new Mayor held a folder of the papers as evidence, handing it over immediately to her. A second folder was provided with a report from his men.

"Do you think what that paperwork has in it could really help?" Alfred seemed much calmer around her now, knowing that she was working hard on ending the demonic threat.

"I'm unsure just yet; I'll need to speak with those men and read through all of this." The folder was rough and worn leather with a string wrapped around a wax-covered metal pip on one corner to keep the top sealed. The whole thing was relatively fat, a few inches in width from what she could see, as well as having slight damage to the bottom. It was clear this was used often, not just for carrying what it had right now. The door was opened with six guards inside, all watching with their swords out. Two military Mediums were standing in opposite corners, ready to quickly rush in and knock the wizard's heads off in a heartbeat if they attempted to do anything but sneeze. The two men were sitting with their hands clasped at a worn wooden table, two chairs provided to them with one on the opposite side. A single window was cloudy on the far side of the room, providing limited light into it.

As they both looked up at the newcomer, the empress sat down in a chair pulled from her inventory, unwilling to use the rickety chair provided and unwound the string carefully. She placed the folders on the table and pulled open the flaps, emptying the contents inside slowly and putting the papers in front of herself. "Are you the ruler from the west?" the headmaster, his name revealed to be a Laird Ghenus, spoke carefully. Selene glanced up at him, then at his second in command, Dragolas Entfel, as her eyes dropped back to the folder while pulling out a few pages. Two basic dossiers with limited information about their lives popped up in her Hud, courtesy of the previous upgrade. "We beg for shelter within your empire in exchange for-"

"Silence. You will speak when spoken to. You will answer all of my questions, and maybe, just _maybe,_ I will consider your terms. If I don't like what I'm hearing… this could go very badly for you. As for the guards here, leave the room immediately; you can come back once I am done in here. There is no sense in any of you needing to worry about what will happen in this room. Go relax outside." Her voice was like ice for the first half then changing to calm and collected with the human soldiers in the room were almost terrified of being near her if she decided to bring her wrath down upon these two prisoners, all too eager to leave. Laird looked at his subordinate and blinked. "Let's make something clear here. I understand that you two were the top of the food chain involving the magic department for the Kingdom of Artinia. Is this correct?" She quickly cast **[Truth From Lies]** on both of them. The interrogation was about to begin.

"Yes, it is." Selene flipped one of the pages, seeing that there was Japanese written on it. Not all of the sheets had been translated it seemed by whatever ritual they had performed. The spy satellites had only picked up the energy dispersion in the academy; it didn't record any footage or preparations inside or the end result, just the basic data on the artifact and its potential threat. The spell casters of Artinia were sloppy or didn't care about reading the remainder. They had what was needed to activate the item; the rest could be thrown away in their eyes.

 _Well, that's interesting. This is clearly not made by the Seong Neow Republic… probably from overseas… this was written by a player. This planet still has a lot of territories I don't know about yet, and I'm expanding already into space. So many directions I'm taking…_

"Where did you get these documents?" the headmaster looked around at the military models watching them.

"We were able to get a hold of them through black market channels. They were from a land far away… I vaguely have the name of it actually…"

"What is the name?" she asked, her face stoic as she flipped a page, Japanese shown plainly as the writing followed by the native language of Artinia, Arlastaas. Some words were lost in a sea of symbols, while others made complete sentences and paragraphs.

"I believe… Sorcery Nation? No… that's not what it was…" Laird tried to remember.

"Magic Kingdom?" Dragolas added in.

 _Are these two idiots? They can't be. They're the heads of the wizard's acad… oh, well, they are Artinians… no no, that's insulting everyone else who became Clockworkians…_

"Sorcery Kingdom?" they both seemed to nod tentatively. It was clear that her truth spell wouldn't completely work if they didn't exactly have the answers, as the name of the country these journal pages came from couldn't be verified. They hadn't yet tried to lie, as no showing of stress and struggling against telling her what she needed to hear could be seen. "And these documents, this artifact… you figured out how to harness its power?"

"That's correct."

"You did this for King Teiyan Erelius II? Knowing that he would unleash a force only he could control?" They both were silent. "You're complicit in this act. You helped unleash demons on your own kingdom. I should have you tried for crimes against humanity, against life itself. This was an existential risk you brought upon everyone. Had my empire not watched carefully, everyone would be dead or risen by now." Neither one spoke.

The dev checked through what was translated now instead of just browsing through, certain paragraphs with missing words or symbols not quite showing due to the ritual damaging some of the ink. The trip overseas seemed to have at least some effect on the papers as well with the magical wards incapable of protecting against every environmental effect on the material. The writer might not have thought of every eventuality that could harm his journal. Selene sighed in annoyance as there was no reason to try and decipher everything just yet, just seeing the crudely drawn picture of the artifact.

 _It looks modeled after that art I remember Silvy making when we were developing Yggdrasil… except it's a woman instead of a Minotaur with six arms. There was no gem originally, a branch and other materials of nature meant for druids to replenish a land. The original idea was to repair territories that were strip-mined and heal the biome if players attempted to clear the whole area. I guess they reworked multiple versions of it to cause all sorts of World Class Item abilities to be used. This thing caused a super version of, what is it,_ _ **[Armageddon Evil]**_ _to be cast? Someone put a lot of effort into making this… pretty stupid honestly, you destroy the whole fucking world with rampant demons unless… they have a kill switch for it. It probably wasn't supposed to be super powerful, just cast the regular spell. Interesting…_

"We… did not know its full potential…" Dragolas seemed to mutter out. The empress packed away the papers and slipped them into her inventory. It would translate everything easily for her to peruse later, at least after another hour or two. The wards, if there were any left, were blocked from even functioning inside the stasis tab they were placed in as if they were hacked and unable to counter the area of important documents and books she had them stuck inside.

"So, you don't know the spell that it casts?" They were both surprised, their mouths falling open.

"That was a spell?!" Laird questioned. She simply gazed at him, not answering the question.

 _Of course they don't understand it was a spell, 10th tier… the highest their little brains understand is 6th, maybe 7th. From what I could gather about their magical knowledge from intelligence forays, they know of 8th and above, they just consider super magic to be the 11th tier and impossible to attain. No wonder Gabriel blew people's minds when he met them on his adventures, Yggdrasil tier magic was never meant to be in a game entirely built around magic like Arcanic's Wizardry was for the most mundane of actions. How that spell was supercharged well beyond what it should have ever been able to attain is beyond me though…_

"To save me time, do you know how to stop the artifact, to quickly put an end to the plans of this mad king?" she questioned.

"I…" Laird hesitated as Dragolas watched him, his normally emotionless responses had cracked after they had abandoned Artinia to save their lives. "I believe it had said all that was needed is to destroy the artifact, the _**Ember of Damned Souls**_. I'm… unsure how to do that though…"

 _A simple_ _ **[Shatter Artifact]**_ _spell will destroy it as long as the counter item I use is higher in quality level by double or at least of equal tier. I haven't yet made Artifact quality tier items yet, but my Legendaries are well over the number needed. Of course… I'll destroy what I'm binding to wreck the integrity of_ **Ember of Damned Souls** _, though I can just make more._ _Until I get my quality tier up to at least one above a World-Class Item, I'm always going to at least damage equipment used with that spell._

There was silence in the room as Selene picked up the report from the other folder, this one brought in with a witness accounts provided of where the two men were found, how they had been kicked out of a noble house bunker for being unwilling to kill everyone outside the doors and allow the nobility to escape. It at least told her that they did have some morality, if warped too much by loyalty that had long since been lost after their stupidity in giving such a powerful item to a mad ruler. The lower nobles were not truly connected to the wealthy families that ruled over Silvinholm, just going along with what was happening. She made a mental note to at least listen to them plead for mercy later, as they weren't exactly that far up the power chain. "Children are playing with fire…" she grumbled out as the report was closed.

"Please… your majesty… do we have an agreement?" Laird asked. He could tell simply by being unable to teleport out of the city that she had many ways of trouncing their magical capabilities, one of which was the collars now around their necks. A dry laugh left her lips as the empress looked away.

"You two are the main reason the king of Artinia has put everyone in this position. Your actions endangered my subjects, along with everyone else. I should kill you right here and now in judgment, I'm sure everyone else would agree." They both looked down at the table in fear, trying to somehow concoct a plan in their heads to get out of this alive. "However… there has been quite a bit of death already. I am willing to allow you both to live, provided that you can renounce your loyalty and any oaths to your previous ruler. I only accept those who will be of no harm to my empire inside its borders, the same as any ruler."

"We gladly do so, your majesty. We acknowledge that-"

"I do not." Dragolas sat there as Selene raised an eyebrow. Laird was dumbfounded.

"You cannot be serious Dragolas! She will kill you!" he snapped.

"I accept judgment for what we helped unleash upon this world. I assisted with the hopes of cleansing these lands in the vision of our king. That vision became flawed over time, and now I am here. I came with the belief we would find someone, somewhere that could stop his plans. This empress may have the ability to end what our king has put in motion. Though I rescind my oath to a now insane ruler… I do not need to be among the living after what I have done." The headmaster just gawked at him, stunned in horror.

"Please, do not jump to such a hasty outcome. You can be of service to her. I can be of service! We were in charge of the wizard's academy in Aureos! We are the most powerful casters of our time here! No one can best us!" Laird blabbered out, trying to somehow save the life of his second in command.

"Your tier magic is no match for what I have available, what another wizard at my castle and a battlemage can use. Neither of them are anywhere near as capable as me. I can only imagine what a player would do walking around in Artinia." The dev crossed her legs and her arms, leaning back in her chair as she watched them squirm, unflinching while the highest-ranked wizard looked like he was about to grovel in front of everyone. To her, his spell casting was a mere party trick. Secretly, she sent a notice to Adesha to remind her of getting Gabriel to give her a showing of his skills. If she could see what he was capable of, there was a possibility of increasing his strength in dimensional magic.

"I accept what is to come," Dragolas said as he closed his eyes, expecting swift wrath to fall upon him. Neither questioned when she had said the word player. They knew what she was referring to.

"No." Selene slowly got up and leaned a little on the palms of her hands resting on the table. "You deserve to pay back this world for the sin you carry. Judgment comes in many different ways; not all of it needs to be death. That's the easy way out. You may live within my borders… once Aureos is taken." Both men looked confused. "You have a choice, Mr. Dragolas. You can either work under close guard and be completely restricted in how you teach new trainees at the wizard academy in that city, or you can openly embrace a new conscience and morals based on how my empire functions, to educate students in how _not_ to follow in your footsteps. Teachers and parents are supposed to make sure the younger generations don't make the same mistakes they had made, imparting their experience."

"We… would still be allowed to practice magic?" the young man asked, his stoicism carefully measured with his curiosity. His short brown hair was pushed back with one hand as he couldn't understand why the empress was trying to give him a chance to continue living, to mend what they had caused.

"That depends on if you are willing to work within the laws I have here. Rampant wizards are quickly dealt with after all, if someone with experience were to stand alongside your old headmaster here in teaching them to harness magic responsibly, without a mad ruler wanting to take over the world…"

"Your majesty… I…" Dragolas sighed slightly, then coughed. It took a minute as he put his hands on the table and fidgeted his thumbs. His eyes looked at his master. "I… accept. We will never need to perform another ritual that would allow something like this to occur again, will we?"

The empress shook her head. "Unethical magic, or science for that matter, will be dealt with harshly. Politics change almost on a daily basis, but focusing on spell or scientific experimentation without understanding the consequences is unacceptable."

 _At least that which isn't controlled by my government, and even then, I've kept myself in check this whole time. I could easily turn Gold Pine into mindless drones with what Nikola was experimenting with to put in the water, but I don't see a point in it, and it would cause too many issues… and too much guilt. I don't think I've lost my morals just yet with the power I have right now, at least I hope I haven't…_

As she picked up the report and started walking out the door, the guards waiting outside still feeling uneasy as if she might have left a bloody mess inside, Laird asked a question. "Your majesty… can you defeat him?" Selene stopped in the doorframe, not looking back at older gentleman From what she heard in his voice, he hoped he'd get an answer that would boost both of their morale and soothe their worries.

"The question sounds like an if. It should really be a when." She then continued through the hallway, with Alfred waiting at the bottom of the stairs to meet with her. "Have them locked in quarters, no need for dungeon cells. I trust you understand the laws of treating prisoners now in my empire?"

"Fed three times a day, restrooms and capability to stay hygienic and rest in a clean bed. One hour of activity; allowed reading material and other smaller harmless items to keep them occupied. I'll have the guards move them immediately." They both came down the stairs and walked towards the entrance of the building, her escort cordoning the entire area off and patrolling the stores and storage warehouse nearby.

"Good. Now… have you picked your next in line? You were technically the Chief of Police here, mayhap one of the mercenaries would be willing to join?" Mayor Dalonas chuckled at that.

"A mercenary is a civilian by your laws. I've already made one a Commissioner for oversight."

"Just checking to see if you read the books we've provided."

 _Alfred is smart, very smart. He caught the trick question easily. That should help keep the city of Silvinholm working well and keep him from being taken for a ride by a corrupt official that might eventually show up. I might ask Donovan if he'd be willing to swing by and assist on occasion, it might help the people feel at ease knowing the Rikter Family is alive and well, and give Alfred a much-needed boost in experience running Silvinholm._

As they exited the front doors to the outside, Selene looked around to see snow falling. She looked the mayor up and down, snapping her fingers with a quick spell cast to mend his clothes. A lighthearted chuckle escaped his lips as he thanked her. "Do you need to head back to the front, your majesty?" Alfred asked her.

"I do."

"Is it going well?"

"It is going quite well. King Teiyan's demonic forces will be wiped out soon." He was awestruck by her response. The dev, sadly, was lying. While they had now locked down three of the gateways, there were still six left in Aureos that were slowing down their advance. The Clockwork military had not lost one soldier, one vehicle even without **{Golden Army}** being used; the main problem they were coming up against was… there were so damned many demons. Heavy ordinance cleaned up enough of the hellish force to allow her troops to move maybe a mile, and then it was back to firing at the waves charging towards them with gnashing teeth and casting spells. Though most of the weapons were capable of killing the infernal minions in one shot, due to the numbers coming towards them, pushing forward was becoming difficult.

Luckily, her tier 8 magic immunity armor film had now been completed, stopping a hefty amount of any magical form of damage from being dropped on her automatons, resulting in much of the effect having to be left to terrain deformation just to halt her military and put a hiccup in their defenses. It almost always ended with whatever brigade was positioned at that location to simply evade, relocate with specialty movement systems, or weather the attack unphased. Then they would counter. This was all if the casters weren't being tracked by snipers ahead of time. Reserves were being deployed to assist in the advance, though the extra boots on the ground weren't doing nearly as much as she had hoped. Numbers weren't exactly the answer here, she needed to efficiently put an end to what was causing all of this.

What she clearly wasn't telling him was that the waves were getting closer together. Eventually, it would be just an unstoppable swarm coming through that would force her military just to sit still and seal off the area, a completely encased no man's land for anyone to travel through. Her military would be the wardens to the mess the king had made. Her fear was that this could be a permanent stain on the world. Destruction of the artifact seemed like the best bet.

As they stopped walking, Selene noticed that Sergeant Marin was nearby, wearing a regular winter dress this time. Her blonde hair bounced a little as she tilted her head at the empress and smiled. "Well, it seems I need to get back to the front then. Take care."

"You as well, empress." Alfred turned around and walked over to Marin, his face blushing as she motioned for him to head towards a repaired tavern in the middle of town. The report she received of them sharing a kiss at some point after he was made Mayor told the dev that the Sergeant would keep him in check subtly. The man continued with his date as Selene exhaled a deep breath she didn't know she was holding, trying to keep prim and proper in the face of all of the people who laid eyes on her in the city.

With a quick, concentrated effort, the amulet teleported her back to the massive airship, straight into her bedroom. She sat down slowly at a small table in the corner meant mainly for her to eat at if she ever didn't want to go to the dining room. A channel was opened up as she checked on the translation of the last remaining pages, the few low tier wards slowly being wiped away. Will, along with her entire cabinet and science division, were brought into a meeting as she transferred a copy of the report to all of them, with a promise to send the translated journal entries once they were finished.

"I guess this will be my first official meeting involving aftereffects with you all regarding the demonic invasion." The empress requested some tea and snacks, along with her dinner to be brought later. As her eyes looked out the windows and saw the destruction that was being wrought outside, the ground burnt and torn apart as her soldiers fought for every inch of land to push forward, the dev was getting a little worried.

"Ma'am, we're all here. Now, let's get down to business, this may take some time," Will said as they all convened. Even Romeo and Juliet were a part of this, their insight into reconstruction very much needed for the shambles that Artinia would be in.

"This newly found documentation involving the workings of the artifact, now named _**Ember of Damned Souls**_ , explains a lot about what we are dealing with and assists us in combating the mechanics" Nikola spoke up first.

"First, let's get a sitrep, shall we? Get everyone on the same page," Will interjected.

"Currently, we control half of Artinia, the remainder still being held under control by the hellish minions of King Teiyan Erelius II hiding in his palace. We have lost none of our forces in any engagement so far, though we are being held in place at the moment with the expanded activity and numbers that the enemy brings to the field," Dominic informed them.

"Of the 30 communities that were still under the flag of the king, we now control 15 of them. The remainder involves Caerel City a part of that and its surrounding lands, acting as a city-state with an expanded territory that we are not currently seeking to keep within our borders per the empress and General Hrist" Grey added in. "The last fifteen are either destroyed, refusing to bend the knee to her, or current battlegrounds we are focusing on dealing with."

"The fifteen we've taken are stable with no issues being within our borders, with most welcoming the new improvements and legal rights. I worry a little about the nobles that are still currently hiding in Silvinholm, though our majesty will deal with them in a short time obviously" Gala commented.

"The Engineering Corp has cleared most of the debris to allow Juliet to start rebuilding most districts in each municipality we now have. We're currently debating digging trenches at the moment," Romeo told them all.

"Wait, trenches? Is it really that bad?" Felix questioned. He didn't really deal with defenses, handling farming and nutrition of the public among other internal issues for the health and wellbeing of the people. Romeo hesitated for a moment.

"Waves are increasing in speed; it seems that the gateways needed time to build up, probably a phase two for the demons. At present speed, it will take three days to be a never-ending tidal wave coming through the portals. That will significantly inhibit our forces from pushing forward to end this threat, if not stonewall us" Dominic intervened, letting Romeo deal with military construction and not explain the requirements of the troops.

"Can't we just activate the next tier of the military kept classified under the castle?" Gala asked. All of them knew about Selene's advanced technology sequestered away for a rainy day. There was no reason to hide anything from her cabinet at all.

"If she has to activate those, then we might as well just drop an orbital strike upon Aureos, it'll be doomed anyways with significant collateral damage to be uninhabitable. Each one harms the ecosystem just traversing through it," Will replied for the empress. Tea was brought in by an auto maid as Adesha helped remove the dev's pauldrons and armor once again, getting her back into more casual attire as she brushed her creator's hair. There was a chance she'd be up until late into the morning with the meeting, trying to figure out a way to stop the artifact without obliterating that imperial city. There were well over one and a half million people living there, with verification that most of them were still safe… for now. They were living in pure terror, a nightmare they couldn't escape as the front walls were protected by the five portals waiting for them, spewing out entire armies of demons. The economy was trashed, with no one heading to their jobs as there simply wasn't a point.

"Nikola, Robert, are you reading the new notes?" Selene asked. What was already translated to Arlastaas was provided to her science division. The remainder would be finished by the halfway point of the meeting.

"We are empress. A good portion of this seems to be a journal from someone starting with the letter A. It mentions other names of little consequence right now, an Albedo and Cocytus… regardless, from what we can see, there are a few options available," Nikola replied.

"Alright, let's review them."

 _ **Two Hours Later, Evening, 11th, December**_

"Blue! Come here! The empress will kill me if you get hurt!" Morlan motioned for the wolf to get back to him while the group went outside for a winter walk and get some exercise outside the walls of the castle. His parents, along with Elsei and Briane escorting the wolf pack for a stroll, continued along a well-worn trail to the lake nearby, a supposed favorite visiting location for the empress. The black wolf ran around, jumping through a pile of snow as Ash leapt after him. Luna was practically invisible in the white powder.

"Do you think Empress Selene will be back before winter solstice?" Melsia asked as her husband held her gloved hand, enjoying the winter wonderland that was well protected in the late evening. There was a rare sight of a Heavy security automaton lumbering through the trees in the far distance along with a few Light infantry, keeping the area secure. Two ornithopters floated above the path, acting as mobile street lights for them to easily see where they were going.

"I'm unsure; she has said that it may take some time to deal with the trouble that King Teiyan has now caused. Until then, we will do what we can along with her administrative cabinet to keep everything under control back at home" Donovan replied as his foot sank into a lump of snow, his boot coming back up as the sunset faded away.

"Her wolves are going to start missing her soon. They don't really listen to our son," she giggled out. Morlan was chasing Blue as he had stolen a glove from his pocket, getting a chance to play with someone other than his sisters. There was no way for the huge man to catch the black blur zipping around the trees, antagonizing him to continue after his tail.

"I'm not so sure about that. They seem to get along fine. Blue wouldn't have done that if he didn't care about the consequence. Oh, look." As they passed near the lake, their eyes both could see the top frozen solid, enough for even an elephant, or a Heavy, to walk across without much issue. However, much further down, the water was still unfrozen with fish moving about, including the one larger fish that the empress never could capture. How they managed to stay alive was still a mystery to the people gazing, though the science and magic were already well known by Briane.

"Oh, my" the red-haired maid said as she pointed to the skies. In the far distance, the form of a red dragon flying through the air along with what looked like two wyrmlings, one of them the same color. The other looked as if it was being taken care of for the flight, a silver wyrmling. "Well isn't that a surprise."

"I would have never thought such a thing would happen, dragons living amongst us, even one that is usually known to be violent in nature" Donovan replied as they just watched the view, no fighters coming out to defend the airspace that these creatures were in. Narastrael seemed to glide elegantly through the sky with the silver trying to keep up. The huge female slowed down to stay not just with her own color of brood but to keep watch over the silver as well. "We truly live in incredible times, don't we?"

"We will see just what the future holds, to have this empire move everyone towards a new beginning. Once Artinia is completely dealt with, mayhap Tal Salunbal might join? Maybe the Seong Neow Republic even?" Elsei remarked.

"I am doubtful that our empress is that ruthless in doing whatever is necessary to control the entire continent, though… the benefits each would gain is impressive," Donovan told her.

"Having Tal Salunbal as a close ally would be quite useful; the cultural exchange would help everyone" Melsia added in. "Maybe even gaining an understanding of how their monks are so powerful."

"I have a feeling that her majesty might know more about that beyond what we can surmise. She does not need to tell us everything, and that is fine. How she goes about everything seems to show knowledge beyond even our years, especially how to run her empire. I worry that she holds herself accountable for all actions taken, even those not her own" Elsei commented as Luna bumped into her, playfully shaking some falling snow off as the elf held up her hand to block it and giggled.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Having a drink with Marin eased Alfred's nerves as they got a chance to watch the rest of the city calm down. They were safe, fed, with roofs over their heads and didn't need to worry about another volley of trebuchet stones flying through the air. As he headed back to his new home, an adventurer party came out after him from the tavern. "Mayor Dalonas?" Dina asked. He turned around, his mustache well-trimmed as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, miss?"

"Um, my name is Dina, Dina Elden. Uh… I've been meaning to ask a few questions about… well, involving the adventurer's guild and my party."

"Mhm, go ahead, it's not too late right now." The Mayor looked at Marin for a moment as she simply stood there waiting for the adventurer to explain.

"Ok. I wanted to ask, what's going to happen to the guild now that it's a part of the Clockwork Empire?" Alfred rubbed the top of his lip and twisted the right edge of his whiskers.

"At the moment, from what I've been told, the adventurer's guild is still going to be operational, though in a bit more limited capacity. Our empress has decided to keep it more as an assistant position to the police force now operating here. This should allow minor issues to be dealt with by your party, with larger problems being dealt with by the military."

"I… I see. So, is there, um, is there going to be any way for us to increase in our ranks? My teammates are all silver right now and… we're worried we won't be able to rise up. We'd be stuck."

"Mmm, that is an issue that I believe was addressed as well. From what I know, her majesty's soldiers cannot be everywhere, so the adventurers would be still needed for more difficult tasks that the police cannot deal with effectively. Whether that means inside towns and cities or out in the field, I cannot say for certain. It already appears as if she keeps her… what are they… automatons, I believe… outside the city boundaries." Dina looked hopeful, though still apprehensive. Mayor Dalonas chuckled at her. "Don't worry; this is a far cry from problematic. All of this is still new, and if there are complaints to somehow keep the adventurer's guild going, I'm sure the empress will find a solution. She seems very much intent on helping us towards a better future."

"I hope so. I… I just remember when I first saw her…"

"When she arrived with her military?"

"No. She… she called herself Ilana. I… I think she was hiding amongst us. This was before the siege even started. She acted as a mercenary captain, though her orders were to help with some sort of plan for minor nobles. Now that I think about it, it was all probably fake." Alfred looked at the sky as it began to get very dark in puzzlement. Their ruler might not have even shown up as he knew it to speak with the two leaders of the wizard's academy.

"You may have met her when she was trying to understand how troublesome our government was becoming. Our gods supposedly come down with avatars, hiding in plain sight to help or hinder." The ranger seemed to perk up a little at hearing that.

"You… do you think she showed up to help my team? Most of them were… um… at the time, they were dead. She also helped rescue Elesia's Abbey to the north, to save Ezra Rikter."

"We may never know. A deity works in mysterious ways, knows things we will never understand." Dina looked up at the flashes of light coming over the few hills to the east, the battle taking place between demon and machine. "We just have to have faith."

 _ **Five Hours Later, 11 pm**_

"So that's it then." Selene sat back against the chair and hung her head over the crown of it, staring up at the ceiling. They hadn't just talked about dealing with the hell gates, that was just the main issue they were dealing with.

"With all options ma'am, sadly yes. At the moment, unless we can find a way to deal with the respawn capabilities, we'll eventually reach a stalemate as they try to drown us in bodies. Their levels can't do anything unless they outnumber us by an exorbitant amount or they bring out something the equivalent of a raid boss. That may very well happen," Nikola told her. Production of spare soldiers began immediately as a twitch response, the fabrication units in her inventory kicking into gear.

There were contingencies created during the seven-hour meeting, all of which seemed to end with one thing in mind… destruction of Aureos. The dev was attempting to stop that; the thought of incinerating over 1.5 million people churned her stomach a little, and not because of the elixir she finally got a chance to drink. It was meant for skill points, not attributes, as she had been neglecting those for a little while. Given that she had 400 previously unused points still sitting around, they were now sorely needed.

With the amount she now had with the elixir having taken effect, getting her up to 411 points to spend in total until tomorrow, it was simple to add in what she felt was the most useful at that moment. Bringing **Gathering** up to 500%, up from 200, was going to help keep materials flowing freely due to the special ability **{Renewable Resources}**. Steampunk Electrical Engineering was boosted to 500, up from 300; this was to make miniaturization for most of their special equipment seamless and recharge almost instantly, allowing better adaptability in combat and mobility. In her eyes, miniaturizing the special features and improvements her troops had would help significantly if they started to lose ground through some means, falling back to defensive lines. Steampunk Mechanical Engineering was next after she drank another the next day. Surprisingly, each skill went dark grey once she had reached 500%, worrying her that there was no going above that. "Alright, go through every plan in summary."

"The first option is to launch an orbital strike upon the city. That would destroy the entire location, along with the artifact. The second option is to fire a volley of cruise missiles towards the palace to hit the throne room and destroy the artifact, though in the aftermath there may be casualties from employees still stuck inside along with the outer perimeter, and some of the strikes might be taken out midair by hitting random flying demonic passersby. The third option is to bring forth the classified projects under the Clockwork Castle. This would, frankly, cause more damage than the orbital strike and, as an aside, potentially cause panic in our citizens as they are brought out and travel to the required destinations. They are walking and driving weapons of mass destruction, after all.

The fourth option is to send in a wet team via orbital insertion directly into the palace to reach the throne room to use **[Shatter Artifact]** spells and carrying expendable legendary quality tier equipment. This would cause the least casualties… though it increases the risk of losing members of the team sent as they breach and clear deep behind enemy lines. A fifth option might be viable, though it would require some patience and might alert the king to an attack, with multiple snipers attempting to break the artifact with long-range anti-material rifle volleys using variable weapon types. The issue with this one is we don't yet know how strong the material of _**Ember of Damned Souls**_ is. This seems to be the least effective plan to work with, as multiple shots may be needed with a potentially mobile and panicked king." The empress just flopped forward and leaned her forehead on her arms as they were crossed on the table. Her dinner was picked at as they all reviewed the pages recovered.

 _No way I'm sending Bronze Team in solo. If we go that route, I'm sending every fireteam in a single cohesive unit. Though I shouldn't really smirk at the thought of it, the king running around screaming in his palace as wagon wheel sized holes pockmark the walls behind him is amusing._

Unfortunately for her, not one mention was made of what the fault was in the artifact, other than it required a sacrifice of a level 100 creature, or greater, to power it. It was possible the king had somehow caught a dragon for the fuel source or gained some sort of energy from Xaxara. The newly translated sheets stated that the number of demons released would be dependent on the strength of the sacrifice, not how to turn it off. The last page had some mention of a critical threshold that could be met, though none of them were sure what that meant. The possibility of it being where raid boss demons erupt from the portals was a theory that worried her, or that the World Class Item could somehow _evolve_ into something much more dangerous.

"We have three days to decide, correct?" she asked as her blue eyes just stared at the small fake fireplace in the corner, there simply to act as a soothing decoration.

"We do ma'am. Afterward, it's your choice of how we go forward." Dominic was especially open to orbital strike or releasing the advanced projects, one of which had donned the callsign Colossus 1-1. She sighed. The death of over a million citizens were seen in his eyes as acceptable collateral damage to stop this threat. The safety of the empire was one of his top priorities given his position.

"Whichever direction we go, bar the fifth, people will die inside. The best options seem to be the 2nd and 4th, least casualties. Hopefully the teams can hold themselves back enough to not wildly shoot at the help cowering in the corners" Gala commented.

"We resent that" Jorge interjected. "We don't just shoot at everything that moves."

"There's no guarantee the cruise strike will destroy the WCI either. It could technically be lumped with the 5th. It could just bury the artifact, increasing the difficulty to stop it," Dominic told her.

"Do we know why he hasn't unleashed the storm upon his imperial city? Just about everyone else was getting slaughtered before we showed up" Will questioned, with Selene not knowing Grey was standing next to him back at the castle.

"He's clinically insane. His reasoning is beyond even our comprehension as his sense of logic and morals are completely skewed in multiple directions. Being a sociopath means he's beyond saving, especially with all of his crimes. It's possible he's keeping them as pets until everything else is destroyed, to show them the rest of the world is his in one giant boast of his power, witnesses to the new world order. He may want them to see his grand design so that they know how insignificant they are to him," Grey responded. The dev hid her eyes in the crook of her arms.

"What time is it…" she mumbled out as she located her clock in her Hud. It was getting late, with each day passing with four to six hours of sleep just to keep up with all of the reports. "I could decide tomorrow, maybe. We've already secured everything we could get to in time."

"We can't use nuclear ordinance, can we?" Felix asked.

"You want to turn Aureos into a nuclear wasteland? Not a good idea if we want to expand there later on," Gala reprimanded him.

"Not if it's similar in capability to what our creator used in the bunker or what we've been using inside the gateways. I know about the fallout from dirty bombs, it would cause too much damage due to jet streams, mutations in food sources, and so much ecological destruction it's normally unfeasible. I'm not asking for her to agree to use those types and, besides, for all we know, some of the demons are immune to radiation poisoning. Maybe Fuel Air Explosives?"

"A clean drop has just as much chance of being intercepted mid-air by a random flyer. It would cause damage, that much is certain, just not enough to guarantee an end to the artifact. Chances go down the higher the explosion would be, too risky. Might as well use an orbital strike instead," Dominic explained.

"Is it possible to make an aggressive push forward?" Gala asked.

"Not unless we want to increase the chances of losing soldiers, regardless of her majesty's abilities. They're strong, really strong, but the enemy has the numbers right now. The increased production and release of reserves is helping a little, but the facts all point to three days regardless of how many bodies we put down there. It's not the boots on the ground; it's the real estate we need to put them on that is limited" Dominic grumbled a little after telling her that. He was all for gaining a stronger military, except there had to be a good reason for it. There were too many other contingencies that were faster and easier.

"We still haven't figured out how to have two forms of matter exist in the same space, have we" Gala chuckled out.

"Not just yet. That might be an improvement our empress figures out for us, or we have to invest time into. If that happens, she really will be a deity in just about everyone's eyes," Robert replied.

"Let's stay focused." While Selene did get annoyed with being treated as a deity by the people, her own cabinet was thinking it might be useful for her to play the part, building up her image so that the citizens of the empire felt at ease. The dev, on the other hand, didn't like the idea. Gala had suggested entirely doing away with the golden armor she was wearing and instead resort to a dress. This would build the look of a kind and less threatening ruler for the newcomers now added to the empire. While hearts and minds were being won inside the cities, a smackdown was being laid on the infernal minions of the mad king.

"Do we know if the demons will even stick around after the artifact is destroyed?"

"We believe once _**Ember of Damned Souls**_ has become inert through any means, that the gateways will close completely. That's what the journal pages seem to say, and that is how most WCIs are supposed to work. Beyond that, I… we… don't have that answer yet. The minions still on this plane might still be around, needing to be dealt with," Robert explained.

"Your experiments with teleportation pads didn't pan out to stop all of this?" Will questioned him.

"Sadly, different fields and particles. An implosion can't be caused, at least for a considerable effect like we were hoping. Once the portal would seal, causing violent distortions to the immediate surroundings, a secondary tear would be created similar to an hourglass pouring all of its sand into the bottom. It hasn't gone anywhere, just shifted to another nearby, albeit randomized, position" the science leader informed.

"There's still time to decide. Ma'am, get some rest on this; there may be ways to extend the timeframe," Will said quietly.

"Yeah. I'll do my best. Three days doesn't mean the end of the world; it just tells us we won't be continuing forward anymore. Currently we're just above the main route to Garrington, could move forward with the air fleet, except ground forces would still be held back."

"Could bring 4th fleet in, would help provide some relief" Grey offered.

"That would only give us another day or so before a stalemate, push a little closer to Aureos. We'd need ten times the fleets we have now," Dominic told him with a sigh. "We are sort of making a mountain out of a… well, it still is a mountain, just not as imposing."

"That's a hill, except this one has jagged edges that can kill civilians if we aren't careful" Gala chastised.

"I know that. What we are looking at within a few days is slow trench warfare that doesn't get anywhere. They aren't going to be able to push through without getting an order of magnitude more support, which would be in the form of raid bosses appearing. Constantly. In groups."

"If that happens, the empress can just release her own toys," Will replied.

"And destroy an entire city… yeah… sure…" Selene grumbled out.

 _That place isn't exactly Sodom or Gomorrah. Could use a bit of a clean up with the corruption, but it doesn't really deserve total destruction._

"No reason in arguing one direction or another. Give the empress some time to mull it over," Jorge told them sternly. The meeting was adjourned as Selene got up and flopped on her bed.

 _There is no choice really. Did I cause this? We just ignored the artifact for so long, thinking it couldn't have created such a force. Hell,_ I _didn't think anything like that could be crafted. This person, this A is… well, he has issues he needs to work out if he's willing to make something like this. Of course, it is defective… I wish we could figure out what kind of defect it is as it just looks like a supercharged WCI…_

"Goodnight ma'am" Adesha said as she bowed and closed the door to her bedroom. The dev didn't even move from her position, just worried she was at fault for this whole event. On one side, she knew that she wasn't omniscient and fully capable of making mistakes. On the other, there were multiple advanced warning signs that told her the king was playing with something he shouldn't have, with the empress able to remove it from his possession at those times.

"I don't know what is so good about it." Before getting some shuteye, she set the alarm to wake her up in six hours, an eternity in her eyes after the past few days. The extra two hours the dev would get were sorely needed. Her only wish was that it wasn't wrought with nightmares.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A teenage girl ran as fast as she could with her younger brother holding onto her hand, as far away from the ravenous creatures chasing after her. There were a few refugees just sprinting for their lives, two of which had fallen to the ground dead from exhaustion ahead of them over an hour ago. They couldn't stop moving or what happened to their parents back in the hamlet of Recenit would happen to them. She could hear the clacking of claws on rocks and ripping up chunks of dirt as they bounded after her, the red eyes locked onto their next plaything before she and her brother would meet their cruel end.

The only thing they could do was head towards the odd flying creatures in the skies, the unknown force waging an incredible assault against the demons pouring forth from the gateways near Aureos. She stumbled as she lost her footing at the edge of a deep trench, falling in with her brother collapsing on top of her. "Ouch! Agh!" she screamed as they fell in, dropping onto a metal grate lining the ground and knocking the wind out of her. What they didn't know was the trench was a giant trap with tracking systems to detect a demonic presence, gas emitters lining the walls and hardened spikes able to launch up from the grating.

One of the ravagers leapt down a good distance from them, losing its next victims in the smoke as rapid-fire weapons were heard in the distance as its brother seemed to walk along the edge. A flare was launched just above them, lighting the entire area up… and showing their forms on the ground. "Move! MOVE JACOB!" They both got up and ran, the ravager screeching and letting the rest of its pack know where to go. As they charged after the two young humans, two cannons fired from above, disintegrating half of the slobbering piles of gnashing teeth. The one inside the trench was quickly impaled on a square of spikes launching up.

As the brother of the first hellion launched itself into the air and nearly fell upon its prey, another shot rang out and blew it into chunks, but there was no sight of the defender. One of the claws flew right past the girl's arm, implanting itself in the ground ahead of them. The children ran through the trench, weaving and dodging through the curves and turns as they saw the war going on above their heads, automatons charging forward over bridges with rifles firing as they escorted a tank advancing to a new location, then a Heavy being pushed back into the trench for a moment before it shifted its weight and threw some horrid molten golem-like creature to the side and fired, charging back into the main battle line. They screamed multiple times as they stopped, waiting for a massive metal construct to walk past on eight legs, a salvo of missiles arcing through the air.

Multiple times they had to fall on the ground as a stray shot landed nearby, blowing a chunk out of the trench and sending dirt cascading over them. The two children couldn't figure out if the army that was fighting back against the demons was even there to save their lives, as multiple times their own weapons nearly ended their lives with deflection of rounds from hardened hide ricocheted off to fly nearby and bury into the ground just above their heads.

This wasn't an army they had ever seen fighting from any lands nearby; this was something entirely different from the swords and shields Artinian guards used. A Light infantryman colored a jet black was knocked into the trench with some furred beast-like creature trying to smash it into the ground. The infantryman twisted its body in an inhuman way to grapple the arm and snap the bone, then rip the arm from the socket, causing the demon to roar in pain. Two pods popped from the back on shoulder mounts, firing directly into the creature's face, blowing the head clean off as blood sprayed backward. Once the small skirmish was over, the metal soldier picked up its rifle and looked at them with two red glowing optics, scaring the life out of both of them. "No… no no no…"

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Freedom Fighters)**_

Before they could start running, the man's eyes swapped to an ethereal light blue. "Miss, you need to leave this area, it isn't safe. Let's get you out of here; follow me." Marked on the upper chest plate on the left was the name, Ethan.

"He… hel… help us… please…" she managed to just eek out as her arms were wrapped around her young brother.

"Deacon, need fire support on my location, escorting two civilians to a DZ. It might be a long night." The teenager and young boy were helped out of the trench, only to lay their eyes on just how big the mechanical army was that defended the main road to Garrington. There were _tens of thousands_ of them standing their ground against the hellish onslaught. They weren't falling back, not even once. While she had seen soldiers try and fight, then die, against the infernal creatures coming for their flesh, these were mowing through the lines… only for more of the demons to come up to refill the ranks. Neither seemed to be gaining any ground.

"My… god…" she whispered as multiple HRVs rolled up, skidding to a halt as Ethan pushed the two children into a waiting door. An auto doc was waiting along with a small escort team inside.

"You'll be safe where they take you." The door slammed shut as he pounded twice to let it know to get moving. The convoy charged back away from the frontlines as he looked up and saw a squadron of fighters fly overhead, recently rearmed for the next strike. "Good hunting boys. There's plenty of them out there." Two more monsters were seen on the opposite side of where he had just climbed. It was going to be a long night, indeed.

"Stop pissing around with the locals, let the protection detail take care of that," Deacon replied. He racked in a new cell for his rail sniper rifle and ratcheted another magazine of darts for ammo. Ethan shook his head slowly as he charged back into the action alongside a medium tank.

 _ **Morning, 12th, December**_

"Ma'am, your majesty." Selene woke up groggily as she looked at the clock in her Hud. Adesha was waking her up early, very early.

"Wha, what? Where? The…" the dev stopped speaking and checked the alarm. It hadn't gone off yet, two hours left. The time was 3 am. "What's going on? What happened?" she asked, a little frustrated she wouldn't get a little extra shut eye today.

"There's a speech going on from outside. It's coming from the king and somehow being broadcasted across the land. He's preparing something."

 _Well, shit._


	34. Ch 33 End of the Demon War

The empress shot out of bed and grabbed her robe, wrapping it around her body as she made her way out of her bedroom and down two flights of stairs, heading for the bridge. "Sitrep" she requested groggily as the only thing on her mind at the moment was getting to the Admiral and making sure the demons were under control.

"Currently our military is holding the line, ma'am. The demons seem to be pulling back a little, either waiting for the speech to be completed or regrouping for another push" the Admiral replied via coms. Just as she tied the sash around her waist, she entered the bridge and sat down. A maid asked her if the dev required coffee, which the empress declined. Now was not the time to be drinking anything until she could figure out what was happening.

"Activate external listening sensors" a Lieutenant on the bridge, a Light automaton ordered as audio came on to fill the command center. What Selene heard was already a good third into whatever King Teiyan was boasting about.

"- The shadow army that comes for my bastion of a new world order! You believe that you will end my reign over these lands, yet it is I who have finally found a way to defeat you!"

"What is he going on about? I think I'm missing context here" Selene questioned as she looked around the bridge.

"Unknown ma'am." She sat down in her secondary command chair and watched through cameras as odd orbs seemed to be floating in the skies, interspersed similar to her UAVs and ornithopters. There was no sensor feed registered being emitted from any of the incorporeal speakers blasting the king's drivel, the greyish blobs hovering in the air through unknown means and undulating when Artinia's ruler spoke.

"- I have now realized I have been using my new army all wrong! You fight on in vain, and now I can finally show you what I truly can do with my newfound power! BEHOLD!" The speech seemed a little quicker than what she was expecting, missing parts of it as it seemed unimportant. Nothing seemed to be happening for a minute.

"Status?" the dev asked.

"Nothing ma'am. It seems… wait…"

"Ma'am, something just happened. You need a coms meeting immediately" Will sent an urgent request to speak with her on a full cabinet channel. She acknowledged and opened up to hear Grey's mid-sentence.

"- they're all gone. Every single one of them is gone."

"What's gone? What just happened?" Selene queried.

"Every portal just disappeared, closing down and… no way…" Grey tried to explain just as warning klaxons activated on the bridge.

"Warning! New gateway just opened up one mile ahead."

"The hell? How? I thought they were locked down!" The empress snapped in surprise as she looked around the bridge, searching for an answer.

"We have no evidence that he should be able to do that empress. That shouldn't be able to happen," Nikola replied, his voice filled with frustration and guilt. They were sure that the emission that was sent out had firmly restricted the portals from ever being moved. "We were sure that they were contained and couldn't be moved."

"Unless… Nikola, it couldn't be…" Robert commented, drifting off. "You don't think…"

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Spilled Blood)**_

"Empress, you need to leave that area immediately." Nikola seemed very worried about her safety right after Robert responded.

"What? Why?"

"That portal is a merger of all of them; somehow, he was able to bypass having each individual gateway set in place and combined them to become one larger form directly in front of you. That's going to make it very unstable… and also able to summon something beyond what you've fought as of yet."

"Hostile exiting hell gate" reported a crewman nearby. "Raid boss tier confirmed."

"Only one? That shouldn't be too difficult for the arm-" Selene immediately shut up as a massive creature tried to climb out, it's size barely fitting through even a piece of its arm and head, the brand new opening set before her army restraining any movement. The remaining smaller demons pulled back to its flanks, acting as minions, little more than ants. "Son of a bitch." Her updated Hud verified the level as a skull, a red aura warping and ebbing around the symbol. There was no number. Even Hrist had a level, though the dev couldn't register it with her previous scanner. This was something new.

The tagged boss was deemed a Prince of Hell, at least to the empress and her army. What its real name was they didn't care, just that it was hostile and ready to fight. The demon hadn't shown its whole body, but from what could be seen, it was huge. The face seemed to have no mouth visible except for a short snout and eight pairs of eyes, with six plated arms trying to pry open the gateway even further and failing. Where the ears would have been instead had twelve horns all curving inwards, acting as armor plating. The scaled hide had an iridescent color, showing signs of red with purple and green. Armor was worn along the neck and ran down the back to the main body into the unknown, disappearing through the gateway, hanging in segmented panels with runic etching running through and glowing red.

A sound seemed to reverberate through the area, which could be considered an intense roar mixed with a whale's call. "What the…" the dev whispered as she slowly stood up, a hush falling over the battlezone. The prince was registered as over one hundred fifty stories tall by the size of the extremities in view, still having difficulties with squeezing more than the head and arms through.

"Now, you will see what my army is capable of! Hahahaha! I win, no matter what! How dare you even think you're pitiful shadows cannot be burned away by my power! I'll… I'll…" there seemed to be some hesitation in the king's voice due to some distraction, heard through the floating orbs as they looked like they would become unstable. "No… what's happening… it can't… no… NO! I'M SUPPOSED TO WIN! YOU LIED TO ME! DAMN YOU FO- AGH!" A blood-curdling scream erupted after, followed by the orbs exploding as if made of liquid, falling to the ground and splashing everywhere. The gateway that would allow the Prince of Hell entrance to the combat zone slowly closed up around the creature, the arms being constrained and cut into from the sides of the portal no longer wishing to stick around.

"Massive power spike detected from Aureos palace. Unknown effect, no noticeable damage is seen from the outside via satellite" reported Grey over coms. "We don't… no way…"

"Brace! Brace!" the Admiral commanded as a glow seemed to be emitting from one of the raised arms of the raid boss as it tried to pull back through to save itself. Within a few seconds, a massive beam of raw and incredible energy burst forth, spewing destruction as it raked slowly across the battlefield, arcing up a little and hitting two frigates in her air fleet. "Casualties registered. 16th Brigade reports losses. We just lost two escorts." The blast was almost blinding as the cameras stationed outside the airship fought to keep the brightness down, dimmer systems engaging on the bridge for the empress...

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Straight Into Battle)**_

"Initiate emergency procedures! Climb to the moon! We need to get her out of here, now!" the Admiral of the flagship ordered as the dev sat back down in her chair, stunned with her pupils widening as she tried to make sense of that amount of energy emitted. They were getting her out of there. "The rest of the fleet provide cover!" 1st Air Fleet moved in to bombard the area, doing little more than tickle the massive creature's head with all of their firepower which should have been considerable. The dev didn't see what had happened to the massive creature after they reached an altitude that was above the clouds, but all evidence pointed to an immense chunk of her army being beaten into the ground.

"Wha… wha… the… sit… sitrep! I need a sitrep!" Selene barked after clearing her throat, regaining her composure slowly.

"7th Division just lost multiple armored columns, and total loss of soldiers is over 75,000. Two frigates lost, one cruiser damaged. Red Tails lost an entire squadron. Shadows lost one fighter." Her mouth dropped. **{Golden Army}** couldn't be used _after_ the damage had been done, it wouldn't return the troops that were just obliterated. The only thing that could be done was have salvage crews come to pick up any pieces that were lying around. Not even X Heavies were standing up against that beam.

"Ha… How?!" she asked, getting her voice back and brain to focus. Her eyes darted around, worried another attack would shoot through the clouds and carve her ship in half. The carrier airship continued evasive maneuvers with only two frigates still with them.

"That beam it just fired exceeded our rated shielding systems, couldn't get a complete readout of the power output. Armor couldn't cope for the ground forces. 53% of the army is gone, ma'am." The empress's eyes seemed to dance around the room for a moment as she tried to comprehend the situation. The king had just somehow broken the quarantine zones that her security had set up around the three previous portals, redirected all of the energy into one spot before them, then released a raid boss that could one-shot half of her troops.

"Where was… where's Bronze Team? Are they safe?"

"No report yet on their status, data hasn't flowed back yet… wait… getting confirmation…"

"We're here ma'am, barely made it out of that one," Ethan reported.

"Bloody close call that one was! Nearly caught it in our asses! What did that cunt fire?!" Deacon snapped in surprise.

"Does it matter? Ma'am, we need to drop everything we can on that fucking thing. Jorge and Turnie were hit by the tail end of that beam, they… well, their shields were blasted right through, overloaded the systems completely. Now, before you jump to conclusions, they're fine, just some of their equipment modules are fried after jumping in a hole… but… Charlie Team got hit hard… three of them didn't make it…" Ethan reported. Her personal tank and her healer, two friends… they hadn't made it out of that unscathed, though nowhere near as bad as their sister team on the field. Selene's breath caught in her throat as the woman's jaw dropped.

"Get… get them back to the carrier for personal repairs. Dominic, suggestions?" That was all she could manage to say as the sheer power of the raid boss was incredible.

"Pull back the remainder of your forces, drop an orbital strike, or release the advanced projects. That's the only way to take this thing down. The land nearby is probably never going to recover, but it's better than losing everything." Before they could give the order, however, the remaining smaller demons charged forward, ready to keep the mechanized soldiers from retreating at an inopportune time to kick them when they were down.

"Pull back and regroup, keep them pinned with suppressive fire." Ornithopters were pinging damaged drones, some of them trying to crawl back to safety with half of their bodies destroyed. A few didn't even have limbs, just a single shoulder mount firing as if it was an auto turret with stumps for arms. The beam had carved through part of the ground and melted metal, burnt grass and blasted away snow. Rocks and boulders were tossed around, red hot from the heat; It looked as if a massive napalm strike had hit the area in a wide arc before the Prince of Hell in the shape of a giant fan interspersed with patches it had arced upwards that struck the two frigates and cruiser.

"Contingency plan Delta in effect, all operational units respond for temporary evacuation." Medics zipped across the ground based on Turnie's original chassis, grabbing 'wounded' soldiers and bringing them back to safety while covering fire was provided. Selene tried to comprehend the situation, her eyes wide with fear, forcing a UAV to shoot off away from the area with a temporary aggression emitter to draw fire.

"Ma'am, I don't think that thing can make it through the portal. It's closing," Dominic informed her quickly as she did her best to look through her options. The arms were pressed against the head as the Prince of Hell seemed to make a squealing noise that got higher in pitch as the gateway closed around the neck, the arms flailing a little and would look ever so slightly comical if it wasn't so terror-inducing. Eventually, over a few minutes, the edge of the entrance carved off an arm, then two; soon, the neck was snapped as the head just hung there limply, another beam getting charged up from one of the last remaining extremities. The energy harmlessly dispersed, the remaining visible body parts being cut through as the hell gate slowly closed up, dropping the pieces to the ground and not dissolving like all previous demons had done.

"God damn that was close…" Selene said as she sighed in relief, then realized her friends were being ferried up to the flagship.

"That was…. worrying… and slightly anticlimactic in that we didn't have to do anything… one last defiant action for the king it looks…" Dominic replied over coms. The remaining demons, still numbering almost a million strong, looked at each other and tried to escape the zone, to run off into the remains of the nearby forest that wasn't on fire or dig underground. A few even played dead. "Well, that's not good. We don't have the numbers in the area right now to clean up that mess. Security will have to keep the broader sector contained until reserves can be brought in and repairs can be done on the surviving drones."

The empress sat there for a moment and gathered her wits about her. They had very nearly lost this war if something had not happened to cause the portal to close back up. Without another moment wasted, she forced herself up and stormed out of the bridge, heading down the hallway right towards the main drop bay. Two helibots had just landed as she stepped carefully back, two gurneys carrying both SF soldiers away to get repaired, followed by Jorge and Turnie. The commander was just hopping off the transport as if he was sight-seeing, giving her a peace sign with two fingers. The left side of his head seemed to have scorch marks on it, the left optic a ghostly blue mixed in with a little paint that had bubbled and cooled. Selene grabbed his right hand immediately as he looked at her while medics checked on him. Even though they were mechanical, the healers still all had repair equipment installed.

"Don't worry ma'am, he missed the shot." An immense sigh of relief escaped her lips as her gaze fell on Turnie, waving at her. Ethan was right, they barely got out of that one. Catching only the remains of that blast should have wiped them away.

"Unresponsive, stabilizing advanced core with secondary power, the auto repair was knocked offline," one of the medics said as they moved through the doors to the repair facility in the ship, the two remaining members of the sister team becoming a priority through the hallways. "How much equipment?" the dev asked quietly as she noticed the emitters on both their chassis weren't lit up; all she wanted to know is how bad the damage had been, given the shields were overloaded on both of her friends standing in front of her. She was racking her mind for all the abilities they had probably used in concert with the modules and tech equipped just to stay functioning huddled in the foxhole. Magic would mend most of the internal circuitry which Turnie could use; however, her mana bar looked to be drained and slowly recharging. Jorge's shield was gone, detached and more than likely a sheet of slag that was pried away from the micro bunker they tried to build.

"Main systems didn't take damage thankfully. That was an… interesting brush with death…" Turnie replied as she received a hug from the empress, then let go and let Jorge get one around his huge neck as he kneeled.

"Can… can any of you… I mean, I never really thought about it before… can you… can you die?"

"That's a question I don't think we can answer for you, ma'am. What is being alive? What is the soul? We don't have the information just yet, only that a soul can be contained and used as a fuel source in wild magic or for rituals. Do we have them within our personality cores? I don't know. What I can say is that if any core was destroyed, a replacement could be crafted that would be fresh off the line." The empress gulped as the doors closed behind another batch of damaged warriors. There was no reason to use magic or nanite sprays on the ones that were either scrap or needed a complete overhaul.

"Would it still be you though?" Turnie looked at the leader of her team, sharing a moment of confusion on how to explain things to her.

"It wouldn't have our memories, starting as a fresh member of Bronze Team as it were. Backups are… tricky for us. Luckily, you built those things tough. There'd have to be an immense amount of energy to burn through the casings… well, at least directed at them like what just happened. We're fine though, should be up and running in another hour with no internal damage; just need to get new equipment, modules reinstalled, shielding emitters, then testing." The spells to repair automatons didn't exactly work the same way on their equipment, as it was technically provided by a fabrication unit specially built for their operations. It was akin to a magic weapon being broken and just dissolving, needing new modules to be installed at the source then filtered down the line. It was a security feature in the event one of her soldiers ever dropped a weapon in the field and needed to retreat, to make sure they never left something too powerful for the enemy. Potions had no effect on them, being one of the few disadvantages of being mechanical. Nanite sprays still suffered from the same repair speed as spells, with mana being used and time for the nanites to recharge inside their dock pods.

Deacon and Ethan walked up behind her, their shield systems still functional, barely. Apparently, even their defenses let some of the heat and energy bleed through ever so slightly, and they were much farther away from the end of the beam than Jorge or Turnie. She turned around and saw them just silent, with Deacon frustrated they weren't the ones who did in what was coming through the portal, it was just the front door closing on the frightening guest trying to go through it. Orlo floated nearby, watching them and completely undamaged due to being able to fly.

Selene immediately cast multiple spells to return them all back to full working order, not so much as a scratch seen after throwing every repair spell she had onto them, then draping her arms around both soldier's shoulders as they did the same to her, closing her eyes and giving a silent prayer to the universe for letting them escape that. The mana used up regenerated at an incredible pace, topping off her bar in a few seconds. "Glad you didn't see that thing up close ma'am. Wasn't expecting it to be so… grisly. It caught us completely off-guard," Ethan told her quietly.

"I'm just glad you're all still alive." They just stood there for a minute before the woman slowly pulled away and patted the Light helibot that acted as support for their team, rubbing the pod in the center of his saucer; Adesha had come running in behind to whisk her back to the empress's bedroom to change out of her pajamas. Adrenaline was pumping through her as her hands trembled, counting the minutes going by as data flowed quickly in on the combat zone and from the repair facility about the two members of Charlie Team that survived. A debrief was sent involving their position when the blast hit, raking across the land and her troops.

While the rest of the soldiers were wiped away from the area, they had tried to remain at a specific location to protect refugees, with Jorge shown to have shielded both Turnie and two old folks hiding the foxhole and cowering for dear life, using his shield as a manhole cover. Their actions had saved them from certain death, even with the scorching heat and energy flowing around them at the very edge of the beam, just before it stopped. Apparently, Turnie explained they jumped in and nearly flattened both the grandmother and father, having to somehow perform the splits inside a very cramped defense point. A satellite image showed the remains of the Commander's melted tower shield he carried, still stuck in the ground like a warped can lid, multiple emergency barrier shields dropped by Turnie overloaded and fizzling on the ground around it.

Unfortunately, Charlie Team's secondary objective was a failure, as the refugee group they were protecting were all vaporized. The dev knew they couldn't save everyone; it was war after all; however, she expected the frontline to be easier to deal with given what was sent their way for the past week. A call request popped up from both Hrist and Brynhildr which was opened swiftly. "Selene?! Are you alright?! I heard you were attacked and lost warriors!" Hrist shouted out quickly, her voice desperate.

"I'm fine Hrist, the fleet took some losses. Troops were taken out though; there's a hole that's trying to be filled up with reserves but…" the dev paused for a moment, taking a deep breath; "we're pulling back for twenty-four hours, letting security handle the situation until we can push forward again."

"That sounds like a good plan. I'm still getting intermittent companies of demons down here, but they've dropped to a much more manageable number. What happened? What came after you?" Bryn said as she waited for a response.

"Portals all closed, a new one was created right before us in hopes it would stop our counter. It… nearly worked. A Prince from Hell tried to invade our realm, its power unlike anything that should have normally existed. There's a head and a few arms on the ground when the gateway decided it had other plans. Whether it ran out of power being fed, or… something else… we're still not sure. Total losses are around 75,000 infantry, give or take a few hundred. Bronze Team… nearly got hit… Jorge and Turnie are fine, scared the crap out of me though… Charlie Team is in bad shape… but will be back with us in… uh… in…" she focused carefully on finishing her report, "in six hours." It was a surprise that it hurt telling them about the losses of three members of the sister team. They actually had a middle ground between basic cores and personality cores, an advanced version as it were. She didn't understand why it concerned her more than it should that automatons were lost that were just drones, beyond the strategic reasons of course.

Both were silent for a minute, a few noises of the Valkyrja trying to articulate words in shock after what was explained. They both respected the capabilities of Bronze Team and even Charlie Team, all of the special forces squads actually. To see that even they could be destroyed… worried them.

 _That thing should have been level 100… even the Grand Krakens weren't that powerful. Did he focus everything into one grand gateway, siphoning everything he had into that fucking thing? That beam…_

"Selene…" Bryn stopped speaking as the dev sat while Adesha brushed her hair. What had just transpired was one fear-inspiring wake-up call. Her military up until then was invincible. Now she knew that research into new defensive technology was absolutely essential, with new tech tiers required. There was no telling if they could have fought the raid boss if it came through, even with a full army. Releasing the skunkworks machines might have been the best call if the prince had made it through the portal intact, though there would be massive damage to the environment surrounding the battlefield. Garrington would for certain be obliterated, with the land surrounding it becoming uninhabitable in the aftermath. The apocalypse would have been upon them, maybe even destroying part of the continent.

"I'm fine. I'm… I'm fine. We're regrouping, they can't break through the suppression fire yet; I have to focus right now on containing the area and getting my troops pulled out for reinforcement. I –" the empress stopped speaking as a small text was sent to her from Grey.

 **[[No more portals. No more reinforcements. Their bodies won't dissolve if they are killed, leaving samples for the science division. The remainder is cut off from their realm. Request to send Bravo and Alpha Teams to Aureos palace to assess the situation, Delta will recon exterior.]]**

"Selene? Is everything alright? You stopped," Hrist questioned.

"I… I-I'm sorry, just got some new intel." The auburn-haired woman responded to her Director of Intelligence right after. **[[Negative. We'll push forward again in twenty-four hours. We need to lick our wounds, might need both teams for counters in other locations. There's no guarantee they can't try that again.]]**

 **[[2nd and 3rd Air Fleets can reinforce. Don't pull back, let them lead the charge. We have reason to believe this is almost over.]]**

"Empress, we just received a request to come to aid you. I'm bringing the fleet to assist" Hrist said in a concerned tone.

"Wait, there's still—" Selene couldn't even finish as 2nd Air Fleet teleported in nearby, bolstering her air forces. "What about the northern flank? Hold on don't be so quick to jump."

"Once the gateway inside Caerel Mines sealed itself, we weren't getting near as many infernal armies coming towards us as they were to your location. I left two-thirds of my army there, it is holding, there should not be a problem. Don't worry, we are here." The empress exhaled loudly with a tremble and nodded, the action not seen by anyone other than her battle maid. 3rd Air Fleet, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"I've still got some groups trying to escape to… gods know where… we'll meet up in a day or two. I'll stick around here and make sure nothing can slip out. A few were noticed trying to burrow through the dirt and stone, others might try and follow to reach some sort of underground tunnels," Bryn reported. "Stay safe, both of you." The shieldmaiden disconnected from the channel as through the window of the dev's bedroom could be seen a lone helibot heading over from _Empress's Conviction_. The woman already knew her general was coming to look after her.

"Admiral, do we have final numbers for our losses?" she asked over the main intercom of the ship.

"75,389 soldiers ma'am, 4,212 automated vehicles. 134 fighters were lost, 2 frigate airships. Somehow the edge of that beam had also taken out 3 artillery batteries at maximum range." Selene tightly shut her eyes at that number. Up until that point, not one soldier was lost, not even when they were of lower levels and equipment when she still had a fort. There were officially casualties for the Clockwork Empire.

 _Get Class V shields available for all units on the ground, get whatever power system for it miniaturized immediately. Get the research doubled, tripled. That scared the shit out of me… If I had a little more advanced warning, I'd have thrown up every ability I had to keep them from knocking my army down like dominos…_

"Do we have any available data on what it fired to send to the science division?"

"It wasn't a spell ma'am. That was harnessed raw energy, unknown where the source was that allowed the demon to create that. It's possible it was fed by the artifact _**Ember of Damned Souls**_ , though we can't confirm that until we get the thing for the eggheads to work with. The enemy force is in complete disarray, thankfully, as whatever kept them under control is gone… potentially the user of the artifact. 768,000 demons with half of them moving _away_ from our frontline and not towards it, whittled down from one million. The remainder is currently being kept at bay until we've evacuated, then they'll be unimpeded until they hit our rear security defense line."

"Get FPFs out and run carpet bomb sorties to slow them down, show them we aren't knocked down yet, just bruised."

"Understood ma'am." 7th Division was regrouping below and being picked up as her Hud showed contingency plans popping up, evacuation points and portable bunkers dropped for emergency measures. While Hrist hadn't brought her entire army with her fleet, leaving some of it behind in a spontaneous teleport, it would help immensely to speed up a second push forward down from twenty-four hours to something a little closer to sixteen.

The empress watched the minutes tick away as the food was brought with coffee. She couldn't get any sleep at all now that they had to fall back and lose all the territory they had claimed for the past day or two in her sector, being practically in front of Garrington again with the security defenses in place. A slight question ran through her mind as to how effective security models would be if they had been hit by the blast, given they gained a 50% boost to defenses while behind walls and protection zones. More than likely, they'd have either been wiped away as well or hold up a little better with fewer losses. The only thing she could do was wait for a report to arrive that they were back to operational status. It was going to be a very long twenty-four hours, and even longer few days to make sure the demons were once and for all taken care of.

 _ **Three Days Later, 13th, December**_

"Landing in three, two, one." Three transports moved to multiple balconies and dropped off their fire teams inside the palace, quickly taking up defensive positions and sweeping the area. They checked each room carefully, heading for one location: the throne room. Special Forces jogged carefully from room to room, clearing the entire building in search of any targets. Maids and servants cowered in closets, a mess in their clothes as they just tried to hide from the demons that were released in the past few days, stealing scraps of food from the kitchen just to survive. Every human didn't even try to use the restrooms, relieving themselves where they hid. A brave magician snuck around where he could to clean up any smells for them, sticking with the groups where he could just so they couldn't be found.

"Give me a heads up once you find that fucker" Selene ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Jorge replied, his shield replaced along with the rest of the damaged equipment as he led the wet group forward, fully repaired. The dev had checked on Turnie and the party's tank multiple times each day, making sure they were back in perfect shape, wondering if they needed anything. It confused the hell out of both himself and his healer in Bronze Team, as they were technically machines. For them, it was a reward to serve her, with multiple viewpoints slowly building up amongst those who had personality cores about their creator, all very positive. While their loyalty was unbreakable, unwavering, the way they looked at her seemed to differ a little depending on which division of her government it was.

For Selene, it was mostly because she felt as if there was a close call, that the dev had nearly lost two valuable friends in such a short time of having them. She finally played some of the games that Orlo had created with the team, hoping to just escape for an hour and hang out. What she wasn't telling them was that there were nightmares she woke up from, not all of them involving the Prince of Hell.

During the last three days, the empress had temporarily gone back to the castle to check on the Rikter Family and her wolf pack. What she was greeted with had her dumbfounded yet happy with the results. Morlan was a comfortable level 38, two levels higher than what she expected him to reach after such a short time. Apparently, the training he was going through had a powerful effect on anyone that was trying to attain a higher tier. Unfortunately, a notice was given to the dev by the autodocs to inform her that level 50 might be the highest he could reach without genetic enhancement, cybernetic modification or alchemical augmentation. Anything beyond would take far longer without proper upgrades to his body, with the training already having diminishing returns. While level 100 might be possible, it could very well be reached when the warrior was in his eighties, making it fairly useless. Elsei was another matter entirely with her long life, however.

Another surprise that was interesting, yet welcome was Luna. Her size had increased yet again, now the height of Aster. The dev was now definitely sure there would need to be a replacement bed built for her room just to fit all of them, or interconnected pieces to expand the mattress. Elsei had for a brief time gotten a chance to ride the white wolf around the front courtyard the day before Selene came back. Ash seemed to have a very high static field around her fur, causing anyone who tried to pet her to get a small electric shock. Blue seemed to be showing up at weird locations in the castle, with Briane constantly confused as to how he got there. While curious that each wolf seemed to have some new oddities about their bodies, they were all too happy to see their alpha again.

This time, they were brought along to the 1st Air fleet for the trip to Aureos, with a temporary restroom kept in an extension module for the flagship. It wasn't the greatest system to use for them to do their business, but it at least allowed them to stick with her during the trip to the imperial city. The airship's doors were designed for loading things a bit larger than Luna, so there was no problem with her moving about or needing to squeeze her through an opening.

Supposedly the citizens hid in terror for the past three days due to no control now seen in the remaining demons. No markets were open, people were scavenging for any and all scraps, some killing each other over a morsel. The armies outside were wiped out methodically, with no stragglers allowed to get out. There were already too many that had burrowed underground, heading for the Underdark to slip into the unknown, only to appear again sometime in the future to cause havoc. While it wasn't an ideal situation, the war was won.

The empress rode on the top of an HRV as it slowly crept through the cobblestone streets barely wide enough to allow the wheels to not gouge sections out of nearby walls with the armored hubcaps. Civilians had to get off the roads just to allow them to continue before they finally reached the main street leading to the palace in the far rear. Along the way, she noticed followers of the Church of Golden Faith preaching about how payment to them would save the common man their souls in the afterlife, cleanse them of their sins. The dev screwed up her face in disgust at the sight of them. The lower class was cheering her army on as they secured the city, watching over everyone as the ruler of the Clockwork Empire jumped off the vehicle once it stopped, walking through the gates now abandoned. The guards had long since run back to families or tried to escape via other means, one of which was a crime ring running underground.

The city was designed with sections in mind, districts within districts as the walls expanded over the decades. Some could be seen had been torn down and replaced with even larger fortifications, showing where the stone had been removed. Each section seemed a little haphazard, with each zone having damage accrued with buildings collapsed or fires wiping out a string of houses. None of the city got off scot-free, not even the royal or gold district. The naming convention was similar to the adventurer's ranking system, starting at copper and reaching platinum; they then diverted to the four gem districts of emerald, sapphire, ruby, and diamond. The final two districts were holy and royal. The copper and iron districts were considered the slums of the city, while the gem districts were seen as the pinnacle of wealth.

Hrist and Brynhildr stood beside her as the dev sat along the marble stair rail near the front doors, waiting for the all-clear inside with a full contingent of honor guard. The garden in front had either been destroyed via scorched fireballs tossed around from errant imps to patches of dirt where the more bestial natured demons tore apart the landscape. "Area clear ma'am, the palace is secured. No sign of King Teiyan, however," Jorge informed her. The doors opened with Charlie Team on the other side, expecting them to enter. "Survivors were found inside as well."

Selene walked up multiple flights of stairs, through an inner courtyard with a fountain and headed to where Bronze Team had kept watch in the throne room. What she walked into was confusing. There was a missing marble pillar with no rubble anywhere to be seen, along with three scorch marks and a few pieces of what looked to be the artifact, completely inert. One of the scorch marks was on the throne itself, still smoking, though nothing was setting it on fire. There was a curved notch taken out of the floor, which was theorized to be where the artifact was lying.

"No sign of the king?"

"Negative; however, given what it looks like in here, you can guess what happened, though it is just a guess," Turnie told her. As the woman glanced at the healer, noting her upgraded chassis with much more responsive facial features and evolved feminine form, she gave a slight facial shrug. The automaton was looking more and more human, with an updated frame scheduled for all of them to get within the next week. Any angular parts from then on would be an armor extension that would be removable if they wanted to. They were becoming less and less blocky in shape and more streamlined, elegant in appearance.

 _I wonder if eventually, I can get them into more human bodies, just like the android ambassadors._

"I had a hunch it overloaded. Any evidence to tell us what it was powered with?"

"Not yet, ma'am. Still getting a headcount of all survivors in the building. We also don't know if he really is dead or… missing. No intel suggests he's trying to sneak out of the city, but then again, the two theories are he's either been smoked… or somehow made his way into the portal that was originally here," Jorge responded. In his massive paws was a plasma chaingun, with the rest of the team fully geared to mulch through rooms if needed just to make sure any hostiles were eliminated. A head popped around the corner of the doorframe leading into the throne room, followed by multiple laser dots aimed at the man's forehead. He immediately cowered on the ground and begged for mercy on the other side of the hallway, the honor guard staring down at him as he looked to be about ready to soil himself.

"Who are you?" Selene asked sternly.

"My… my name is Duncan, I… I am… was… the royal advisor here uh… one of them at least… you… you're…" he stopped mid-sentence, unsure how to address her. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses to the upper bridge of his nose while he kept his head down. His level was verified as a mere 14, a physical threat to no one with his poor stats beyond high intelligence and wit. His rotundness proved he was more of a talker than a fighter, having a stomach that made him look a little like a ball with extremities.

"Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. So you advised the now-dead king?" He threw his hands up in surrender.

"Your imperial majesty! I assure you, we have tried on multiple occasions to curb his actions. Please, I am no threat to your rule here. I… I only wish to show myself in hopes that I can… serve in your new leadership over Artinia."

"Artinia is gone, a forgotten memory. You're now within the borders of the Clockwork Empire." The empress crossed her arms while standing in front of him, still deciding to wear her armor. A dress was being designed by Gala for a reveal of their new ruler once she decided to perform the age-old scene of walking out onto a balcony with a reveal ceremony to thousands of cheering citizens below. There was no guarantee that would even happen, nor did she care to do anything of the sort. Unlike other rulers she had read up on with the books in the library, Selene didn't need to bask in their praise every morning and hear how amazing she was. There were issues to address, troubleshooting to be done, and nothing was ever perfect no matter how hard they would try. _She_ wasn't perfect.

"Yes… yes! Long live the… uh… the Clockwork Empire! Long live the Empress!" he chuckled out and bowed to her, the frills on his wrists from his dress shirt shifting and being pushed back as his hand flew to his chest.

 _If he's an advisor, the king used him as a toady and nothing more. He didn't try to stop the king because he might get something out of it or was too weak against his madness… a coward… no, don't think like that… maybe cowed into submission with everyone else agreeing with the king, like yes men… probably took the job because it pays well and keeps him well taken care of within the palace walls. Still… might be useful, at least temporarily._

The empress squinted at him as he had his hand over his chest, just above his heart. A quick scan with her Hud and it told her he might be perfectly loyal, though he had a fault noted that said he was weak-willed to those of power in Aureo without assistance. Her eyebrows raised upon reading that, along with his alignment of lawful good. He wouldn't be one to try and backstab, except he'd need help keeping things taken care of when she was away; as long as she kept full control over Aureos and carefully managed it, he might be a viable administrator for Aureos. At first, she was deciding to just get rid of him and let Duncan leave the city, not wanting to deal with any crap he might cause in the future; she stopped with that thought process. He had insider information on the dealings the king had, any criminal organizations, the government that had once ruled over these lands and their inner workings. While he would never be as efficient as one of her automatons, he was human and trying to speak to her instead of running.

"Alright, Duncan. Let's see if you can make yourself useful." The short, squat man raised his head with a severe case of male pattern baldness and looked forward, straight at her armored chest. He didn't know where his eyes should aim, just staring forward as if glancing at her face would earn him a swift death, just like with the king. "Look up at me, I'm getting tired of anyone not meeting my eyes up here." She was a good head taller than he was, with him being five foot two inches in height.

"Y-yes your imperial majesty. Um… w-well, mayhap I could… uh… I can provide a tour of the palace! You must not have seen such splendor around here that is now yours, yes?" He rubbed his hands together, hoping she'd agree to his offer. The advisor looked like a raccoon in the way he moved his hands, his goatee colored salt and pepper and ending with a pointed tip. He had huge ears with a red suit studded in gold and silver buttons, a yellow sash running from his right shoulder to left hip. A small scepter was carried at his thigh on a belt, probably to show that he was in charge when the king was away to maintain order in the area. It jingled a little when he moved, along with a ring of keys on his belt.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves; this would be the second palace I have now," she grumbled out in an unimpressed manner as her eyes surveyed the throne room. There were marks on the marble floor, more than likely bloodstains of slain women and slaves that were never truly washed out. The room was smaller than hers was by a wide margin, though she now worried it was pointless to even have a throne room to begin with. Her blue eyes finally landed back on the man as she exhaled. There was no point in judging him on the first impression, now that the rule of the mad king was over. "Alright, let's start this. The whole palace is secure?" she asked as the dev glanced over her shoulder at Jorge.

"Completely ma'am. Preliminary reports are the remainder of demons trying to skulk in the shadows are being dealt with within the city." He gave her a nod and a short thumbs up with his left hand as Deacon walked to the balcony to keep overwatch outside, a small piece of footage playing in her Hud of soldiers chasing a few imps and devils trying to get away from the machines. The ruler followed Duncan through the hallways as he taught her about the different points of interest, rooms, and quarters. A group of maids, just recently changed through attire and walking out of the laundry room, had their eyes land on the empress walking by. Not one of them had a mouth closed, gasping as she followed the man as he explained when the wings of the palace were constructed, the history of the location. Selene didn't really listen, as quite a bit of what he was telling her was already in books as her hands were clasped together behind her head as they walked.

The design seemed fairly ostentatious with gold and silver adorning almost everything. The hallways were quite well lit with multiple openings for easy egress into new areas, though the floors seemed a little dusty. Braziers could be seen every ten feet or so, held by a figure of a golden woman naked with fruit hanging from her hair and kneeling. There were multiple rooms with the same premise set for each design, copies of each other for large parties to enjoy what was offered in lines instead of having one large open area built to house everyone. Tapestries and paintings adorned every wall, even the outside hallways, which made her wonder if they were protected against the weather. There were even crude elevators built, man-powered to move the king up and down to different floors while sitting in a chair. The harem that the late king had created for his amusement had now transferred in ownership to her, all one hundred of them with ten not quite 'broken in.' They deviated once to his lavish office to give her the list and names of each concubine or slave.

"Holy shit, there's a Minotaur in this?!" she said gawking wide-eyed in surprise. The horned creature was male too. There were at least 20 men in the harem, letting her know that the king had quite a few kinks, or needed spare males to keep the women occupied. The dev did not want to find out what those kinks were, ever. A bit of information was written at the bottom, in the native tongue; Selene knew at least two of the words after studying meant 'pleasure hall.'

"Yes. Did you… wish to partake of them? We can put the tour on hold for—"

"No, no thanks. Not at all. No way. Continue the tour." Her face was bright red with her mouth pursed together, doing her best to not look embarrassed. She felt very awkward at even hearing that a harem was now in her possession. As they headed to the inner courtyard, the advisor kept rambling on about how incredible the palace was. Meanwhile, the empress seemed fairly bored, constantly having to tell him to skip his explanation when he deviated from the intended topic, at least until she spotted Blue trotting up to her. "Hey buddy, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on _Majesty's Grace_? How the… wait…" she scanned the room quickly with her eyes, wondering where Briane was, as she would be caring for her pack.

 _Luna's size and strength, Ash has a static field building around her, Blue has been seen in odd locations of the castle without any of the guards opening doors for him… no no no, they're normal wolves, they're my pack. They couldn't… but, when Ash crawled out of the fort…_

She remembered vaguely what happened when the dev was lying on the ramparts of her walls after being shot by a crossbow bolt, a flashback of how Ash had somehow managed to push under the only opening at the gate and head off to attack the bandit. Blue was larger than even she was, so he couldn't have been able to squeeze out. "Nikola, Robert, could you do me a favor?" she asked over coms as Duncan leapt a good few feet up and tried to climb a pillar at the sight of the black wolf trotting over. Selene kneeled and gave him a scratch behind his ears as he took up a position next to her.

"Ask, and we will do what we can, empress."

"Do some tests on the old wolf den, specifically on the gas that emits from the vents in there. I want to know what that does and if it just makes them go crazy."

"We'll see about getting a survey team sent over to collect some sample. This is about the new… unintended effects on your pack, is it not?"

"Yes. Get back to me when you find something that can answer how Blue just showed up 15,000 feet below where he should be without a parachute." The coms ended as the leader of the empire told the stubby man to stop climbing and get down. As Duncan fell on his behind, he stood up and dusted himself off quickly to try and regain some composure. The man stuck his hand out carefully, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Heh… hehe… nice doggie…" Blue just looked at his face, then at the hand, wondering what the advisor wanted him to do with the extremity. He had his standards, after all. A human wasn't exactly on his menu, even if it did look to be eating well.

"He doesn't like being called a dog, Duncan, and he doesn't know you. He'd sooner bite your hand off as sniff it." The man quickly recoiled his hand back and held his wrist, fearful that the black canine would strike. The member of her pack just let out an annoyed growl that changed pitch a few times, the empress putting her hand on his head and giving him a pat. He quieted down right after as she spoke soothingly. "Calm down big guy, I don't know how you got down here without Briane tagging along, but I guess you're here for the rest of the tour." A small huff escaped him as they continued on, with the advisor constantly looking over his shoulder at the new escort along with the honor guards.

 _Note to self: get GPS trackers somehow put on collars or… chips between their shoulders or… something…_

They eventually reached the master bedroom, windows lining an entire wall along with white marble everywhere. The floor was covered in small rugs mismatched in royal colors, none of it looking to be fashionable. Parts of it looked like shag carpet, a 70's love lounge as it were. "This bed has been slept in by generations of royalty, by the previous king; now that you are the new and true ruler of Artinia, you—"

"As I said, Artinia is lost to the past, you're in the Clockwork Empire now" Selene interrupted him as she walked over to the windows and moved curtains, checking to see where they looked out to, then checking the bathroom connected. No real plumbing installed, there was running water through a magical bag attached to the sink, and the main room was far too set on being a room designed with sex in mind for her liking. While her palace seemed to be made for a goddess, there wasn't near as much gold and silver or gems lining everything. Most of that was in the vault or being used in the creation of equipment for her automatons, there just wasn't a real need to hoard much beyond the trillions of coins now manufactured to provide any sort of government funding within her borders. Any new metals had better use to improve her country.

"My apologies, your imperial majesty. Now, this bed would be where you would rest after a hard day's work of ruling over your very loyal subjects." She turned around and surveyed the four-post bed with purple curtains on each facing draped partways down. The thought of even touching that bed made her skin crawl. Even with multiple **[Scrub]** spells cast immediately after she got near it, there was no denying that it felt wrong to sleep in a bed that was previously owned by a psycho.

"No thanks, I'll just stay on my flagship or go back to my own palace." She started walking towards the door as he blubbered in confusion.

"B-but, your majesty! This is your palace as well! You have inherited everything that he once owned! Do you… do you not wish to at least lie on it for but a moment? I… I hear it is very comfortable…"

"Nope. Even setting it on fire doesn't make me want to lay one finger on the sheets. The furniture in this place needs to be replaced, all of it."

 _I also don't want to get infected with any crazy cooties if they exist. It's a world with magic for fuck's sake, I'm playing it safe to not contract anything the mad king had… or magical STIs that haven't been sterilized off those sheets… hmm, get the harem some medical checkups, not that I'll ever use any of them… sheesh, a fricken minotaur? I mean… yikes… he would have probably gotten a troll or ogre too if he could…_

"B-but, who will sleep here?! Wait, we can get another bed, once the people start working again… maybe, maybe your husband, the emperor will visit to rest here from time to time?" Duncan questioned.

"I don't have a husband, there is no emperor." Hrist arrived as she seemed to track the ceiling, her eyes falling to Selene and giving a small smile, thinking better of it, then blushing and turning back to what she was talking to Bryn about over the earpiece.

"So there are eyeholes in each bedroom?" she asked as Bryn checked the attic. The dev looked confused, then disgusted as her blue eyes fell onto each painting that had a portrait or group of faces. There were secret rooms hidden in the walls with trap doors everywhere.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird for the master bedroom to have them too. It seems the king might have been a voyeurist. Maybe she'll have the place remodeled after we leave."

"Or she could just burn the palace down." Duncan had a face of utter terror as he brought his hands up to his cheeks, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets and his hair looking as if he was struck by lightning at the mere thought of the massive place going up in flames. The citizens of the city might have enjoyed the entire experience, but he sure wouldn't, what with losing his meal ticket.

"Burn it down?! Your imperial majesty! Please! Hear reason! T-this place can be a… a… a home away from home! Yes! Stay here away from your amazing abode and know that the people of Aureos are always looking to you in awe. Why destroy a perfectly good… ub… why destroy a second palace on the opposite side of your empire?! We'll remove the furniture, get it all replaced… yes, of course! None of it was worth your time to even sit on it! We can get better, much better."

"It's tempting Hrist, but… nah. It might be useful for something later. In the meantime, Juliet will get a construction team to try and unfuck the streets around here while Romeo gets a temporary FOB set up just outside the gates. There's going to be a checkpoint system in place until we can clean this city up, and I'm not just talking about the debris and refuse in the ditches." Duncan sighed in relief, hanging his arms in front of him as he closed his eyes, content with the response. Martial law was going into effect for at least 48 hours, to protect the new citizens after it got dark in the even there were still any minor demons sneaking around that hadn't yet been caught. One thing noticed was the levels of those who were found had diminished severely, dropping from level 100 to whatever the infernal creature should have been originally. The initial theory was _**Ember of Damned Souls**_ was altering the demons as they exited the portals, the equivalent of temporary instant level system.

The battle maiden nodded in agreement, both of them continuing on. "Your majesty! W-what am I to do while you are away?" Duncan yelled out after her, standing in the middle of the hall.

"Check the treasury here, have it documented and everything accounted for. Don't fuck with the employees, I expect full professionalism from you. Divvy out some of the funds to those who have lost the most; rebuilding is key around here with lost property. By the way, start with the poor first and end with the wealthy; they've suffered enough, including the employees here in the palace" she replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand in the air.

"But the nobles have lost so much! Maybe they'll invest in the poor after?"

"That wasn't a suggestion, Duncan. Poor first, then we can decide on what to do with the rich." He exhaled loudly and nodded towards her receding form as she stepped lightly down the hallway, then remembered an area the tour hadn't headed towards.

"What am I to do with the dungeon?" Selene stopped mid-step. They hadn't yet seen the special dungeon that Xaxara was most likely being held in with powerful enchanted chains. There was silence in the hallway bar some winter animals skittering along the rooftops.

"Leave it alone, I'll deal with it when I'm ready. I already know who is inside." Blue was about to head after his alpha, though he stopped to pee on one of the legs of the four-post bed before heading after her. The short advisor grabbed at his half-bald head at seeing that and couldn't believe how the new ruler of the lands reacted to the situation inside. She didn't care about any of the riches that might be hidden away, about a reveal ceremony in front of the people letting them know who was in control. Selene already knew who had power here. The only thing going through her mind at the moment was just getting home and getting some rest. She needed to work through the nightmares, get some time to focus on the aftermath of the war without meeting new people.

"You are not looking forward to the next few days, are you" Hrist quietly stated.

"No, no I'm not. Now I get the fun job of incorporating the remains of Artinia into my borders with our laws, cleaning up crime and looters, reconstruction and dealing with the nobility that are still around. Then economic boosts, get jobs back in working order, trade back up and running between towns and cities we now have… I almost wish we were still fighting demons, at least with them I could point and shoot. They were a known enemy," the dev replied satirically.

 _ **One Week Later, 20th, December**_

"You've got to be kidding me." The empress had her hand up to her forehead in a facepalm, rubbing her eyelids slowly at her desk as information was relayed about the reconstruction of Aureos along with other important facets of her empire. There was slight sleep deprivation noticed in her body behavior. The nightmares were slowly going away, a few good dreams cropping up throughout. They wouldn't hold her for very long, with the usage of the elixirs to boost quite a few of her skills to the maximum she could reach at the moment.

"Yes ma'am, they are hoping you'll wear the crown in a ceremony to let everyone know who their new queen is; he just wants time to send invitations out to all the movers and shakers in society" Will chuckled out as he sat in a chair across from her desk. As she started to feel tired again, a quick cast of **[Greater Rejuvenate]** got her back to full alertness. Delfie wanted to write an article for her newspaper involving the end of the demon war for the empire, the dev's rise to power and the creation of the Church of the Clockwork Empress. The interview would have to wait another week, at the very least.

"I'm an empress! A tier above a queen! I mean, seriously?! God, if that wasn't enough, I thought the few nobles I had to beat around were in Silvinholm. Boy, the ones in Aureos are just as devious in some cases… the minor nobles are perfectly fine, it's the major houses that are pissing me off. That crown is pathetic too; get it melted down for raw mats…" she exclaimed as her hands flew into the air. "I don't wear them anyways…"

"That's not even the half of it. Have you heard about some of their plans? One is to somehow get an official audience with you in Silvinholm to get some special treatment; they somehow think you need them or their money to keep your empire going, to keep the peasants and commoners employed." She furrowed her eyebrows as her mouth dropped in a dumbfounded look. A few slow blinks behind a pair of glasses designed to block blue light from the computer and she started staring at the Chief of Staff.

"Do they not know their companies are under guided control by Alfred? I mean, it's like they believe they live in their own stuck up little universe and are the center of it. I'm in charge around here for fuck's sake. They abandoned the people of Silvinholm to the siege that they were responsible for, they backed the king to get access to some of his power, they accepted slavery to do most menial labor. I still can't believe I didn't kill some of them, at least the ones directly responsible. I know most of them have been stuck trying to make a living under the rules of the old king, but that regime is gone. Things change, they need to adapt."

"Dominic thinks you should make an example of them soon." The dev pushed some of her dark red hair back behind her ear and typed up a few more words on a computer for documents to be printed out in bulk. Donovan was going to make a full round with all judges and magistrates, needing copies of the laws and policies of the empire to show to each region of her borders, some laws modified to work with the area. Suggestions were sitting next to her, given by her cabinet on what to alter. While things had calmed down immensely since her security had worked its way through the land, they were having a hard time getting a police force ready to keep Aureos and the new towns safe and secure without being pushed back by large gangs or criminal organizations. Corruption seemed to be a way of life in that city, making it difficult for the empress to turn her attention to more important matters. It was changing with great speed, just not quick enough for her tastes.

Thankfully, Tilly, the receptionist at the adventurer's guild, had an ingenious idea of bringing volunteer adventurer parties to the imperial city and act as deputies to keep the peace. They were more than capable of handling the odd thief or murderer, with a combined raid effort already completed to take down a crime lord hiding in the deeper part of the sewers. Dina and her team were proving to be fairly effective at handling minor crime without issue, knowing quite well how to deal with urban combat. Most silver ranked parties acted as extensions for the heavily stressed officers trying to keep control of every district until more could be trained, with iron and copper providing garrison duties. Brand new adventurers were also in need just to scout out anywhere demons might have scurried off to, with their abilities allowing warped spawn points to crop up in forests. They couldn't bring in more demons, as the artifact was destroyed, though it did allow other monsters to somehow appear at random on rare occasions that didn't share the same views as ones born and bred.

While trolls and demi-humans could be found as an example, not all were hostile. These oddly twisted versions were just mindless, through and through. They reminded the dev of trash mobs in Yggdrasil, with basic AI to just attack without any thought for their own wellbeing once they saw a target to beat on. There was no rhyme or reason, they all seemed bent on a kill or be killed mentality compared to their regular cousins, with food not even being a factor in their minds. There was no aggro tether either, the monsters just roamed until they found something to fight or group up with to cause further damage.

It would at least keep the adventurers busy and well paid, at least until the science division figured out how to disperse every spawn point and demon that could create them that would crop up. They were getting close to understanding the concept, soon to open up jobs for the adventurer's guild in the future to hunt and destroy those locations along with the automaton military. The only advantage so far was that each spawner had to be away from sunshine, eventually disintegrating for some reason by getting hit by the rays bombarding the area. This meant dense forests, underground lairs and underwater were the best locations to search.

"Make an example? Oy, I have bigger things to deal with right now. Remember the Church of Golden Faith? Yeah, them." She was referring to the religion that was propped up by the Artinian government and make-believe gods that simply did not exist. The entire faith was built on castes and titles, the rich being major benefactors while the poor could not partake in most of the benefits such as purification or healing in the temples, though there were housecalls. They preached about how a man should act according to their beliefs in accepting their place in society, had a warped view to stop anyone in pursuing technological advances that weren't approved by the king or was considered a transgression to their fake gods. Selene already had to intervene twice just to get them to back off into their temples, to leave the streets alone and not preach in a traveler's face; both times they would not let the people go, almost forcing them to convert.

What she had found out now was that it was all to keep the peace, to make sure no one became a threat inside the kingdom to the king and keep everyone suppressed, lest they somehow rise up and kill their monarch. Now that their ruler was replaced, they transferred their oaths to the empress, which pissed her off immensely. They also were in control of the crude banking system, diverting funds wherever it was needed for the rich to pay for whatever they needed, with the common man even holding small accounts. The whole process was tilted in the noble's favor with better interest, but it was at least a way to travel without carrying all of their life's savings for bandits to take. Getting them removed for the system would require patience and time, forcing them to either dissolve or integrate into real religions with real gods… hopefully not believing she was one of them.

"I remember hearing about that. A man had just finished inventing the beginnings of a hot air balloon, still hidden in his cellar. We investigated to make sure it was safe and wouldn't harm the populace if it ever fell down given the materials were crude. While it looks like an interesting Passarola, it shows the innovative capability of your subjects now that they are free of the tyranny behind you."

"Yeah, guess what? Those zealots considered his invention an affront to the gods, believing trying to reach them would bring down their wrath. They burned his house down. The inventor barely managed to escape with his daughter, his wife was injured in the evacuation of the city block fire that broke out. The fire department was not happy with their first real action in that district. At least they proved their mettle, cutting their teeth with the whole event."

"Yes, I believe we're still investigating who started that. Without a fully staffed police force readily available, our security will have to work on maintaining the peace in that province behind the adventurers. I believe you were hoping to keep our troops as far from municipalities as possible to not interfere with the day to day operations."

"I'm worried the Church of the Clockwork Empress is going to get into a violent argument with them" she replied as her modifications to some of the words in one law involving tariffs and sea shipping were completed then sent for printing. While administrative automatons could do most of the work typing, she needed to review alterations for Donovan to show personally in different provinces via magical powerpoint presentations, try to make sure what he provided would keep them listening instead of zoning out. "Interestingly, these zealots that follow whatever form of me they've created are pretty easy going when it comes to Elesia or Gigsen, even Xaxara. They just really don't like the only religion that does very little for the people… fancy that."

"Did they get into a scuffle already? That was quick. I thought your followers weren't going to fight in your name."

"They said they would not take up arms to fight in my wars, I'm pretty sure assassination is still fair game in their eyes. Also, what if they contract someone else to do the work for them? I haven't quite read their playbook just yet." Selene sighed in frustration and continued, "I'm not exactly angry at them if they are trying to pick a fight with those assholes who still want to suppress everyone else's beliefs with their heavy-handedness, I'm just worried they'll go back on their oaths in not starting an internal crusade in my name. Add on the fact there could be a religious war inside my borders between what amounts to two large gangs and the streets become more dangerous for police to patrol, let alone the citizens."

"You know that the ones who burnt the inventor's home down are outliers, right? That's not all of them."

"Oh, I know that, same as the doofus who tried to kidnap me with his dumb idea of breaking into the castle. I also know that most of the Church of the Golden Path has in fact provided some donations for the impoverished at times with homeless shelters and ration lines. The problem is, they want you to pray, give money, then they save your filthy soul. You can't verify they saved your soul after. I wonder if this is because there is no clear magic to detect that, just good and evil… anyways, that's their entire reason for existing. At least Elesia's Chosen and Gigsen's Merchants are doing better now…" Will let out a short laugh.

"Have you entered the dungeon just yet in the second palace you now have?"

"No, not yet. I haven't decided how I want to go in, angry and violent or quiet and interrogating. The background history I have on her in tomes doesn't exactly paint an evil picture of her either. I know she's the goddess of lust, sorcery, and corruption, but that's it. While the last one is obviously worrying, it doesn't tell me whether she acts the part. Plus, I'm… kind of really busy, and I heard she doesn't really need to eat to survive on our plane, it's more of a thing to do to just enjoy food. I've only gone back once to speak with Duncan about his fear of me destroying the palace with all the new construction going on, knocking out walls and the like. She can hang… oh fuck it, that's just a bad pun…" Will hung his head and shook it slowly in agreement.

"It's not as if she can do anything to stop you. Those chains keep her power sealed away. Are you waiting for your Artifact quality tier to finish?" he asked.

"It's the only tier I know for sure that had verified feats built in that allowed god slaying as standard. Legendary can do it too, at least due to the original design, it just broke the weapon and had to have a special bonus effect, a one-shot item as it were. I'd like to be prepared if she somehow gets loose. Also, her power isn't completely sealed; the mad king got her to perform certain rituals for him while she is down there. It's possible control is kept by the chains, only opened up like a circuit."

"Preparing for a potential battle with a god might be the best plan… if somehow the chains aren't working the way they are supposed to. Given she hasn't broken out of the dungeon just yet, it appears to point to them being in full working order" he replied as the automaton crossed his legs and clasped his hands together at the knee, rubbing an etched goatee in his metal chin. "Hmm, on a different subject, have you scheduled the meeting with the Kohar Confederacy?"

"Tomorrow morning at 0800, they're currently traveling to the meeting point considered neutral ground. We're both supposed to go with only a light escort." Will raised an eyebrow.

"Do you believe they'll abide by the rules?"

"I have no idea what I believe for them. The fact they actually want to talk in the first place means they don't want to pick a fight with someone who took over Artinia and fought back against demons that could have wiped them out easily. Despite being leagues above their capability, we're showing that we want to try and negotiate instead of taking up arms to conquer their lands. Hopefully, that'll make them show some respect." The dev quickly swapped to another document that Donovan had the opportunity to look through. He was showing a surprising aptitude for computers and word processing along with his wife.

Analysis of the rest of her subjects told her that most wouldn't be able to understand even the concept of the magical boxes that respond to button inputs for the time being; the fact that most didn't know what electricity was that powered new technology, proved they weren't ready just yet for the next steps. Time would need to be given for them to understand the math and science to reach that level, or the next era would be rife with disappointment, getting them into Colonial Era with the capability to make chronometers and basic machinery. That was still an uncertain upgrade at the moment, ebbing and flowing back and forth between six months to two years. It was proven already with older generations who refused to learn how to use a computer back on Earth; if they had difficulty with understanding what to do, they'd give up and refuse to budge on learning anything else, requesting others to do the work for them.

"And after?" he asked.

"I think I have a full week ahead of me, let alone a full month. After negotiations, head southeast to Tal Salunbal to meet the Sultan and check to see how Prince Tariq fairs. Intel suggests his father will be very open to talks to create new trade routes, open borders and the like. He's grateful for us taking care of his son. It should make it easy to get an embassy there as well. Afterward, deal with sponsorships, invest in start-up companies to make it, so we don't have to intervene as much in the economy, and hopefully talk with the Seong Neow Republic."

"Your first embassy, first two in fact; this should be interesting. No need to keep conquering everything; making friends and allies may be the best choice," he commented.

"Let's hope so. At least having allies outside the empire will provide a second layer of conscience to help me decide on something, as long as they are willing to act with honor and not backstab us. By the way, it's only one, as the Kohar Confederacy doesn't want an embassy, they don't want to give up the land for it. We'll see with the Seong Neow Republic, but I don't want to keep my hopes up."

"Do they get an embassy in the empire?"

"Nope. It goes both ways this time or not at all." Selene took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, the brightness of the computer screen auto-dimming to protect from too much blue light aimed at her eyes until the protective equipment was worn again. "Honestly, the whole playing nice with others bit is taking more effort than just forcing them to integrate into my borders. Allies are nice to have, I'm just not looking forward to all the political intrigue that comes with it. Most Earth countries had to play nice in some capacity due to being so interconnected before I was whisked away here, with all the backroom dealings just to keep relations high enough to do business with their neighbors, open factories, sell product. The economy stumbles and falters without external support back then."

"The advantage you have is that economically, we don't have to be connected to anyone. The treasury is filled to the brim with no need to pay the troops, and taxes from each region of the empire provide a secondary supply to build and maintain new projects. Resources are in abundance with low damage to the environment; militarily, there's no need to rely on others to protect our borders, and internal security keeps everything tracked with well-paid police and fire. Judges can't be bought off, with honestly no need for lawyers when they can cast **[Truth From Lies]**. The only reason the officers can't do that is… well…"

"Still stuck in tier magic, you're right. Continuing on and forcing the rest of the continent to abide by my rule is probably the best choice that doesn't bring drama, but it's also a path that will lead my conscience to pack its bags and leave." Will chuckled at her saying that.

"So, why don't you?" the empress exhaled loudly and leaned back in her chair.

"I guess I'm still trying to play nice with the international community that hasn't even met us yet, old habits of working with others for a better future, team effort and all. I've been here for, what, six months? I still haven't gotten used to us being the government really, of being able to do what I can do and being the sole dealer of punishment, well… one of the dealers in my empire anyways. Making laws, telling people what they can and can't do; I don't have to make backroom deals, don't need funding or the rich to support me with their votes or self-interest; companies can't try and corrupt the system for manufacturing plants in some distant land. And yet, I still feel the need to talk before I think of pulling a trigger for a gun hidden under the table."

"Wanting diplomacy shows a healthy conscience. You're not always thinking of just taking what others have for yourself, despite having the ability to do so. I wonder if players from Yggdrasil have decided otherwise, now that they aren't restricted to the laws of Earth telling them what was right and wrong. They could make their own laws, kill or save whoever they desire with enough power at their fingertips. It truly shows what kind of personality they have, bar any restrictions to their person, such as, say… being undead or a mental disorder."

"Yeah, I'd have to agree, excluding the fact that not every player might be maximum level when they got here. The other problem with what I'm doing is, being the de facto superpower in the west of the northern hemisphere means everybody and their uncle is going to want to chat eventually once they find out we exist. They'll want to bend my ear with crappy politics that shouldn't involve us, just to hopefully have my empire meddle with another nation's affairs. I'm not looking forward to this."

"You're bringing an ambassador with you, correct?"

"Oh, definitely. I'm hoping to not have to speak too much after introductions, though that could change pretty quick. Grey gave me a bit of a rundown on how the Minotaur's internal politics work, their posturing around each other. It's a council, with no one voice speaking for all of their tribes. Tal Salunbal has to deal with a Sultan and his sons, followed by governors or viziers. I see no one head with one voice to choose how to negotiate with us when it comes to the Kohar Confederacy. That's going to make getting some agreements settled on very difficult." Will dropped his leg and leaned forward.

"You're worried some of them are going to be stupid and spit at your offer for peace between the empire and their territories."

"Which will cause problems with the others who don't want to start anything and are all too willing to negotiate. Getting into a skirmish before I even have all the details of who is who might cause…"

"Collateral damage, weakening our reputation in their eyes. I see."

"You can thank Gala for explaining that. At least between Grey and her, I have a firm grasp on how to start. Previous information suggests bringing a gift of multiple raw materials in a leather case, a sign of respect. Nothing fancy, just some clean earth, water, a glass bottle empty to signify air, some charcoal to signify fire, and maybe something a little glittery. Grey found a fairly fat tome that held quite a few traditions inside of it through some unorthodox bookstore in Garrington surprisingly."

"You aren't giving them glass beads, are you?" Will questioned coyly.

"Please, no trinkets. Apparently, it's already considered an insult if I did it anyways, alcohol as well. I'm bringing a well-built hammer, Elite quality tier. Should be a symbol of our craftsmanship and building a new future."

"No sickle?" he asked her, his mouth somehow managing a warped catty grin due to the metal. She cocked her head a little and looked at him with a half-lidded gaze.

 _I swear, if he plays the Russian National Anthem, I'm going to dismantle him…_

"I'm just joking," he answered the question she was about to ask, putting his hands up in surrender with an even bigger grin.

"Har har." There was a knock on the door to the office as both of them looked away. "Come in." Hrist and Brynhildr both walked in slowly, closing the entrance to the room softly just as Will whistled the first few tunes of the song. She glared at him fiercely for a moment before turning her attention to the two women. "Hey, how's it going?"

"We're doing well. We've meant to tell you something for the past two days. Skuld may have found through some old texts brought by a new professor… another temple," Bryn explained. Selene and her Chief of Staff both looked at each other and blinked.

"Another temple? As in a proving ground?"

"No, this is a much more specialized one. Mortals were not allowed beyond the seers to Odin. Supposedly, it's still in good shape… well, I mean, at least it hasn't collapsed with no maintenance."

"Huh, maybe we should take a look, see what's over there," the dev said as she gave a facial shrug and nodded.

"We are the only ones that can enter," Hrist replied sternly. Everyone looked at her in surprise, seemingly jumping quickly to amend how she spoke. "I am sorry, Selene. I meant that as… there are protective wards that restrict access to the temple to all but us and the gods."

"Last time I checked I can destroy a fortress with my mind, well ones that aren't specially enhanced with steampunk anyways. You're saying magical two-foot thick walls are going to be a problem with special traps?" the empress responded with a raised eyebrow. The battle maiden looked a little embarrassed, not knowing what to say to her.

"She meant it as a safety issue for what might lay inside. We'd rather not damage what could be found. Breaking the wards also would destroy anything valuable we can bring back, a protective measure to stop looters that somehow managed to bypass them if no one was around. If you came, all of that knowledge would be flung to the void" her sister interjected.

"Ah, I see. So… you're planning to go on a trip?" Selene asked. Hrist seemed to be fidgeting, unsure how to continue talking. The thought of leaving the empire for some time was causing quite a bit of apprehensiveness to build up. The last thing she wanted was to be away from the empress now. There was so much to be done in the Clockwork Empire, and she needed as much help as she could get.

"It will take a week or so, Skuld will be coming as well. Professor Falksworthy will be supervising the academy until we are back."

"Hmm… well, alright. What do you expect to find there? Will you need extra transport to bring any of it back?" The blonde shield maiden pulled a copied piece of paper from a small satchel at her hip, then placed it on the desk.

"We're… uncertain just yet. I'd rather not say, only to come back with just lost books with old history in them. What we hope to bring might be legendary equipment crafted for our use, maybe raw materials. If that is possible… we might be able to get something for your scientists to learn about, mayhap create more of?"

"Last time I checked, neither of you have taught me how to make any of that special star metal that your old gear used to have. Would any of this being brought back have some of that?" Both Valkyrja looked embarrassed and blushed. They shared a look between each other.

"We're… we don't exactly…" Hrist seemed to be playing with her pointer fingers, pushing them together and blushing profusely.

"We know part of the recipe, not… not all of it. There was a very secretive measurement system for crafting our star steel. While we know the ingredients… none of my sisters were blacksmiths. Raising a hammer meant bringing it down on an enemy's skull or cracking armor, not crafting it" Brynhildr finished.

"Ah. Anyways, I take it you want permission to leave on this… what is it, a road trip? How far away is the temple?"

"On the islands to the southeast, what we've heard you call… 'New Zealand'?" Hrist replied.

"Oh, ok. So not a road trip. Fine, that's not that far. We've only been calling it that because we don't yet know the name by the way."

"We will be gone for a week, maybe two? With the demonic invasion over, and well, all of the traveling you'll have to be doing in improving relations with our new neighbors to the south and east, sitting around and being useless to the empire—"

"Both of you are far from useless, and vacations are a thing you know. I mean, I don't know if I can have one anymore with my title and all, but… yeah, sitting around like a bump on a log is doable if you need time to relax."

"We don't need a vacation. We really want to do this," Brynhildr replied, a slight frown on her face. The dev put her hands up in surrender and turned back to a datapad next to her computer, circling some words with a stylus for her cabinet to read through and help with updating into a clearer structure.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just don't really know with you three and when you need time off. Yes, permission granted. Let me know if any trouble arises. Send a list for supplies needed to Jeeves, we can have a set drop off zone every week, a care package… or, maybe just take 2nd Air Fleet?" the dev said, putting her hands up in defense.

"We'd… we'd like to fly there, personally, on our Pegasus" Hrist told her.

"Oh, I see."

"It's to make sure nothing there can possibly harm the fleet. We… might need a boat though."

"That I can do. Head to the Clockwork Shipyard, I'll have one set up for you." The Valkyrja both nodded in satisfaction.

"Selene, thank you. We hope to bring something back that might be well worth the time invested" Bryn told her with a warm smile.

"It's a temple from long ago, I'd think just new historical evidence would make the trip break even. It would be nice to read a few things from those days, just like it's interesting when the Crowling sisters find something in the dragon eyrie. Don't feel as if coming back empty-handed will be a failure, alright?" As they both turned around and slowly opened the doors, the empress spoke once again. "Stay safe, Skuld too. If you change your mind, I'm only a call away." Hrist glanced over her shoulder at the auburn-haired woman that had taken them in a few months back, gazing at her face.

"We will return triumphant" the battle maiden replied, steeling herself for the adventure ahead of them. The door closed, with both ladies heading downstairs and out towards the stables.

"You really want to find a way to make her immortal, don't you?" the blonde Valkyrja asked coyly once the doors swung wide to the heated building, the snow crunching under her boots then stopping once inside.

"I do. Don't you wish to find an answer to the question we've all had? Whether there might be an omen or prophecy that plays a part here? Maybe… maybe Odin might still be among us, somewhere" her sister replied as they reached Asterion and Delgi, brushing them down and strapping the saddles onto their backs once the blankets were removed.

"He's dead, Hrist. The gods… they are gone. The only gods that now exist in this world are those that came after, those that are young and heavy with faults."

"And yet his words may still echo there, along with any knowledge left behind by the Fates. We cannot allow that to just sit idly by when we can use it for our benefit, for her benefit."

"We'll see. If there's nothing of interest, at least we tried."

Once prepared, they wrote up a list of their supplies needed for the trip that Jeeves quickly got collected with help from auto maids, sending the requirements to the shipyard after. After making sure everything was prepared along with a few personal items taken from their bedrooms, including a plushy hidden in Hrist's backpack, Skuld arrived to help get their satchels filled with entertainment items to keep them occupied for the trip, including some recordings of plays to watch and music. "Are we ready?" she asked.

"We are. How is the academy doing?" Hrist questioned her sister.

"Antoine is holding the fort as well as can be, classes are in recess until the next year so he shouldn't have a problem. The students have some winter homework to do while away, though not enough to stop them from enjoying the celebrations of Artinia becoming a bad dream, replaced with a new empire looking out for them. They get to spend time with their families with a short semester and winter festivities."

Brynhildr shouldered her backpack and climbed onto her flying mount. "Good to hear, sister. Now… let's head to the shipyard." As they got saddled up, Hrist looked up at the windows of the castle one last time. They'd be back soon, though it felt like the time away would be an eternity for her. "Hrist, keep up, we'll barely have enough time with the two weeks I suggested just to review the first two storage archives, let alone the rest of the temple, if some of it hasn't collapsed that is."

"It's not like she won't let us extend the stay if we find something useful. There isn't a rush Bryn" Skuld interjected.

"Coming." The three Pegasus lifted off and flew through a calm yet cold sky.

Selene let go of the curtains at her window in the office and slowly walked towards the door. "Do you believe they'll find anything?" Will asked.

"You never know. At least it's an interesting opportunity to find out what happened before Ragnarok." As she was about to head out of the room, her Chief of Staff spoke up.

"You should send a response to Duncan on when to schedule the ceremony" She rolled her eyes.

"He's not going to let up on that, is he? You'd think that man would be all too happy to be left to his own devices in the city until we got all the corruption cleared, the infrastructure and trade back up and running. I wouldn't be surprised if he slept in the master bedroom in Aureos or snuck a chance to roll in the treasury. It's not as if he'll steal any of it, given his alignment."

"He'll need backup to keep the major houses in line, given his propensity to be cowed by the upper echelons. Maybe throw a ball to let them enjoy your presence?"

"I'm a little busy trying to get the remainder of Artinia fully integrated, and they did see me head through the entirety of the city until I reached the palace. Juliet is about to flip out on the nobles who seem to think her teams will renovate their homes for free or start becoming personal workers bequeathed to them by me; I swear, a little reconstruction for the infrastructure and they suddenly think my automatons are slave labor. I'd like to make sure the Kohar Confederacy is going to have at worst only neutral relations with the empire first… I hope it's at least neutral relations..."

"You believe they'll continue with their assault against Caerel?"

"I believe they want their ancestral land back. It's not like there's an army ready to come to save the day if they head towards that city."

"Which doesn't belong to us."

"Exactly. I want to make sure they don't continue on with another idea worming its way into their minds." Will raised both eyebrows.

"So how are you going to negotiate with them if we don't have ownership of what they want?" Selene looked up at the ceiling to the hallway she was about to enter; she placed her hands on her hips in the process.

"By promising not to interfere." The automaton slowly stood up and made a gesture of adjusting the metal suit he had built into his body, checking his tie then following her out. "Have a notice sent to Duncan to hold off from the ceremony plans or whatever this is until a week from now" The dev exhaled in frustration and stopped, looking up at her Chief of Staff. "Once the Valkyrja come home, then we'll throw a ball if that's what sounds like the best course of action. I'm pretty sure that was already hinted at by Liyana in Eld Horn. Probably collect the mayors and some friends to join us; I want my entire cabinet there as well. Plenty of faces that are on my side should throw them off."

"Will you hold it at the Clockwork Castle or the Aureos Palace?"

"Considering balls tend to have people get drunk and steal silverware, break china and damage furniture, probably also rut around in bedrooms they shouldn't, and given that the royal home hasn't been refurnished yet… probably the Aureos Palace. We can replace most of that after the party bash."

"One last thing… about the Seong Neow Republic…" She turned away and looked down past the rail of the hallway that overlooked further into the rest of the Clockwork Palace. Her eyes watched Jeeves and Adesha moving new carpeting out of storage to rotate to the front doors, given there was foot traffic that tramped snow back and forth. Advanced technology kept the original rugs clean for only so long before they needed to be sterilized.

"I take it they're unhappy with the spanking Bryn gave their army?" she asked quietly. Another battle maid, or as it stood, a butler, with blonde hair held in a split ponytail hanging down his back with two golden clips at the tips and a flashy bow at the back of his head came to help roll out the replacement mats for Jeeves. Cameron was his name, and he was physically quite handsome with a square jaw and rugged looks. He had a short beard and an almost constant calm smile on his mouth to go with it. Unlike the maids, he was designed with magic in mind, a triple mana generator installed internally.

"I wouldn't say that, though Grey has informed me that they felt some shame in being beaten by one woman."

"One _Valkyrja_ , not just any woman. She did her best to not cause casualties. They should have expected her to be the victor given she was standing alone against ten thousand. I'm pretty sure the ornithopter above registered most of them lower than level 15 to boot. They might as well have been target dummies for her."

"Oh, she did well; the issue is that their government seemed to have taken the defeat as a strike against their pride. Apparently, Bushido is alive and well, which wasn't that great for the army they sent getting throttled and not slain to the last man." Selene looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and a half-open quizzical smile.

"They technically invaded Artinia, got beaten back, left to limp back alive to lick their wounds, and now they are annoyed about that? Is this going to affect our planned trip there to attempt negotiations? I have a feeling they won't want to deal with us after all this."

"On the contrary, more than likely they'll want to recoup some of that loss with attempts to prove they are superior. The problem is, they are isolationists. Remember, each nation in this world isn't the same as Earth; there are similarities, but there are also quite a few differences ma'am. We can only suggest keeping an open mind."

"Ah, yes, I read up on that and worry we won't get very far with them. Merchants don't always follow those protocols as well, right? They secretly sneak out of their borders to find things to buy and sell?"

"Trying to stop a salesman from hocking his wares in another country is tricky at best, at least without real-time surveillance. If we cannot come to an agreement with them, will we close off our borders to them?" Will asked her.

"I'm not sure yet. Let's see what they can bring to the table. Sometimes the government isn't exactly the voice of the people like we see with Silvinholm and the towns that jumped at the chance to join up. Different views, different opinions from the bottom to the top."

 _ **Morning, 21st, December**_

"This better be worth bringing all of us here" a Minotaur by the name of Wrox grumbled out as he crossed his huge arms over his black-furred chest. The dev sat in a heated circular tent with a large table in front of her, multiple chairs placed throughout the room as well as large cushions on the floor. Multiple electric lanterns were strung up on the ceiling to light the area, along with metal trays placed with intricately carved porcelain cups. An assortment of drinks were provided, though the food was left sparse due to not quite knowing the diet of the creatures before the woman, worried that they'd take offense to some ingredients. A light brunch was going to be offered at the halfway point for all of them to discuss other interests outside of the main reasons for being there.

"I would say the same, given you brought more guards than was requested." The empress surveyed the large group before her as she met eyes with each leader, their escorts standing in staggered positions behind them. Most of the people she saw were anywhere from nine feet to twelve in height, built with muscle in mind, even the females. Wrox was an exception, reaching almost twenty feet, with a bulky form of rock hard muscle and armor.

"Your kind has been known to backstab at the earliest opportunity" another leader, Kolbron, said with a frown. There were five in total, with the previous being the chief of the Sharp Hooves Tribe. Each seemed to have a characteristic that embodied the name of their people, with Wrox being the war chief of the Black Hands Tribe and having black fur. The other three were Tolgax, leader of the White Tail Tribe; Polaw, leader of the Red Horns, and Vernal, the female leader of the Path Readers.

"You are antagonizing the human, both of you" Vernal interjected, putting her fluffy white-furred hand up, covered in beads and thin chains etched with runes. The Path Readers tended to have inscriptions etched into the keratin of their bodies, very similar to Mehndi, with flowing clothing that wrapped around their form and puffed long fur. Each member of the other tribes had distinct markings that were given upon joining. Despite being called a tribe, they were not stuck in the stone age or incapable of understanding middle age terminology, being roughly on par with the Gothic Period. Their initial government has just remained the same since inception, never changing. That concerned the empress slightly.

"I don't see the problem with that," Wrox replied, frowning at the empress sitting on the opposite side of the table. Selene looked at her ambassador and whispered to the android, nothing discernable being heard by the Minotaur chiefs as another conversation was being held in a com channel. The dev nodded in agreement then looked back at the gathering before her. Gala and Grey had created a doublespeak system to be used during open discussions with anyone who could listen in on them, and it worked very well to throw off any eavesdroppers with randomized words. Selene just read off a list as if it was a teleprompter in her Hud while having a real conversation with her subordinates.

"You should, given you broke the first rule that I adhered to. Four guards per, I see at least ten for each of you. Thankfully, I brought a large enough tent for this. If you're going to start with casting your own requirements to the wind, I should warn you, I can throw niceties to the wayside and bring in my fleet. I'm doing my best to be honorable here." Wrox was about to start up with a challenge, but Polaw shook his head at the warrior, his escort having the same raid captain from Caerel that had spoken to Hrist.

"I have seen with my own eyes the ability to destroy with impunity from their soldiers. You would not win; you wouldn't even last a few seconds," Yunor said behind his chieftain, his horn still chipped from the stone thrown at him. He seemed to have a new earring added to his left ear, potentially a sign of surviving another attempt against the city-state.

The tent became silent as they all just looked at each other. The ambassador stood up and greeted each of them. "Well then, let's begin. We welcome you all to this first official meeting for all of us. I know this feels awkward, given the past history you have with humans, though let's try and focus on why we are here and see reason; we'd like for a neutral stance to be held between our people, preferably better than that if we can try. There's no need for ill intent meant for either side now that Artinia is gone. You are not to attempt any hostile action towards the Clockwork Empire, and in exchange, we will leave the Kohar Confederacy alone." Wrox huffed.

"You expect us to believe that? Your kind took our ancestral lands! Our backs are against the wall here, what with you—"

"Enough! Wrox, calm yourself!" Tolgax, the elder chieftain of the White Tail Tribe, snapped. "These are not the same who have held their city, built upon our destroyed homes."

"They are all the same, every last one of them," the leader of the Black Hand Tribe growled out, teeth clenched. "Talking is futile between us. Let me remind you that I take orders from no one."

"Yet that's what we're doing right now, to see if some bridges can be mended somehow between us. We're not Artinia, their kingdom is dissolved now. Your borders are near ours, and while we'd like to be on more friendly terms, we'll settle for you leaving us alone, and we can do the same by staying out of your business" the ambassador told them, trying to offer a warm smile to disarm them.

"We cannot do that while you control the lands you call Caerel" Kolbron replied as he sat on his cushion cross-legged with his arms the same, his eyes closed as if focusing on carefully picking his words. The empress blinked at him.

"We don't control Caerel; apologies, but you are mistaken."

"You lie!" Wrox roared as he raised his hand up in a fist to slam down on the table. Vernal put her own hand up to grab at his wrist to stop him. The honor guard behind the dev readied their weapons.

"I'd strongly suggest you sit down and calm yourself, or my soldiers are going to consider you a threat given you just made a fist intent at hitting my table, maybe going further. Aggression will not be tolerated in here as that soon leads to direct confrontation every time. Settle down; I've been fairly open to communicate, but if you want a fight, on this neutral ground you decided on, we can bring that too. Your colleagues here seem to think otherwise of your little outbursts you seem to have difficulty containing." Wrox bared his teeth at her, his own guards coming up behind him.

"Wrox! Do not start something that brings the rest of us into a mess you created! We will not back you in this endeavor! Empress, do not believe we are sharing the same sentiments as he does right now," Polaw shouted at him, going into a coughing fit after. Yunor came up behind him with a small purse filled with herbs, handing it to his chieftain. "Thank you." The leader of the Black Hand turned his head to see the rest of them disinterested in doing anything to back his actions; they did not want to battle this woman. He and his warriors stood alone in a small team, the remainder of his kin not wanting anything to do with his attempt to get into a brand new war with a seemingly unstoppable army. It appeared that no one else had seen the losses she had accrued on that night.

"Polaw, chieftain of the White Tail Tribe is it?" Selene asked.

"It is, your majesty," he replied after stifling another cough, trying to show he had manners even with one of their own being unwilling and uncooperative.

"Are you sick?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"It will pass, just as any living creature has an illness throughout the years, it will come and go as my body adapts."

 **[[Ma'am, their magic when it comes to healing is a bit sparse; perhaps showing an interest in his well being might be beneficial to our negotiations?]]** the ambassador transmitted to her Hud, watching with keen interest the actions and behaviors of those who they were speaking to. The empress focused on casting low tier **[Cleanse Disease]** on the chieftain followed by a **[Lesser Heal]** , causing the middle-aged Minotaur to breathe a sigh of relief. Removing the illness wouldn't get rid of the gunk that was in his throat or sinuses, so healing would remove it. The others whispered to each other, wondering what her goal was.

"Why would you do that for him?" Yunor asked as he looked at his leader.

"As I said, I aim to open negotiations with your people, not damage it further. If we didn't care about your well being, then my general would have simply killed your entire assault party back at Caerel City. I thought we were all supposed to be neutral here; I saw someone in need of assistance medically, I helped, as my conscience told me. Can we please stay on track here?" There was silence in the tent as the others looked around, nodding. "Very well. Now, I understand that Caerel is some sort of ancestral land taken from you? Can you explain a bit more about this?"

"Your people took what rightfully belongs to us! It has been in our hands for moons beyond moons!" Wrox snapped. Selene looked at her android who tracked the information that was made available from Grey's recon teams.

 **[[He means decades, though it may be his memory isn't that far. Evidence suggests they owned the land for two centuries before humans invaded and took that section away from them.]]** The dev looked back at them all with her head half-turned away, as if she was discussing in utter silence with her ambassador with just their eyes. It added to the appearance that her aide was not just an android.

"We know that, but can you provide a little more… clarification? How did they manage this?" the android asked. Wrox looked annoyed, then stormed back to his cushion and grumbled. None of the chieftains seemed to want to sit in the chairs provided. They might have believed the seats wouldn't contain their bulk.

"You believe your people to not be hardy enough to defeat us?" Yunor asked with an amused look on his face.

"Our people are quite a bit different from the humans you have been facing, Captain Yunor. I would hope, given what you've experienced and seen from our soldiers, that the city you were in housed anything but Clockworkians. Please do not lump those who live there in with every human, just as we are trying to not think of you as monsters." Wrox glared at her and looked as if he would start a fight right then and there. The thought of being called a monster enraged him to no end. The others looked in his direction and started to get frustrated with his actions. He was hot-blooded and always had a poor temper, even amongst his own kind. The dev noted that he might be a problem to the android, with her assistant jotting down helpful tips on a datapad.

"They caught us by surprise, with cunning and thievery, not strength and honor. Once they were entrenched, they quickly built up a castle before we could regroup, bringing in wizards for fast construction. While we are strong and capable of defeating a mere human on the open battlefield… behind your stone walls, it is… difficult… to push you back," Kolbron explained, scratching at his left hoof and showing off a glint of gold plated shoes on the bottom. The empress noticed that the outside of the shoe seemed to be flaking a little, showing an inner metal that wasn't as valuable.

"Even humans have some merits, Kolbron. They are not all conniving and poor in nature. We have met some that are in no way the same, adventurers from the west," Vernal tried to say, offering up some positives to understand another race, believing that they were not all bad. The tent fell silent once again as they waited for a response from the human woman sitting before them. She didn't know what to say until another chieftain started asking questions.

 _Adventurers that traveled this far out? Hmm, I guess they explore everywhere. Must have been dangerous._

"What is it you are truly after with us? If what Yunor has told me is true, you have no reason to even speak with us given the strength of your empire" Polaw questioned, rubbing his brown goatee that was growing longer by the day.

"Trade routes if possible for both our people and opening communication so we can deal with issues peacefully, stopping any hostilities between us. Anything beyond that can be completed at a later date with an open mind. Artinia is gone, so now we're on your borders instead. While yes, war could be something we could get into, We'd rather not unless there is no other choice. The Be'arkeln Grand Tribe was impossible to negotiate with, and now they're no longer on this continent. We can already see you are far more amiable to speak with than even some humans." The chieftains whispered amongst themselves, excluding the Black Hands. Even they had run-ins with the orcs and goblins in their territory, bypassing Artinia altogether for some raids. The green skins were not friendly to anyone, sometimes not even themselves.

"Trade would be helpful, as we would appreciate receiving the metal that the elves to the west can mold into tools. Perhaps you would allow us to travel through your lands to reach them?" Vernal asked.

"The elves are all now a part of our empire, so you'd be doing business with us regardless. If your merchants wish to trade, then we don't see a reason to try and stop them, provided they can agree to follow the laws." Wrox let out a bark of laughter.

"You see? They subjected them already! For all we know, they're waiting for the chance to do the same to us!" The dev sighed in annoyance. He was getting on her nerves. The ambassador noticed this, increasing her sensitivity level to try and assuage their fears.

"While yes, they started something they shouldn't have, the Queen of Eil'Ta Forest has agreed to have her people annexed into our borders. They have enjoyed the many new benefits we can provide. The dark elves are also a part of our empire as well, joining willingly. We have no intention of doing the same to you unless you wish to offer it of your own accord."

"A likely story" Wrox said while sneering at her.

"Shut up Wrox," Kolbron said in an exhale as he shook his head and drank some of the provided tea. While their grasp of healing magic was shaky at best, their druidic spells to detect poison and environmental hazards were almost equal to the 8th tier. While Selene was quite confused as to why they were deficient in some magical areas of expertise, it was a question that would need to be answered another day.

 _Maybe it isn't tier magic? Some hedge magic native to the area instead? Whatever, I'll see about getting a report on their capabilities later._

"Can you agree to not take any more of our land?" Polaw asked.

"We don't believe we've taken anything from you at all, quite the contrary."

"And what do you call Caerel, human?" Wrox snapped.

"You know, it shows the education level of a person when you repeat the same question worded differently over and over, hoping to somehow catch us off-guard and somehow blatantly lying. They aren't part of my empire. Move on and deal with it. I've had enough with your insults and sitting on the same thought process over and over" Selene snapped right back. The tent fell into hushed whispers as Polaw roared for everyone to calm down.

"You are all fools for listening to her. She says they are not her people, yet she's probably waiting for the right moment to take even more! We are pincered between two enemies here! Open your eyes!" Wrox shouted to the rest of the chieftains, pleading for them to agree. Initial intel reports suggested that the Black Hands owned quite a bit of the Caerel landscape before they lost it, controlling the harbor as it was.

 _He's going to be problematic. Could inhibit future relations with them. Hmm…_

"Enough!" Tolgax yelled at him, his old frame standing up, yet hunched over a little from his advancing age. Though he was old, the aging chieftain was willing to stand in front of the war chief before him, unafraid of the actions the warrior might take. "You continue to try and incite war between us while she is doing what she can to speak! That is more than any of them has ever done! They do not use words, they use swords!"

"Empress Selene, do you see us as people?" Yunor asked. Both Minotaur chieftains arguing turned and looked at her.

"I do. Most of you haven't tried to start anything without provocation, you're open to trading with others, you listen to someone else of another race speaking. While joining the empire is entirely up to you, and I won't push for that, I do offer it. Beyond that, all I want is international relations that don't involve trying to tear each other's throats out. Even if we can just agree to leave each other alone, that's better than war, isn't it?" Yunor nodded in agreement, his yellowish fur on his ears shifting a little with each movement as the earrings clinked slightly. "I'd like to ask a question now, what is this pincer you're speaking of?"

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Tom Salta – Bolivia Streets)**_

"Get him at the corner!" Dina shouted as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, chasing after a criminal with stolen magical items. A fireball was launched from a ring he was wearing as the thief rolled over a food cart, making multiple people drop items they were carrying in hopes of blocking the warrior charging after him.

"Get back here you blasted idiot!" Pops roared out as he pushed through the already parting crowd, leaping over sacks of grain and hay. He rolled and nearly lost his balance, chasing the man through the streets. A sleep arrow was fired from the ranger up above, with the robber dodging and throwing a knife in her direction; the arrow shattered and dissolved immediately as it hit the ground, an effect to allow it to be nonlethal. She nearly slipped on the tiles and dove for a chimney, returning fire right back. Dylan leapt for the man as he came out of an alley, a shallow cut in his leg barely allowing a slowing poison to start working its way through the thief's bloodstream.

"I knicked him!" the rogue said as he panted, continuing after just as Marv came barreling around the corner and skidding to a halt on one foot, both of them knocking into each other. "Damn it! Get off me!" he snapped as his magic casting teammate straightened his robe and helped him run after the now almost jogging criminal. Unfortunately, there was a second ring that cured him of the poison, allowing him to suddenly speed back up again. The crowd of people just trying to get out of the way was making it difficult to get anywhere close to the young man as some of the citizens actually ran across the street to get to supposed safety, needing to be pushed aside so they could continue.

Dina hopped down from the last roof at the corner of an intersection to the top of a fruit cart, rolled deftly and followed, and diving through an empty picture frame. The thief kept running, throwing another fireball due to the ring he was wearing. The civilians ducked for cover as he turned the corner and was nearly lost. The ranger focused hard, a special scout above keeping watch over the area and tracking him. Her new senses kicked in as she shot down an alleyway to cut him off, with Marv and Dylan still hot on his heels. Pops had a similar idea, coming in from the opposite side of another street, waiting for him to charge right at the old man.

The thief stopped in the middle, firing off a wall of flame with the help of the blasted magical ring, keeping both the rogue and wizard from moving forward. He then fired a flamethrower out towards Pops, blocking it with his shield, yet the heat was starting to get a bit much for the warrior. Dina shot an arrow from inside the alley, smashing the gem sitting on top of the ring. Her aim had progressively gotten better over the days she had met with Selene, then under the guise of Ilana. The thief spat at her and pulled a scroll from his bag, starting to cast from it. A ritual circle started to surround him, a shield building to keep them at bay as he smiled at her. Before he could finish the cast, a blinding flash of light dropped on the ground nearby, inhibiting the thief from going any further with the last few sentences. Once the spots disappeared from her eyesight, she noticed a group of priests nearby, shackles erupting from the ground and grappling at his arms to make him drop the unbound scroll.

"Ezra?" she whispered out as Pops charged forward and nabbed the man just smirking. The thief cackled as he took off his face mask.

"You haven't done anything! My parents will have me out of the dungeon by the end of the day!" he laughed out at the old man.

"Shut it scum! The city doesn't give in to shit sticks like you or your parents now!" the tank barked as he slugged the young man in the stomach. The thief continued to smile even while coughing from the hit, being dragged up to his feet and taken away. The adventurers were assisting the beleaguered police that were slowly filling in positions with good, hardworking officers. This was the best way to raise in rank now, beyond delving into the Underdark or answering calls for help against hidden monster encampments. Not everything was getting caught by the Clockwork Empire military, with quite a stir going on as to where most of them were now. Theories were cropping up of them getting ready along the borders of the Seong Neow Republic and the Kohar Confederacy, with a huge movement towards the entrances to the Underdark, though no one could corroborate that. Not a lot was released to the public about what the government was now doing, just that their lives were exceptionally better due to their actions.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Adrian Von Ziegler – At the Summertide Feast)**_

"Dina!" Ezra noticed the woman and waved, his team continuing on. She lightly jogged up to him, narrowly missing a cart going by, and gave the boy a hug as he smiled. His robes were a drastic improvement from what he had, no longer the simple white. There were small cloth pauldrons covering his shoulders, and a double amulet sitting around his neck.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as the ranger looked him over.

"We're here to offer assistance in a cleared temple now rebuilt. Supposedly the empress is giving it to us to share with the Church of the Clockwork Empress since the Church of the Golden Path doesn't want to put the funds in for renovations. Is it true? Is Ilana… is she really Empress Selene?" Dina looked at his team who stopped and stared at the woman. She had recently learned how to get in touch with animals, at least small ones in the surrounding land. Her pet was a hawk that kept oversight above them, making it fairly easy to keep track of crime by allowing her to see through the bird's eyes temporarily. While the hawk wasn't that great in a direct fight, she was a good distraction and could keep still in hard to reach areas so that they could plan out what to do. It flew down and landed on a leather patch on her shoulder.

"She… she really is. It was a surprise to us as well. Everything we see now is part of the Clockwork Empire, even the elves in the north and south are working alongside us."

"That's wonderful! Um, what… what are you doing here? I thought… I mean, I believed that all adventurers were still assisting in Silvinholm?" the priest questioned, bringing his finger up to his lip in confusion and looking away.

"Not all teams are staying. The adventurer's guild is expanding out a bit more, with better pay as well. You know, if your temple ever has difficulty drumming up donations, we could always use a priest again" Dina giggled out, with Dylan and Marv noticing the youngest son of the Rikters standing in front of her and waving at him.

"I… I'd love to… but, well, we're going to have our hands full for a little while in the temple. I've got to take care of my team, given I'm the leader now. I'm surprised I was given this opportunity honestly by the abbess. Maybe, maybe you can stop by later and visit? I'd like to hear about everything you guys… and ladies… have done since I've been gone" he laughed out, very interested in how they've been doing.

"We'll try. Um, it looks like your group needs you." Ezra turned his head to see one of his subordinates motioning for him to follow them. They were going to be quite busy trying to bring in new followers for a goddess that listened to them, along with the priests from the other religion around their ruler. It was going to build up faith for those who had no choice and could spend their money in the only religion of Aureos that was allowed before, only to gain nothing from it beyond poor quality health potions that cost far too much and expired usually. Even Gigsen was now going to be worshipped, although in a further away temple.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Um, can you please visit?" he begged. His face was blushing like a tomato as he shrunk a little. Pops had joked about him having a crush on her when they were with Selene before.

"I… fine…" She didn't know how to answer, still wanting to see her friend and talk a bit more.

"Dina! Dina!" a yell was heard in the distance. Tilly was at the far corner of another street, waving at her in hopes of getting her team to come in for another internal quest to fight crime. "Can't stop just yet! Another call for help from the station just reached us! They only have two officers in that district!"

"I guess we have more work ahead of us. We'll see you later." They both agreed as Ezra ran to catch up to the other priests, waving behind him as they headed off to a much better area of the city. As the adventurers headed towards the guild receptionist, an officer ran towards them and stopped, panting. Pops handed off the son of some noble family, still laughing and yelling out slurs thinking he'd be allowed out of jail the moment his parents bribed the captain. He didn't know that the police were now very well paid, with their families well taken care of and strict training. Their standards did not allow anyone that could bring down their fledgling reputation right now.

Before they got to Tilly, her golden titian curls swaying as she hopped a little waiting for them, another woman walked by with odd colored irises and gazed at her the entire time, not stopping once. Dina turned her head as the woman exited the street and headed down an alleyway. She had heard rumors of the empress having eyes and ears everywhere, minions of her own creation helping keep the peace and watching over everyone. Selene had to be a goddess, there was no other way she could do what she did so well. The rest of the gods could learn a thing or two about how to take care of their children.

"Ok, what's next?" the ranger asked.

"I'm glad you asked! First off, if you get this one done, I can guarantee an upgrade in your rank!" Tilly responded with a huge smile shooting a fist into the air.

"What?! Really?!" all of the team said in unison, grouping their heads together.

"Yup! You'll be raised to Gold Rank if you can finish this! There's only one catch… it's… it kind of involves a minor noble house, and it's time-sensitive. Nothing really scary, just needs to be done quickly and follow the laws." They all looked at each other.

"Sure. What do we have to do?" There was a group of Orichalcum adventurers nearby watching them and pointing once in a while, also tracking the son of the noble that was just caught. They were laughing and making odd gestures involving how the team had just barely nabbed the criminal. Once the quest was handed to Dina, they turned around to bump into the chest plate of two warriors.

"That was a pretty interesting chase you just had, little missy. You aren't too tired, are you?" one of them asked, a huge grin on his face as the braids in his brown beard shifted on both sides. His partner just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, their teammates in the back sitting on barrels.

"We handled it as best we could and got the job done. There's no problem honestly."

"Huh. They must be lowering their standards for gold rank then if they just hand it out to people like you after that show" the man laughed out, lifting his head up as if his amusement was aimed at the sky. Dina frowned at him, annoyed that they'd talk down to another party trying to keep the peace.

"It seems we'll have to handle the crime lords by ourselves these days, Nixon. There's so few higher ranks around that can really handle themselves, getting winded just from catching a young boy" his partner added in, their rank plates jingling a little as they hung from their armor.

"Both of you, why even waste your time talking to them? We need to go get paid by the noble houses for the arena we just singlehandedly closed down" the witch behind them giggled out, adjusting her dress a little to keep her chest covered as the cloth slipped slightly. There was an assassin and a priest nearby, both looking to try and avoid speaking. Not all of the Orichalcum team shared the same view.

"Why you little…" Marv grumbled out as Pops held him back with one arm outstretched. There was no sense in arguing with them in the middle of the street.

"Oh well. Maybe we'll see you around sweeping the alleys later, or saving a cat from a tree."

"Hey! You knock this off! Bashing on other adventurers while in the middle of a quest is strictly forbidden! It causes an increased likelihood that interference may become a factor, causing failure!" Tilly warned. The guild was set up more to keep the teams in check with guidelines and rules to control any confrontation, to make sure they were paid correctly for contracts completed, and as communication hubs and party-building locations. Having a higher rank pick on a lower one was a clear sign a fight could break out in the middle of the street, which could cause collateral damage that would need to be repaired and people healed. That would reflect on the guild's reputation, so they did whatever they could to contain the bullies. Those who did not agree to follow the rules were immediately considered bandits in Artinia, with small armies sent out to eliminate them due to their strength.

"Yeah yeah, good luck with your city cleaning duties! We'll uh, we'll head off and make some real money and won't disturb you anymore. Have fun being the maids at the precinct." Both warriors walked away and waved nonchalantly behind them. Tilly looked as if she was fuming, her hands clenched in fists and pushed outwards at her hips.

"Ooooooh, the local adventurers piss me off so much! Not only do we have to deal with the ones that are volunteering from Silvinholm, but also the teams that already live here! They have such a stuck up attitude!" she snapped, then looked at Dina. "Ah, sorry about that. Most of the ones that came with us to Aureos are different, just like you guys! Don't let it get to you. You all did a great job just now."

"Yeah. Well, even at a lower rank, I'm pretty sure we could have handled those bastards" Dylan grumbled out, with his wizard teammate agreeing.

"With the gear we have right now? Not likely. As much as I would have wanted to show them a thing or two, they have much better equipment that amplifies their strengths. Sorry to say, but we just need to take it and stay silent," Pops replied, his face in a grimace as his eyes closed. He hated saying that, admitting defeat before they even fought.

"We can't get better equipment when we're stuck paying the legal fees for working in Aureos, with part of our pay going to room and board! That's why we went to Silvinholm in the first place!" Marv snapped at him.

"You aren't paying for either now. Didn't you know? As long as you stay at the certified adventurer's inn near the guildhall, that's free as long as you are on a quest or recently completed one" Tilly informed them.

"When did that change?" Pops asked.

"Since the Clockwork Empire started reviewing taxes and withholdings in the past week. Costs have also been dropped for those who work with the police to deal with situations inside municipalities, to improve the chances of adventurers keeping their equipment maintained or upgraded to keep up with new ranks. There's even an offer to collect on some of the stolen property if no one comes to retrieve it, provided it isn't restricted for military only. Some of that is magical after all."

"Can we… can we be sponsored?" Dina asked. "I mean, it could quicken the pace…"

"Mmm, I don't know of any noble houses that are willing to do that around here. Most of the ones in Aureos are still a little shady with ulterior motives, or so the rumors say; I doubt you want to mingle with them too much" Tilly responded as she tapped her finger on her lower lip and thought for a moment.

"Maybe have the empress fund us? That would be an amazing dream" Dylan chuckled out, saying it as more of a joke than anything. They all looked at him. "What?"

"You think she'd actually do that? That's all it would be, a dream" Marv told him.

"Maybe. I don't know, it's… hmm…" Dina said, a plan forming in her mind. Up until now, they had never been allowed to be a part of a raid to break a crime ring, and there were numerous below the streets that had run everything from slave trade to exotic weapons dealing. While most of the corruption in Artinia had allowed it to flourish, only clamping down when it pushed into official business, the Clockwork Empire was tearing apart the criminal organizations trying to keep working under the radar. She hoped that the empress considered them at least somewhat like friends. "Whatever, that's a question for another day. Let's see about this quest."

"Good to hear. Now…" Tilly started as they gathered around, two copper teams walking by to go help with much smaller issues in the city, an iron team stopping a shoplifter.

 _ **Four Hours Later, Noon**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Peder B. Helland - Going Home)**_

"Shore up those lines! The ice is building up a little more than expected!" Erilyn shouted at her crew as they ran around on the deck, getting the ship latched down. They had a scuffle with the last pirate cove to the north, an iced-over island that didn't even have a name other than 'Hidey Hole.' There were barely any ships worth mentioning, though they were troubling the fishing trawlers for the past few days. Her fleet had a run-in with them, sending them packing quickly only to head straight into two clockwork corvettes ready to intercept. They were now all sunk, with the admiral ready to get some much-needed shut-eye.

"Is it true admiral? You're really leaving us?" one of her crew asked. She turned around, her chest bouncing a little from the poor support of her blouse and jacket. The men on deck always liked seeing that, though none ever tried to make advances on her.

"It's true. I've been learning little by little how to deal with the new designs the empress has for her fleets. I applied, the application was accepted. I'm going to need to go through a bit more training, but you'll see me on the high seas again sooner or later."

"That's a shame. We're all gonna miss your bounc… er… your bravery and presence when we have to fight against those scallywags again." She raised an eyebrow and shifted her stance, her hands on her hips while rocking a little and allowing her multi-colored hair to fall slightly to the left. It was getting a little longer than she wanted, expecting a hair cut in the next week or so.

"Yes… indeed. Well, I have to meet with someone, finish up here, will you?" She said, right before hopping off the side of the ship to a large waiting plank leading to the dock. Her calf-high boots made knocking noises as she headed through the city of Sweet Water, straight towards the mayor's estate. The guards at the gate let her in quickly, the butler opening the main door with Mia waiting just inside. The ex-princess ran to hug her, the admiral reciprocating the action. "Hey there, your highness."

"I'm not a princess anymore, you know that Eri." The buxom woman started to pet the teenager's head, a smile creeping on both of their faces.

"You're always going to be royalty to us." The smile on the mayor's face turned into a pout.

"But I'm not! I chose this. I'm happy here, the city is doing well after a few changes to the policies."

"Did you bring those changes up with the empress? She might not like you fiddling with laws. She seems to have a good idea of what to restrict."

"I didn't do anything with the laws, I changed some of the policies and procedures of how the citizens should go about business. Fewer checkpoints for trade, more random patrols to catch anyone who tries to open a black market. We have waivers to sign for those who wish to try and harvest the ocean farther than we can look out for them. The sea lanes are color-coded on the map to determine the risk to travel, with green and blue being well protected while orange and red informing we can't always defend ships that far out." Erilyn raised an eyebrow and pulled away, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, ok, just be careful about interfering with the security forces that occasionally arrive to check on the tunnels. Gilford has been trying to stop hidden magical item sales in there, which is making more and more boats become hubs for illegal transactions. I don't know what they hope to get, there's no one really to fight." Mia had a mischievous grin on her face and put her hands behind her back as she leaned forward a little, sticking her small chest out. She had a bit stronger personality now that she wasn't forced to hide anymore, to control a city with the counsel and overwatch of the empress. The admiral liked seeing her in this way, coming out of her sweet and innocent shell and growing a backbone little by little.

"I know why they're trying to collect all of these magical weapons and gear." The admiral seemed shocked that the young woman knew more about what was happening than they did, as both the police chief and herself were having difficulties getting intel or interrogating those who were captured. "There's an underground war happening between nobles that hasn't yet started."

"Wait, a war?! Oh, Mia, we have to warn the empress!"

"There's no real need if you think about it. They're trying to get rid of each other so that they can win her favor in a new future brought about by the empire. It technically helps the empress if they all try to kill each other."

"That's not the point! They could bring in outside help that could harm anyone caught in the middle!" Mia seemed to still be smirking at her with one eye closed, a finger pointed at Erilyn.

"Except that's not how nobles fight. I've seen how they try and handle each other just to have someone higher in title take notice. They don't want anything flashy. Did you notice all of the magical weapons found didn't cause large amounts of damage to the area? They want to backstab and assassinate, to poison and mind control others in hopes of keeping everything quiet. We won't see any commoners getting caught up in this because they don't want word getting out any of this is happening. It could damage their standing with the empress. If that comes to pass, then that house is most likely doomed. What they want is to have her listen to them no matter what, to alter laws. Somehow, I doubt she's willing to do that." Erilyn raised her eyebrows, then looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"So… she hasn't executed any of the nobles until they actually do something that could cause instability of the empire? That seems… foolish, too foolish for what she's already been doing. There's no madness in her method, everything has been well planned and orchestrated."

"Exactly. I heard that when they crawled out of their bunkers in Silvinholm, they were met with those special weapons her majesty's soldiers carry. They begged to meet with the king and beg for mercy, not knowing that Artinia was conquered already. Now, they're trying to recoup so many losses with their financial status and land ownership, they don't have time to scheme against anyone but each other just to climb the power ladder again. I guess they still have large enough funds to get back on their feet at least. It just simply isn't worth it for them to try and pick on the people of Silvinholm, Aureos, or try anything here. If they planned anything against the empress, she'd find out quite quickly given Gils has seen even minor disturbances that could affect stability to be neutralized by her security coming from their amazing forts."

The admiral crossed her arms under her bust, the blouse and jacket barely keeping her ample chest contained. "I see… yes, now that you mention it, her… what were they called… coast guard seemed acutely aware of any shipping of illegal goods before we were. The only time we dealt with them was when they used the boats in the harbor as a market itself. Hmm… I wonder if it is true… there's no way she's mortal if the empress knows about these events before it actually happens." The door opened again for Gilford to walk in, snow slowly falling outside as he brushed it off his shoulders and took his coat off for the butler to put away.

"Gil!" Mia rushed to hug him as he did the same. He looked exhausted; the police chief lived in his own home despite being in a relationship with the ex-princess. While it did raise a bit of concern for the citizens that they wouldn't always be looking out for the wellbeing of the people given that their priorities may always be to each other, they had proven already that their actions would always put the best interests of the city at the forefront for the most part. Though there was an option to have a commissioner above Gilford and it was suggested by the people, the empress herself decided not to have that position available, which settled the issue. Their population wasn't quite high enough to require one, among other factors.

"Sorry I'm late, we had to track down an illegal drug transport coach that was holding Scooze. I don't know why they're trying to get that stuff to Eld Horn, no one needs it anymore or cares." He pulled away after a quick kiss and gave Erilyn a much shorter hug before they headed into the dining room.

"There is still a market for it Gil, the empress didn't exactly make recreational drugs illegal, just the ones that can physically harm the body. Right now, Scooze is still being researched on all of its effects, whether it is 'medically damaging' or can somehow be beneficial. Until then, it's not allowed to be sold," the admiral replied as they sat down. The terminology they used was due to the increase in education level for the people in Sweet Water, having time to actually learn quite a few new things; even some subjects that were banned by Artinia were now available so that the citizens could understand how to make better choices.

"Then why are they so set on trying to get it out of the city? Also, where are they making it? My officers can't seem to find the body of water they're using in the cleaning process. It doesn't make any sense."

"You know, Gil, you aren't supposed to join your men out in the field. A police chief deals with the paperwork and keeping things orderly back at the precinct" the admiral coyly told him. He simply looked at her and blinked.

"This is me you're talking about."

"Right, what was I thinking? I take it your lieutenants aren't too happy with the arrangement?"

"This is why I asked Mia if they can get a little extra pay for their service. They also don't have to do a lot of physical exertion, which is a bonus."

"Maybe I should take that away if it means you'll be in more danger out there," the mayor commented, a small frown creeping onto her lips. He sighed as he tried to keep a smirk from showing, his mouth wiggling a little as he rolled his eyes.

"I'll be fine, Mia. Besides, anything that is too over our heads gets sent to the adventurer's guild for extra backup to arrive, and even then… if it gets out of control, that's when the Clockwork Security Force tends to show up." Erilyn picked up her fork and poked at the starter salad for lunch, moving a carrot slice away from a cherry tomato. Vegetables in winter were still a luxury given how magic added in nutrients back into the land, it didn't yet speed the whole process up or make the plants grow well in bad weather. New improvements in small farming allowed even gardens to be protected inside greenhouses, with a small bauble that eventually dissolved in the soil to speed the whole growth of the vegetables up. This was just one of the new creations that had started to filter out for the people to use in the empire, crafted with a fusion of basic runecraft and tier magic that shouldn't normally be allowed.

Apparently, as long as the ritual wasn't completed, runecraft could create the housing necessary for another spell to be used in the whole design, allowing warped versions to be experimented with. While the more complicated the spell used, the more unstable everything became; the process still allowed for minor tools to work well without issue. So far, a similar effect to **[Growth Spurt]** had been developed, something supposedly similar in effect to the empress's own magic, at least the lower quality tiers and first dimensions. There were swords made that could launch manacles hastily crafted from spare metal lying around, along with a gauntlet that could easily move water in a contained barrier to douse flames. Most believed their ruler had somehow contracted the dwarves to produce these unique items to be used by the people, though a rumor abounded that she already knew how to create their secretive mana infusing magic. No one knew the truth, however; the goddess wasn't very transparent with her actions and what her holy army was doing in the background.

"Yeah yeah, keep thinking they'll be there to save you when your butt gets in a bad spot. I'm not going to always be around to watch from offshore when you need a cannon shell fired by the way." The mayor looked forlorn as she averted her gaze down to the soup provided.

"Do you really have to leave?" she finally asked after a few moments of peace.

"Only for the training, then I'll be back. It's only a few months, the crews of our harbor defense will be fine."

"I just… I…"

"You'll miss me, I know. You still have Gil here. You know, you really do need to make nice with some of the wealthy in the city. Not all of them are nobles, and they do have the best interest for the city at heart; you might find a few that can become friends." Erilyn sipped from a glass of wine, not really caring that it was noon. A line she tended to use was "It's happy hour somewhere in the world, what's to stop me from drinking in the morning or midday if it's the night on the other side of the ocean?"

"I know…" Gilford reached under the table and grasped her hand, rubbing his thumb along the back of her fingers. She looked up at him as he tried to comfort the young woman. Just then, the butler arrived.

"Madam, this is most peculiar, but there is a group of men and women at the gate that would like entry. Supposedly they know you. There's a note as well in an envelope addressed to you." He handed the mail to the teenager, who promptly ripped open the top and pulled out the letter.

" _Don't hold them up, they've been anxious to see you again. A gift you could say, mostly for them. – S"_

"S? You mean… wait, the empress?!" Erilyn was shocked, then jumped up out of her chair and looked out a nearby window. "No way… it couldn't be… how is he alive?! The sword was… impossible!" she ran out of the room with Mia and Gil heading after her, right towards the foyer. The doors opened up to show… all of the guards from Silvinholm, including Commander Ralos.

"Are we interrupting anything?" he asked with a smile on his face, bowing carefully to Mia. The rest of his soldiers were right behind him, even the magician of the team.

"How are you still alive?" Erilyn questioned, wondering if this was some trick.

"I don't have the answer to that. One minute I was sure that was the end; the next I'm in a dark and foreboding place. Hands were grasping at my body, trying to tear it to pieces… then light. I had no understanding of time before I awoke in a bed, some… metal woman checking my eyes and blood. I was given a clean bill of health and… is it alright to come in? It's dreadfully cold out here." The mayor waved them all in, getting small hugs from each of them as they were all too happy to find out the princess had survived and was taken care of.

"You look… different, stronger now," Ralos stated, looking Mia up and down. "You, however…" his eyes landed on Erilyn.

"Admit it, you just missed these" the admiral replied, hopping a little to allow her assets to bounce. The commander brought his hand up to his eyes and shook his head slowly. They all continued to talk as the now much larger group headed back to the dining room. The mayor's office now had some new… old… colleagues to help keep the city of Sweet Water under control.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"No." That was the answer the empress gave the Kohar Confederacy chieftains sitting in front of her.

"Why?" Kolbron asked, annoyed, and unable to see her side of this.

"Because it's proprietary technology. No. No one does that. At best we can give weapons crafted by my subjects and loans to get your own orders of equipment created, paid back over time of course." Selene had her hand up to her eyes in a facepalm, dumbfounded at the fact that the Minotaurs kept trying to add in things they wanted in negotiations. One of them, Tolgax, requested some technology as recompense for her race's actions in taking their lands so long ago. The ambassador was doing her best to keep things running smoothly after the introductions and starting conversations.

"You cannot believe that we—"

"How are any of you this bad at negotiations? Seriously? We just hashed out trade routes for your people into my empire with us dealing with all the security, a neutrality agreement between our borders, no interference when you go to take Caerel back, _and_ I said we'd at least investigate this… this undead force to your eastern flank. Now, above everything, you want me to sell some of my technological advancements? No. You join for that or settle for swords and shields. I've reached my limit." Wrox seemed to growl, a whole speech ready in his mind to yell at her. Just as his mouth opened, she snapped. "Try and order me around, and you will find them to be your last words. I've so far given and given, hoping to keep a positive and understanding view of all of you, and a professional demeanor. Now, I'm getting annoyed here. You don't want the person who's trying to give you more than what you previously had to be annoyed. I've given an inch, and you are trying to take a mile."

"How can you not share what you have created? It could benefit all, even those across your borders. Knowledge should be shared. If we had what you have available, then there would be no need for you to investigate the undead force in the east. They could become a threat to all of us, including Tal Salunbal" Polaw said, confused as to why she didn't want to help everyone defend themselves. Selene shut her eyes tightly closed. No country in their right mind would sell or give away schematics or blueprints for what gave them an edge over anyone else; Earth's major powers only gave enough modernized weapons to hold the line against another common foe, and rarely if ever the bleeding edge tech. These chieftains simply didn't understand this concept, which made no sense to the dev. Assisting through supplies, helping a country get a decent government to rule over the population, advancing itself to new golden ages was all viable. Handing tech to a drastically inferior civilization was a great way of destabilizing everything, even causing them to get bold enough to pick a fight with everyone around them. The disparity between them was just too damned large.

 _This isn't like handing over MANPADS to a middle eastern society to protect against China or Russia; at least with those countries, they understood what electricity or a combustion engine was._

"Because it's mine. Period. My people get to have access to new stuff as civilization advances. You are not my people. If you want, you might be able to buy what my subjects are producing, but nothing that I have which is military-grade. Have your traders take a look, offer up contracts for surplus melee weapons from the blacksmith guild."

"Maybe we should just go in and take it…" Wrox grumbled out. The tent was dead silent as Vernal made an audible gasp. The empress slowly, and mechanically turned her head towards him and blinked, her face made of stone with her Hud giving a complete scan of him to send to a dossier. The other chieftains stared at him. He had potentially dashed all attempts at building relations between their people for the first time in centuries.

 _How is he so stupid?! Seriously! Now I know why he is named Wrox! Dumber than a box of Wrox! You don't threaten to steal modern weapons when you are wielding an axe!_

"You don't want to do that, Chieftain Wrox. You would be destroyed in an instant and dash the relations we just tried to build for the past four hours" Yunor interjected before the dev could say anything. Wrox simply huffed, eyeing her as if she didn't look like much of a threat. The honor guard, on the other hand, were what he had forgotten about, and hadn't even seen the rest of her army. Yunor had a very chilling tale to report back to Polaw, which was dispersed to the others over the past week. They were completely outmatched. The war chief thought otherwise. His bravado seemed to override his sense of reason, his judgment in how to deal with her.

"Try it, see what happens in response. Just for the record, you start something, you better be ready for us to end it… frighteningly quickly." Her eyes flitted from face to face away from the Black Hand ruler. "Anyone who joins him will learn very fast I have no qualms about obliterating enemies to my empire." With that, she stood up and straightened her dress suit and took a deep breath. "You have the papers in front of you, translated to the languages you need. Sign them or don't, they aren't changing anymore, I'm not here to hand out candy and say I'm sorry for the humans of Caerel taking what you used to own. I came here in good faith to convene with all of you, acquiesced to quite a few requests. This isn't one of them."

The dev walked towards the flaps and informed her ambassador she'd be outside. Selene waited a good half an hour, watching the snow falling and drinking a cup of coffee with a drone umbrella hovering over her. The cold didn't really have an effect beyond the snowflakes wetting her clothes; she just wanted to test the drone for use by VIPs visiting her empire. Oddly, her resistances didn't stop her skin from pruning or potentially getting a rash if it stayed wet for too long, more than likely an effect to allow her to bathe and get clean. Both her biomimetic barrier and shields allowed the falling snow to pass through due to a setting that could be quickly toggled as well as temporary willing her barrier to let the frozen water pass.

 _What, did they think I was just handing out free stuff? I'm not here to bend over and take it, apologize for the people who built Caerel City. I'm here to build up trade for the people who want to expand their horizons with cultural exchange, art, items, and job opportunities. My merchants will want to get their hands on minotaur produced wares just as much as they want to get their hands on mithril and other materials. Military is a fucking no-no, the U.S. pulled too much crap giving out weapons to insurgents, and that turned around and bit them in the ass more times than the history books were allowed to explain to students. This is a mess I don't want to make for myself in the future._

"Ma'am, sorry to bother you during the summit, but something big just happened on the other side of the globe," Grey reported.

"What did you find?" The director seemed to exhale on the other side, preparing to warn her.

"Twenty-five meteors were detected appearing from nowhere and heading in a diagonal line to smash into the northern border above Georgia in the middle east, from the edge of the Sea of Azov to the Caspian Sea. We have reason to believe they are magical in nature. On top of that, multiple fissures are being opened at the same points of contact."

 _A player. It has to be. Twenty-five though? That's a whole lot of mana. The whole thing is in a diagonal stretch. Multiple players? Maybe minions with that spell tier?_

"They used a Metamagic feat **[Delay Magic]** … maybe modified even further… probably also **[Widen Magic]**. They had to. No way to get that many off in such a well-planned maneuver."

"Do you want us to intercept the meteors? The fissures are another matter, as we don't have available forces in the area to magically fix them," Grey asked. Dominic was brought into the channel to handle targeting with the orbital weapons satellites. There were no automatons outside of the continent or beyond the waters around it yet. Selene had very little force projection anywhere else in the world, excluding satellites.

 _What is their aim? Multiple meteor strikes are going to kick up a lot of ash and dirt into the air. It'll kill everything for untold miles in any direction… while it won't cause global issues, this is altering the terrain by raw power._

"Whoever they are, it's to stop something, or someone, from coming down… or up."

"Multiple large armies are marching towards the northern border of Georgia. Perhaps they are attempting a crusade?"

"Possibly. If we destroy those meteors before they hit, it might cause more harm than good. That might be a defensive point that's being held." Selene exhaled and took a sip of her coffee while thinking. The damage to the environment was going to be bad in that area, though even at its most powerful, the spell **[Meteor Fall]** wouldn't cause a catastrophic effect on the world or even that part of it. The northern border of what they called Georgia, at least until they could figure out the name the locals used, would become no man's land without some sort of terraforming… or druids. Of course, if they did decide to go through with intercepting the shots, the army heading down might be more of a problem to whoever was defending… or being rescued.

"Don't shoot them down. Let them hit."

"Are you sure?" Dominic questioned. He would go through with whatever orders she gave; obviously, he just wanted to make certain her choice was what she really wanted.

"I'm sure. There's a reason for that many to be dropped onto that army and specially targeted to the northern border of that territory. Keep an eye out for any power spikes in that area from now on. It's possible that was a fluke event planned for quite some time, and the people responsible are long since gone, but I'd like to still keep track regardless."

"Yes, ma'am." Both of them ended the call just as the chieftains stepped outside, walking out into the cold. They held up their hands to keep snow from getting into their eyes, watching the empress as she simply stood there with a mug in her hand and an umbrella hovering over her. This much smaller human was ignoring the brunt of the weather that even with their fur, they were still cold. Each had put on thick layers of clothing and leather to protect against the wind, with winter being especially bad in that region for this year. Her red hair flailed behind in a braided ponytail, her blue eyes tracking where they went as the group headed off with their escorts, trudging through the snow that started to pile up and heading to their camp. They'd leave by the next morning.

"Ambassador, did they sign the agreements?"

"Almost all of them ma'am, excluding war chief Wrox. All the documents were signed with my witness. Secondary signatures were also placed by other chieftains for tribe specific agreements. Wrox does not want to be a part of this and will not acknowledge our borders." Two helibots sat two hundred feet from the tent, powering up even with the snow falling. The shields flared and knocked off any extra weight, with the ROROs dropping. Multiple civilian model automatons walked out to take out any furniture inside the tent, move the heaters and pack up everything. Polaw and Yunor turned around, gazing at her one more time. They were barely within earshot to yell.

"You will abide by our agreements, just as we will abide by yours, yes?" Polaw shouted out with his hands cupped to his muzzle.

" **Yes, we will**." Her voice carried much farther with an amplifying spell used. The chieftain nodded, accepting the response. Both Minotaurs looked at each other and nodded again, then looked at the receding form of Wrox.

"He's going to do something eventually that might cause us to be pulled into—" Yunor started to say.

"We will not support any aggressive action from him or his tribe. They will stand alone if they try and fight those who do not wish to battle us, though they will soon find that they cannot win. His people will abandon any cause once they see his actions as foolhardy, just trying to gain glory and false honor. They will gain a new chieftain soon enough with his overconfidence eventually becoming the death of him."

"It is sad that we cannot gain access to what the empress has for her people to use. Have you heard the rumor of the tribe far to the east, beyond the ocean? There is a story of a leader there that attempted to create an item called… a 'refrigerator.' Perhaps they have those here, in their borders?"

"If they do, humans will not share it. I am certain the ones who took Caerel do not have this technology. At least we have hope, though. This may be our final assault on that city, to once and for all take it back. Then, we can focus on trade, to improve the lives of our people… assuming we are not killed by the lich to the east."

"Have you heard the tales, chieftain? The ones about he being once an old human man?"

"Hmmm, yes, I have. Whoever gave him that power to defeat death and become an undead… must be quite powerful, indeed; beyond our gods, I believe. Then again… this empress… she hides far more strength than she would like others to see. We need to be wary of her. What she had negotiated with us… it was not for her, it was for her people."

"She is caring for her empire, just as if any ruler should—"

"You do not understand, Yunor. She has received trade routes so her people's economy can flourish. I can already see that none of what we agreed upon has any effect on her or the government she rules. We should be careful. Those who have a need for nothing may get bored with current events, eventually stirring up chaos we do not want to be a part of. Even the gods would not want to mess with her."

Both men continued on towards their own campsite, as the empress climbed back into her transportation. "I expect their traders to try and steal what tech they can from the cities they visit. It's not as if it can be blocked given there is always trickle down from just what is observed. Still, all they'll get is what my subjects use, or cheap knock offs. What's next on the to-do list… what the…" she growled in annoyance as there was a request for a ball to be held by Duncan to an administrative automaton sent to the imperial palace, also now known as "The White Palace." Apparently, the name was used by many kings, long before even Teiyan was born. The invites were sent early, without her acknowledgment.

"Fuuuck. Why."

"Show them the face of their new ruler, show off a little, and they'll realize to keep any underhanded actions in check. That's probably the reason; however, isn't he sending them out a week in advance from what you wanted?" Gala commented through coms.

"They're already planning to start a shadow war under my nose. Yes, I know all about that. I don't see why I should agree to this, I've still got a meeting with the Sultan of Tal Salunbal, now that Prince Tariq and Aldemir are back in their homeland. Then after that, the Seong Neow Republic, then the islands offshore, maybe the ones Hrist and her sisters are heading towards… my schedule is all full up. _This_ is the reason I wanted it further out than what he has planned. God damn it, now I have to have new invites sent out to replace the old ones or cancel."

"A slot just opened. After Tal Salunbal, go. I've got your dress all designed and ready. No need to wear their ugly crown, get the tiara if you want, but you're going… ma'am. The extra week can be altered with an updated memorandum sent out, it'll give them all a chance to get ready with new gowns and suits." The Secretary of State had just ordered her to go through with this, just for her sake.

"And if I refuse?" Gala let out an annoyed sigh of frustration.

"Then we'll just have to figure out another avenue to explain to all of those wealthy nobles to change their ways, without bloodshed hopefully. If you really don't want to go…" Selene grumbled something about the whole situation and leaned back, tapping the back of her head against the side of the helibot multiple times.

"Fine, _mom_ , I'll go. I just really hate talking to any of them."

"You hate speaking to them because they're so used to stepping on anyone below them to get what they want, due to the previous regime allowing them to do so. New laws, the new government, new restrictions are now in place. Set the bar, expect them to rise to it. If they don't… do what you need to do as their ruler."

"Yeah," the dev breathed out, checking the time. It was almost 1 pm, enough time to send a request to meet with the Sultan, Gazi Haref Arun, the next day. "What slot did you open by the way?"

"She gave your pet project to us, empress" Nikola responded, added into the channel.

"Wait, you what?! But… I…"

"We'll take care of it, I already have a team of scientists working on how to reverse engineer the device. The soulstone is not being experimented with, it is just being scanned for anomalies. Let us do this, empress. This is all for you. Rest and wait for our report." She hung her head. The dev really wanted to just figure out everything by herself on that, feeling as if her previous accomplishments before gaining access to steampunk would continue. Now, it was as if all she needed was to wave a hand, and one of her automatons would deal with it. Selene didn't want to be a lazy ruler, sitting on a throne getting fat while everyone else did the work. There was too much to discover on this new world, too much to see off of it now that she wasn't restricted to the same rules as a regular human on Earth.

"Fine…"

"You've done more than you think you have. Now, you should head back to _Majesty's Grace_."

"Yes, mother."

"You know we do this because we love you."

"Yeah yeah. Did Mia get the present we sent?"

"She did. It's amazing that simply breaking the sword allowed all the souls to be released. There was no restriction, implying that the whole thing was a far more crude container than a soulstone. Afterward, it was easy enough to use Lazurus Systems to bring them back to the land of the living," Robert responded.

"Good. I wish that would work on the stone, but it's already been stated that it isn't an option. I hope she likes her friends being around again, might help keep some of those illegal goods out of the hands of the nobles and help her run the city." The transports finished being loaded and lifted off, spraying snow in all directions as they headed back to the mobile air fortress that 1st Air Fleet had become. The next stop was Tal Salunbal, to speak with its ruler. If she managed to pull this off and cleaned up relations with the Seong Neow Republic after, then and only then would she get the chance to finally focus on advancing her subjects to a new future. Until then, there was quite a bit of work to do.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

An elven woman storms down a hallway, past her guards as she makes her way down through a spiraling and twisted building, more maze than a castle. Her blonde hair with pink tips flowed freely as she turned a corner, a face stuck in a frustrated grimace. As she reached her destination, two death knights were the only thing between herself and the room behind them, with two of her own treants staring them down. They were about equal in strength, both capable of protecting against an attack from their opposite, life and undeath in the same area allowed somehow to coexist without all-out war.

The doors were pushed open quickly as the elf walked in, glaring into the rest of the room. "You didn't tell me what you had planned. How could you destroy so much fertile land, just to keep them at bay? Was there no other way?" she asked, staring at one filled seat in particular. There was a rapping noise of fingers on the armrest while she waited for a response. "Well, I guess it worked anyway. That was a bit overboard, so don't do it again. Our business is concluded." Both of their kingdoms were safe… for now.

The form sitting in the chair leaned forward into the light, the hood revealing a skull under it. Red eyes lit up in the sockets as the being watched her carefully. "Unless you provide an alternative, that was the best solution. Now… about our deal…" the woman sat down, watching the two other pairs of eyes sitting nearby the guest. She couldn't quite tell if he was a player or not. That was an ability that wasn't gifted to her when she arrived in this world. At least she could sense his strength was equal to hers, though, with his guild members, he had quite a bit more help than she did. A pair of dark elves walked out from the shadows, one of them looking to be skittish in nature while the other just smirked with long blonde hair. Both had heterochromia.

"Alright… you'll have what we agreed to."

"Wonderful" Ainz responded, stopping his fingers on the armrest and placing a document to be signed on the table between them. There would be another strike to be launched at a later time, and their enemy would have no choice but to hold back from their advance into his kingdom and that of another further to the east. It would be mutually beneficial to deter what was coming. Though he was physically in front of the elven woman, two large kingdoms agreeing to some as yet unknown contract, his attention was somewhat elsewhere. He had detected that his artifact was destroyed over a week ago, by what means was unknown. It interested him greatly, though he didn't share his curiosity with the rest of his guild.

 _Hmm, that was not the defect I remember when I created that… it should have held together for at least another two weeks... someone, or something, overcharged it somehow. I'd like to find out how, though that will have to come later. If there is one thing I've learned now, it is to be patient when I'm now immortal._

"It's done. Remember, this does not make us allies, and you are not to put any of your soldiers in my territory, understood? We have a common enemy, that is all. A non-aggression pact is now between our kingdoms, don't betray us."

"An enemy that has so far been unpredictable. You may regret ignoring my offers," he replied, no facial features letting her know what he was thinking. The only thing he did was turn ever so slightly his head… straight towards the continent to the northwest. It was one of two continents he hadn't had scouted yet, dealing with so much else nearby. In time, there would be a plan written up on how to deal with whoever was living there, hopefully getting them on his side… or the enemy might get there first. If that happened, without a doubt, he'd be doomed. The only saving grace that they had at the moment was that neither side was in a position to send an expedition just yet.


	35. Ch 34 Tal Salunbal

_**Early Morning, 21st, December**_

Selene bolted to a sitting position in her bed, gasping for breath and sweating. Another nightmare, this time not nearly as bad as when they started. It had gotten much easier to deal with the one involving the Prince of Hell erupting out and finishing off everything she had known, with that dream practically gone. This one seemed to be involving allowing too many unknown citizens, the rich and wealthy and immigrants, to come in and suddenly destroy the empire from the inside. She knew she wasn't racist, welcomed new people to join her borders if they wished it, the dream seemed to have spies from other kingdoms trying to sneak away with top tier technology that shouldn't be in their hands. Then, they waged war, while the rich and the nobility profited all the more from it, the other kingdoms running amok.

Now that she was awake, however, her brain was starting to understand there was no way for them to get access to any tech beyond what her people owned. While observational data could allow someone to somehow build a facsimile of an automaton in the future, Nikola assured her it wouldn't work. Real bipedal machines required precise manufacturing methods, equipment, and programming that the rest of the world absolutely did not have. There was only so much another civilization could do without having something to reverse engineer, and everything she and her government used was a closely guarded secret with emergency systems in place as well as contingency plans if someone even got hold of a handgun using gunpowder. They would have to develop their own from scratch.

The dev rubbed her eyes slowly, breathing carefully as her heart calmed down. The lights in the bedroom of the flagship _Majesty's Grace_ lit up in night mode, though they weren't exactly needed for the woman to see in the dark. She looked around and remembered her pack had gone back to the castle, the expansion module on the ship removed while Briane took care of them. It wouldn't be proper for her to bring her wolves on the trip to another nation. The empress exhaled and looked at her window, the curtains closed and blinds down. "Open curtains and blinds." The scene beyond was bland and dark; the sun had not come up just yet as she could see barely out the bottom of the armored glass opening to the clouds and sand dunes below. Selene had promised to come up slowly from the southwest as to not startle any soldiers of Tal Salunbal, the landscape showing a little of what appeared to be desert.

The territory that this neighbor controlled wasn't all wasteland, only the thin strip between their borders seemed to be sand and gravel, with bushes sparse. Beyond that, it looked very similar to the rest of North America, with a small section to the northern area being marshland. "Adesha, I'm awake now." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The battle maid leader walked in through the door along with two autos, bringing freshly brewed coffee and breakfast within ten minutes of her calling for her assistant.

"Did you sleep well, your majesty?" the white-haired woman asked, smiling at her creator as she put the tray down on the table.

"I… I got to rest, at least a full night's worth. Going to bed early is helping. I wonder if this is what other leaders suffer from, worrying about how to best rule or if they just sleep like a baby."

"The fact that you are concerned with the future of your empire even when unconscious tells a lot about you, your majesty." The empress sat down to drink her coffee and eat, getting ready for the day. There were still at least six hours before they would arrive in the city of Salunbal. During that time, she drank another elixir, bathed and checked on research being done by the science division as well as any notices from her staff. The teams were doubled up for Nikola and Robert, going well beyond what they had asked for, along with a second Advanced Research Center, or ARC, being constructed down in the area where California would typically be situated in if it was on the continent of Australia. The facility would act as a biological research zone while the one in the valley would continue with other technology.

She made a note to alter the names of individual provinces that had too much of a connection to Artinia, though now she had information that the people wanted to change the name of the continent. The dev didn't really know how to respond to that, given she just now found out the official name was Cayedania. It would take some discussion, along with some recommendations, on what to call the land they lived on. Many wished for it to be called Alsgania, the basis originating in common speech that meant 'that which was made for gods.' The main problem was having everyone accept something new as the official name, given the Seong Neow Republic, and others, lived here as well. They would surely be against the revision.

Selene checked on her character sheet, verifying her level as 260, up from 220 after the past eight days. Combined with elixirs, with flasks in research, a healthy chunk of her stats were greyed out at 500%, with skills following suit. She still couldn't figure out why there was a limit to them, though that might have been simply because of several factors, one of which could have been she just wasn't high enough in level and had been using potions and elixirs. A concern that crept into her mind was that she needed to alter her physical form to allow any further advancement.

Given that the only thing that seemed a threat was the Prince of Hell or the abomination, both of which were dead, it felt like a non-issue to her. It still didn't stop the empress from being curious about pushing beyond the limit, like everyone did. It also didn't help with the nightmares, where no matter how strong someone seemed to be, their dreams always appeared to ignore those facts and remove everything that allowed them to fight back.

Most of her effort was now set in pushing her skills to the maximum allowed at the moment, with one in particular that she hadn't taken of Cooking. There was no reason to place points there due to the auto maids always looking after her; the choice to take it was for culinary recipes, to know what to order and all of the ingredients, whether it wouldn't be to her liking. Some new vegetables and spices weren't part of the palate for Earthers, which made deciding what to get during meal times slightly tricky. Having to continuously resort to eating tried and true foods she knew didn't give the empress a chance to branch out, and eating with ambassadors or kings would bring new flavors she'd have to deal with. While she could technically be considered a master chef, there was no point other than knowing what she would like and what she wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.

 _I have no idea who came up with the Slime Bake, but they were clearly desperate and had run out of food… and probably were tired of eating their own shit…_

Logistics, Research, Strategy and Tactics, Alchemy, Chemistry, Bureaucracy, all of these were pushed to 500% to better understand how to deal with her now quite vast empire. While there didn't seem to be much of a difference to Selene when she dealt with those areas of expertise, others were noticing a far smoother experience as she seemed to be on autopilot in some cases, thinking about another issue while dealing with the one in front of her without a single stutter.

However, her perks were in desperate need of replacement; most of it was now wiped clean again, with everything going into production and research while being in her position. Since she was hardly on the battlefield at all in any direct capacity now, it seemed far more sensible to divert everything she had into just running her government and let the military deal with anything. Focusing on improvements, manufacturing, getting infrastructure updated, laws, and regulations; she didn't want the empire to suffer from all the significant shortcomings that nations back on Earth were notorious for. She didn't want another collapse that she had heard stories about, that the U.S. fought so hard to evade. Many other countries weren't so lucky, including Japan. Her cabinet would enforce whatever plans she put in place.

Some of her abilities, specifically the ones that were attached to her skills, had their names changed with an altered effect. From Strategy and Tactics, her **{Blitzkrieg}** had transformed into **{Shock and Awe}** , not only speeding up any armed forces moving and attacking, but also allowing temporary teleportation of entire armies to better position them for an assault or counter. Now, her soldiers were able to come up behind an enemy without even needing to transport everything, hitting a weak flank when any invaders or defenders had no idea her troops had spontaneously moved. The teleportation was a single-use for any force sent in or placed in a defensive position, but that could change the entire outcome of a battle frighteningly quickly with simultaneous attacks from multiple directions where it should have been impossible for a breach.

The second to have an altered state was **{Time For Heroes},** changing into **{Time For Legends}**. Its previous incarnation doubled stats, levels, and abilities for one hour. The new form could also alter generic troops on the battlefield, temporarily turning them into the equivalent of an advanced core, with that middle-grade core turned into true personality cores. It also reworked their classification to a tier above, allowing a civilian model to suddenly become security for the duration of the ability. Curiously, security and military models would both become honor guard, as they each were designed with offense or defense in mind, while her royal protectors were to fill both roles at all times alongside her. Suddenly having a random auto maid become a security unit right alongside her battle maids seemed like an exciting prospect, even with their decidedly advantageous levels. It did bring up the question, though, as she had no idea what special forces became when this was activated. Her theory was that there was a tier above special forces, a legend model to adhere to the name change of the ability.

 **{Divide and Conquer}** had an added effect built into it, not only allowing increases or decreases in aggression to be doled out to troops on the field, but to also place it on the enemy in some capacity. While it didn't automatically make intelligent warriors fighting against her soldiers attack each other like a videogame aggression mechanics would generally allow, there would at least be some discord among the ranks, losing coherence and coordination to provide accessible openings for quickly breaking enemy lines as they squabbled. Inferior lifeforms, or mindless undead not controlled by a greater intelligence, would collapse on themselves entirely to fight each other. It was the equivalent of a willpower check, with those who had none easily thrown into chaos and disarray. None of that worked on machines or undead connected to a necromancer, however.

 **{Golden Army}** and **{Peace Through Superior Firepower}** both remained the same, with only one change noticed with the latter's increase from twice the damage from attacks to three times, as if every strike from a weapon her soldiers used would be a critical hit. Given there were critical strike chance and damage in her stats, the dev believed they were capable of doing it as well. It was one of the reasons some of her old aimed shots at vital points on the skeletons in the crypt in Silvinholm would cause them to explode, not just her own physical strength or sword quality.

Many others had changed, with a new tab that allowed the creation of new abilities. There was no guarantee she'd get any of the ones the empress made without raising in levels, depending on how powerful they were and what skill they were connected to. If she felt the need, there could be a strong ability so powerful there would be no point in ever needing an army, just one shot an entire kingdom. The side effect might be it was only attainable when she became level 9000 or higher, which would defeat the whole purpose of attaining it in the first place; by that time, she expected to be up in space. It at least allowed tweaking of older abilities she hardly used now, though there was a global cooldown automatically started depending on what the dev altered, ranging from a few minutes to a week, so she had to be very careful. The Melee Weapons skill abilities, as an example, were going to get a retrofit to better interlace with new technology.

There were four attributes Selene hadn't put a single point into yet, worried about what they would do to her body. Willpower, Charisma, Spirit, and Stature all seemed to have a bit too broad of an explanation on how they worked. Willpower appeared to state that it helped calm her in a stressful situation, steel her nerves, and keep from panicking. While spells and fear-inducing abilities had no effect with her resistances, she could technically be her own worst enemy without it, including the nightmares… The other side effect the empress worried about was it could dull her emotions too much, staying calm and unfeeling in a situation that she should be happy, to laugh, and enjoy life.

Charisma was an attribute she didn't want to touch, as it detailed the "alteration of her physical form" being the main feature. The woman didn't want to change much about her body now, perfectly fine with how she looked. What was most remarkable about the attribute would be if she ever needed surgery in some capacity where healing magic couldn't get rid of scars or skin pigmentation changes. Something she noticed when Selene arrived in the first place was the scars from her implants completely disappeared, both for her breasts and for injections of nanites. Whatever had brought her here had looked at her form without an avatar and removed any handicaps, which made her wonder if others had a similar change to their bodies that were human in appearance. That potentially meant those players who had scars on their bodies intentionally per character creation might have been annoyed with the battle marks they used for RP purposes to explain their background lore; while some would have been excited with the capability to walk if they were a paraplegic, others would soon find out that their race meant they might have new organs or none at all for some heteromorphs, skeletons being an example.

Spirit seemed incredibly vague in how it worked, with attenuation to followers becoming stronger, producing more powerful effects with specific spells and abilities. She didn't know if this meant restricted to godhood or if it meant those who believed in her allowed far more concentrated effects to happen when she performed an action. Another idea that came to mind for her was that it could alter others around that followed the empress, acting as an aura very similar to a paladin. This worried her, as a religion was now based around this goddess status they place upon her head, which could mean those among the faithful to the empress were stronger if she put points in this, mainly involving the Church of the Clockwork Empress. Having zealots running around getting into fights with anyone else at a much higher strength than they previously were was frightening. They couldn't control all of their followers, everyone was unique after all for their reasons to join.

Stature involved her size, pure and simple. While her five foot seven inches height could be increased to make her a titan towering over everyone, it seemed to be a niche attribute that didn't look to do much beyond amplifying physical strength, movement speed, and weight. There was also a side-effect of increased metabolism, causing her to eat more. Given her size belied her power right now, it seemed far more useful to stay her original height and fling someone around with her psionics if they underestimated the woman, instead of becoming an intimidating warrior maiden the size of a house. It also meant she'd need to rebuild the castle to live in and couldn't meet others in their homes if any points were put into it.

"Coming up on the main path to Salunbal ma'am, ETA is three hours," she heard over the intercom of the ship from the admiral. Selene acknowledged and closed her character sheet, getting a quick glance into her inventory now mainly used as storage for her government.

"Hey Will, is there a morning report for me this early?" she asked over coms.

"There is a small one, ma'am. Reconstruction is going well throughout the empire, trade routes have reopened and starting to flourish again in the eastern provinces. Nobles are still muscling for a position that could involve favoritism from you, though that might need to wait until the ball is thrown. Gold Pine is becoming the next big thing now that it is so close to your castle, with hundreds swarming to live in it. Mayor Stafinson is getting a little stressed with all the new faces, as well as the need for a brand new office to control everything."

"Abbey is probably just as stressed helping him get everything nailed down. How are the other mayors? Mia? Liyana?"

"Mayor Erelius is overjoyed with her friends arriving, with Commander Ralos now in charge of the fire department to assist Gilford. The remainder of guards were split between them, allowing easier protection of the city of Sweet Water. It's going to take time for them to settle in, but the mayor is… she's another believer in you being a goddess, ma'am." The dev closed her eyes and frowned for a second.

"That wasn't exactly what I was going for. Guess even minor actions just to make someone happy turn into monumental ones in their eyes. Well, the original idea was so that she had as much help as needed so I could divert administration autos away from that city and move them down to Paldos. Felix believes we can get the place somehow up and running again with a bit of effort. It could also be the focal point for all embassies to be based out of… if any ambassadors are sent here, that is. Juliet isn't looking forward to it, though."

"I can see why. Slave dungeons would be everywhere with a need for an entire cleansing of the land before construction could start, filling in foundation to block off access. There's bad juju in the area; the whole city needs a fresh start. Regardless, continuing on your question, Liyana has just received the invitation for the ball. She and her brother are scrambling to get clothing appropriate for the event. Eld Horn is becoming a hub to see the new animals, with hunting becoming less of a draw now what with growing meat on trees. She's… concerned with the future of her town."

"She shouldn't be; the new zoo will be constructed there, and it's above Glass Dale so trade will travel through it a bit now along Azaltos Mountains. It's also the main supply point to reach Garrington right now, with Silvinholm still rebuilding its economy." The dev checked the time in her Hud, just a little after 8 am. Minor reports were sent via documents, nothing below the mayor level.

"The young woman is stressed due to being in charge of a town. A preliminary psych eval suggests she, as well as her brother Davin, require some time off. The administration automatons you sent before can handle everything until they get back," Wil responded.

"Agreed. Maybe the ball will give her time to sit around. Could offer her a chance to stay in the White Palace for a little bit as a guest; she could relax and visit Aureos, not worry about any paperwork or just soak up some ideas of what to do, or not do, from Duncan. He sent out the _new_ invitations, right? It gives me a couple of weeks so Hrist and her sisters can come back? It'll give me time to finish up negotiations and check on the progress the sci div has made on my pet project."

"Yes, he has. Your 'pet project' is already mostly completed by the way."

"Seriously? Ho… oh… yeah…"

"This is Nikola and Robert we're talking about here. Involving how it was done so quickly, all they've had to do is figure out how to upgrade the power siphoning systems and smooth the energy flow. The rest is still the original equipment, it just needs the materials inserted."

"And what materials would those be exactly? I read most of the journals, something about blood, bone, some exotic metals, and…"

"A healthy chunk of protein along with a tank of water. The blood could come from you if you decided to go through with it, the resurrection system is almost ready." Selene cocked her head for a moment and blinked, with Adesha weaving her hair into a braid before putting it in a wrapped bun.

"I read the bone provides the grounding point for the soul to house itself in, with the blood acting as a spiritual binder. There any word on what that means first?"

"Neither of your science leaders could make heads or tails of that, not enough information to base their theories on. Are you worried it would bind the young woman to you like a slave?"

"I'm worried it could do a lot of things to her that I'd rather not force."

"We still don't have evidence that the materials cause a geas to be bestowed on her, that's still just conjecture. Even then, wouldn't it be better to have yours instead of an unknown mixed sample that could potentially cause future issues?"

"True, point taken."

 _It doesn't make me feel any better about it, though. I wish I paid a bit more attention to the lectures my old professor gave involving his experience with making that game. Most of my studies were around just how to get a respawn point to function correctly and as smoothly as possible without causing memory leaks, let alone make it randomize character features._

"There was a flu outbreak in Werelosil, nothing serious; the only side effect noted is the economy slowed due to so many people staying in their homes or heading to the clinics to attain remedies. This brings up a question Robert had, though: should we allow magic to always be used in every medical situation?"

"I… don't have an answer to that…" Selene replied as she stopped her train of thought and focused on the implication magic had on the immune system. Cleansing a disease before the body could understand and create antibodies could be a problem. On the other hand, magic stopped the people from dealing with all the symptoms, some of them even life-threatening if a fever rose too high. "I'd like the autodocs to accept magic cleansing when required, otherwise provide alternatives so that my subject's bodies can adapt and not have weak immune systems."

"Understood, that should at least allow the citizens to not be hit by some mutation that can kill everyone. Should the vaccinations that Nikola was advocating come into effect?" The dev sighed, then nodded to no one.

"Yes… just not in the water. Have them come to the clinics for the flu shots, measles, ebola… all of that. Say it's required for their safety, a gift from… from…"

"A goddess? Or an empress?" The chief of staff questioned.

"Their ruler. I screwed up when I told Queen Ynshael I was a goddess back then, that will be the only time I use that to address myself."

"Of course, ma'am. You also should be warned, Delfi from the Golden Valley News would like to get her hands on an interview with you when possible."

"That's going to have to wait until I've finished with the Seong Neow Republic much later. Talking about myself was never really a strong suit of mine, talking about the empire is a lot easier."

"We'll tell her to wait until the time is right." The channel ended as a written report was sent to the dev, not really needed to be read as most of it was local news; one notice explained that high elves were leaving in small groups from their forest to the north, exploring a bit more into the empire's borders instead of staying sheltered. They were interacting with the rest of the world quite a bit more, with most humans openly accepting them. A few of the elves even joined the adventurer's guild. The dark elves were finally in the clear from the situation they were previously in, reconstruction was completely underway with their forest left untouched by anyone wanting to harm them. It started to become a tourist attraction, despite the actions of a few naysayers who still had prejudice. Now, the hunters and rangers had to stop those tourists from etching their names in trees or chasing wildlife that they thought wouldn't hurt them.

There was a separate folder with a response chain of command placed inside. Police would attempt to contain a situation, followed by adventurers, then mercenaries to complement the adventurer parties. If things got too difficult, then the agents that Morlan's proposed fledgling department would come in to deal with any troublemakers, though the dev hadn't yet figured out a name for it… or found any other agents for that matter. Those were considered to be in the light response category, with security forces and above set as a heavy response when her own troops had to get involved. As long as there wasn't something that threatened the empire or the survival of a town or city, then chances were the light responders could deal with the issue.

Selene put down her coffee and stared out the window, watching the land brighten up as the sun rose.

 _ **Three Hours Later**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Ivan Torrent – The Light Crusaders)**_

A single helibot detached and flew towards the City of Salunbal, leaving the air fleet behind to not scare the people below any further. It zipped over the landscape as the empress watched the surroundings, observing the buildings of the royal city, the palace coming into view. There wasn't a lot of lumber to be used in construction, with sandstone and marble interlacing with curved roofs seen throughout. Each district seemed to have multiple tiers of height, with walkways reaching higher points of interest along with ladders and stairways. Despite the complex roads intermixing together, there seemed a very logical reason behind the city planning, almost as if it was the initial design of a highway.

Selene observed through the windows food lines in some sections of the city, informing her that there was a shortage for some reason. While it would be rude to say to the sultan's face that he wasn't keeping his people fed, there might be another puzzle here that she didn't have all the pieces to just yet. The dev caught a few sights of guards standing at attention near checkpoints through smaller internal walls that blocked off districts, though they were few and far between, most of them patrolling or in guard shacks. Thousands of people looked up as they watched the flying metal creature shoot over their heads, bringing its ruler to land effortlessly just inside the walls in the middle of the hidden garden, behind the triple fountains near ten benches arrayed in a circle. The landing gear extended along with the ramp, allowing her escort to walk out before the empress.

Multiple guards stood lined along the pathway to the palace, already prepared for their surprising arrival. A man walked briskly towards her in the distance wearing a small circlet along with two jewels hanging on the sides, his white hair slicked back with a thick goatee. His blue and red robe seemed to shimmer at the edges with gold and silver lining while he walked, sandals noticed worn on his feet with two toe rings visible. The right big toe seemed to have a cap made of solid gold with a few gems embedded in sockets, a potential giveaway that this man was a vizier, one of many advisors to the sultan along with governors.

"Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. Sultan Gazi Haref Arun has been waiting for this moment to meet with his new neighbor and to thank you for the return of his son." The man moved his hand in a crescent sweep, smooth and calm to not show any hostility. His bow was deep towards her to show as much respect for another ruler of a powerful land situated next to their borders.

"How is Prince Tariq by the way?" she asked as he motioned for them to follow him, the ambassador android right behind her creator holding a package of gifts to hand over to the sultan.

"He is doing quite well, your imperial majesty. The prince is already back to his classes in learning how to become a strong ruler, once responsibility falls onto his shoulders, of course. That won't be for some time, gods willing." The group continued forward as her eyes observed the garden. Despite it being winter within the empire, the land here looked to be almost in spring. They either had weather control magic being used, or the ending months were timid in comparison to everywhere else. Given there was desert separating their borders, and the continent was roughly shaped like Australia, there was no telling how the climate worked in this section of the world until some questions were asked.

"It's a beautiful garden; quite peaceful, It seems during this time of year," she commented. Birds chirped and flew to another small bush, annoying a pair of swans that were hiding behind. They appeared to be imported from somewhere as they obviously weren't native to the biome.

"Yes, though not all of Tal Salunbal is like this. It takes much effort for the wizards to provide this lush greenery for the sultan to enjoy. Many hours of work are put into keeping it well maintained, flourishing with careful tending. That is to say not all of Tal Salunbal is like the desert that separates us; there are many areas of land just like the forests the elves live if you explore. I er… take it this is not normal for you back at your home?" the vizier asked, glancing over his shoulder at her. He didn't seem to try and be insulting, though his question seemed to be involving her mechanical soldiers guarding the dev. He might have thought she lived in a metal palace with no flowers anywhere, just wasteland with no sign of nature.

"It is quite normal, though right now, the gardens are kept protected by covers until spring."

"Oh, yes, keeping them from being… did you say gardens? Plural?"

"That's correct." He did a double-take towards her as they walked, turning a corner as the guards sized up the honor guard automatons. A unified thought moved through each of their minds, one in which they wondered if the Order of the Hidden Path would ever be able to fight against six of them. They did not yet know how strong, or fast, one of her soldiers could be when provoked. The empress hoped that never happened, for their sakes, as well as maintaining good relations with their neighbor. The turrets on the helibot were kept enclosed, just in case it frightened the sultan's guards. There were still sentries waiting nearby to stop the humans from attempting to touch the large transport.

The party continued through multiple hallways, passed through an inner pool room with grates along the ground, and a semi-open ceiling covered in various colored sheets and baubles lightly moving with the breeze, then reached the throne room. "Please, wait here, your imperial highness. His majesty will be with you shortly." She thanked him as he bowed once more, heading through a door to the right as she just stood there for a moment. It didn't take long for footsteps to be heard coming from around the throne, the wall having two alcove arches on either side that led to another as yet unseen area. The floors were checkerboarded with obsidian and marble diamond panels, with blue and green glass tiles of varying tints lining the pillars. It reminded her of a fish tank or the bottom of a pool.

The ceiling rose high with multiple animal trophies lining the edges, some looking to be that of mythical creatures caught in the wild. There wasn't a single dragon head taxidermied anywhere, though there was a wyvern and a tentacle of a Kraken. A second pair of feet was heard, followed by a third stronger pair following behind; three figures walked just around the throne chair wall with Prince Tariq coming into view.

"Empress Selene!" he blurted out with a smile, happy to see her again. He then thought better of his outburst as he looked at his father and cleared his throat. "Um… it is good to see you again after such a short time. On behalf of Tal Salunbal, I welcome you."

She smiled at him and nodded, realizing he had to remain calm and composed to act as royalty should in his father's eyes. "It's good to see you again as well, Prince Tariq. I've heard you are well. Did you enjoy the time in Olva' lore Forest?" He nodded.

"I did. I appreciate being tended to… as well as the tour provided before our extended stay. I have heard the news that the war has ended with you victorious." Selene chuckled at him, which made him smile again.

"We are, that is true. Are you doing well in your studies?" There was a clearing of another throat heard as Aldemir stood next to the throne, Gazi Haref Arun sitting down. Though he was slightly shorter than his warrior monk, the sultan was very muscular with broad shoulders. He appeared to be as wide as he was tall, with no fat to be seen… or neck.

"My apologies, Empress Selene; I do not wish to intrude on this conversation," Gazi informed them as he looked at his son.

"I'm sorry, father."

"My mistake for not entering you into this, Sultan Arun, please do not blame him for my actions here," Selene replied.

"No, it is alright. I'm grateful for you bringing him back to me safe and sound. My blood, part of my heart, has returned again. I… may always be indebted to you for this, though I hope to somehow repay it quite soon with these negotiations. What will happen during the time you are here will be colored somewhat by your choice to save him" The ruler of Tal Salunbal spoke softly, no annoyance that she had immediately started talking to the prince before he had a say in any matters. The dev looked at the sultan, then at Aldemir, who kept silent; her blue eyes zipped back to Tariq, who she shooed to his smaller chair next to his father and winked.

"I was not the woman who rescued your son, Sultan Arun-"

"I would be willing to be called Gazi if you wish to lower formalities at some point. We are both royalty, after all, it is not exactly needed between us."

"That is a pleasant change. Very well, Gazi, I did not rescue your child directly. The daughter of King Weren in Olva'lore Forest was the one who assisted his group. I would give credit to her and her hunter party." He smiled at her as she admitted it wasn't her doing that kept Tariq alive at the beginning, only the tent hospital emplaced after.

"Did you provide the metal assistants needed to heal him?" Gazi questioned her.

"I… did…"

"Then you have had a hand in his rescue. Without you, his recuperation would be long and arduous."

"I… see. Well, with that response, I only did what I felt was the right thing to do. Now… I apologize, I know you want to remove formalities, but I've been practicing this for a little bit…" With that, she curtsied, then began her introductions after clearing her throat. He waited for the beginning that they had bypassed. Sultan Arun smirked and glanced at his son for a moment.

"Greetings, Sultan Gazi Haref Arun, ruler of Tal Salunbal and neighbor to the borders of the Clockwork Empire. I'm happy that your son has returned without issue, that you have not had casualties due to the… inconsiderate actions of the former king of Artinia. I would hope that we would have a much better relationship between our people than your former enemy. I have brought a gift on behalf of my empire, I hope it pleases you." Gazi laughed heartily as a small gilded container was brought before him by the ambassador; inside was a ceremonial dagger, amulet, and intricately embroidered scarf. A pack of molted gryphon feathers was also placed inside, along with a bottle of high-quality iridescent ink.

"They were not our enemy, Empress Selene. They were barely a threat to us, though you… I have heard quite a bit from my Commander of the Hidden Path." He was gesturing softly with his left hand, pointing every so often at her. "Your army is… impressive, to say the least. These, these machines you have at your beck and call… it opens the eyes to the wonders of the rest of the world. This is quite rare… practically nonexistent to be exact."

 _Are there others who use steampunk? Has he seen them?_

"I take it you have met others who can create what I have created?" she queried quietly. Two chairs were provided quickly by servants, along with large cushions. Tea was immediately served with small sweet pastries. This man wanted to show as much respect for her as she did for other rulers. He felt open, inviting, and patient; he also didn't want to be proper when he spoke with her, which seemed rare compared to other rulers. Her scanner revealed him to be of chaotic good alignment, with a karma rating that seemed roughly at four hundred. It at least let her know that he was willing to take a few risks and get his hands dirty when required to do the right thing. His personality, from what she heard so far, told her that he was quite wise, with dreams and aspirations for his people well beyond the next decade.

"On the contrary, there have been none other than rumors of a few inconsequential heroes that disappeared throughout history, never arriving in Tal Salunbal. A few of their creations have been found in the past by many, none of which were in working order or could be repaired. I am referring to the weapons in your soldier's hands, of course… I mean, more advanced than what I had read about…" He watched her honor guard stand next to her with a sparkle in his eyes, finally getting to see these creatures for the first time instead of just finding hidden passages in an old tome. "None of what was ever found could even match what I am looking at here. None have created such… such…"

 _Huh… so players arrived with advanced weapons… I thought he was referring to automatons. Yggdrasil had robot NPCs that looked like the characteristic android, just with the personality of a toaster. I doubt anyone who had even one of those died quietly, probably ruling some nation somewhere._

"Impressive tools?"

"Yes, yes, that is what I believe I am trying to say." He clapped his hands three times after pointing at her, getting an idea in his head. It was a signal somehow understood to mean bringing specific information to him by a servant. Nothing happened for a few minutes while he rubbed his black goatee, lost in deep thought as he broke into a smile every so often while looking at her guards and the empress. Soon, three servants arrived with multiple books, each being opened and flipped around for the dev to peruse. "You see? These are what have been found, sketched with as much detail as possible."

What she saw confirmed her suspicions; there was no real steampunk or even hyper-advanced tech. A flintlock was shown, along with a homemade grenade, the earliest design for a bicycle, and other contraptions. Selene tentatively grabbed one book and flipped some pages, seeing alchemical mixtures for crude gunpowder and even Greek fire. She sighed and nodded, realizing it was concept art for Yggdrasil, each drawing proving it. One picture showed what looked like a modern rifle, magazine inserted, and trigger guard attached with scope. He had an artbook somehow, potentially from a player long ago that had a collector's edition of the game. The cover was worn away, with little visible but pressed cardboard that had been meticulously protected by a librarian in the palace. Whoever brought it with them had the digital version.

"So… you don't know how these weapons work?" she queried. Gazi chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

"I am not a fool, your imperial highness. I understand that that trigger there fires the weapon, and we have firearms that are called arquebuses. I simply am unsure of how the rest functions. We may reach the same progressive level as you eventually, in time. I, for one, wish for there to be little need for destructive tools as you have created. It seems you have needed to fight far more than you should have in these lands." Selene gave out a dry laugh and leaned back in her chair.

"You have no idea…"

"Perhaps one day I will; I hope that day never comes to pass, however. If it does, I would like it to be standing together instead of against one another. You might be wondering why I share any of this so early in negotiations; I sense a kindred spirit in you, beyond anything I have sensed before; not quite like my wife, though almost like a sister in another land. Maybe I'm a fool for thinking as such, but I would like to believe in the good of others before I can honestly judge them. Now, as much as I would like to continue speaking of anything other than business, this is what we are here for, is it not?" A smirk crept up on both of their lips as he leaned forward and glanced up at Aldemir, standing like a statue. "Shall we begin our informal negotiations? Don't assume we need to spend all day, you can come back as often as required; there is much I wish to learn from you just as you may wish to have a tour of my lands I rule over."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Dina walked down the streets of Aureos, finally getting a day off to just shop by herself. Ezra had talked her ear off the day before, with the rest of her team heading off to enjoy a day of sitting in the tavern and just chatting, even people watching from the second-floor balcony with spare bar. While some wouldn't believe they were into that sort of thing, it helped them all understand who they were working with, fighting for, and getting paid by.

The ranger started to window shop as her feet slowly carried her from the Copper District into Iron, then Silver. While copper was the most decrepit district, it was being improved by leaps and bounds, with new city planning changing everything about it. Gone were the days now of slums, with quite a few of the homes rebuilt. Costs continued to increase until finally, she reached the Gold District. There was a small line to enter past the checkpoint, though she spied a new friend they had made yesterday that was a mercenary. "Dina!" Ivan waved at her.

"Ivan! I'm trying to get into Mithril District, can you help?" she asked him as the woman jogged over as her brown hair bounced a little in a braided ponytail, leaving the line of traders and businessmen. The economy was starting to pick up, with the city bustling again. Most of the damage had been repaired already, the frighteningly effective mechanical engineers that the empress had brought hastily getting walls and roofs to pristine condition. That wasn't all they did, however, as entire city blocks were ripped down and rebuilt up to a specific code that was purported as required to be followed by all carpenters or masons, with supports and foundations shouted at architects who thought they were better than a certain metal woman barking out orders. They learned very quickly not to mess with the lady named Juliet, who looked more than capable of throwing them across the city. While her construction teams were the main force redesigning the city, the human construction workers had to at least learn the basics, with guild members from towns and cities that had been a part of the empire longer coming in and showing off.

Basic plumbing became standard along with direct connection to the sewer system constructed underground; however, there was still the issue of black markets and crime rings still being found, hindering improvements at times as the engineers waited for adventurers to complete quests, get paid, then clean up the sector the crime ring had set up shop in and unclog whatever was there.

"I can only get you into Platinum District through this checkpoint, hun, sorry. Why do you want to go to Mithril?"

"Oh, I'm um… shopping."

"Have your eye dead set on that new bow you saw, don't you? That's going to take every ounce of savings you have right now, you told me that!" she sighed in frustration, realizing he was right. He facepalmed as his dark brown top knot waggled slightly.

"I know, I know! I just… we aren't going to get anywhere unless we can get better equipment faster, and… I just… I just want to improve our chances of not sleeping in the adventurer's barracks anymore." She had been saving as much as possible, with the new gold rank now allowing more money to come in from better-paying quests. Most of her team's coin went into new equipment at the moment, though Dina had aspirations to jump well beyond her gear right now.

"Did those whoevers really get to you that much? Look, Dina… we mercs do what we can to get better equipment just as much as you adventurers. You don't just splurge on a new weapon though, you need to look at what you'll be doing and where you'll be going. Your bow is still decent, and all-" She pulled off the bow strapped to her back and showed him how worn her string was at certain spots. One of the limbs looked like it needed to be reinforced, or it would crack eventually. Even though it was magical, with an enchantment that provided durability improvements, it was showing its age. The weapon was most likely an old family heirloom the way it appeared. "Ok… so… just need to get the wood replaced. I don't really know much about that sort of thing, but I'm telling you buying some of the best when you can barely afford it is-"

"Getting something like what I saw will improve my accuracy well beyond what it was."

"No, practicing will improve your accuracy. That weapon will just make you hit like a building dropping on whoever you shoot." It was true, the weapon she had in mind could amplify the arrow fired, with each one armor-piercing due to the magic provided. On top of that, it could shorten and expand depending on the situation, allowing her to use it in caves or out on the open plains for long-range attacks. There was an explosive enchantment as well, with each arrow detonating once it impacted. In emergency situations without ammunition, it could fire unimproved magic arrows.

"You didn't see the practice event showing off its capabilities!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up with fingers splayed out in a clutching motion, looking at the sky as she remembered every display, watching a high elf that came to test the weapon and prove to everyone that it was beyond any other bow sold in Aureos. Most crossbows couldn't even come close to it in power.

"Look, I can't force you to not spend your money. I'm just saying, get another bow equal to what you have now, buy a few throwing knives, some steel-tipped arrows, and some enchanting oils. Same thing."

"No, it isn't. Can you… can you let me through? Please?" she quietly ended the conversation with her begging. Ivan put his hands up in surrender, clearly seeing it was just annoying her.

"Head through the tower entrance, not like we haven't let you through before when you were chasing some of the rabble," he sighed out. "Just at least promise you'll think about what you're buying before you get it, ok? I'm serious, I have a flaming sword, it doesn't mean I don't keep a steel gladius with me that's cheap. Oh, and don't forget we're playing cards at the _Fox's Escape_ in two days, we invited you and Pops." The ranger nodded and looked at his armor, improving since yesterday. It was required that all mercenaries that worked the checkpoints have at least some decent protection, with reinforced plate mail being a standard with resistances against magic. While not the best, they were at least capable of defending themselves against magicians and wizards.

Dina patted him on the shoulder and opened the door to the tower controlling the main portcullis, slipping down some stairs then through a small barracks with mercs sleeping or watching her run through and heading out through another exit to Platinum District. Up above, she noticed movement along the rooftops, spotting a thief trying to make their escape. Someone was following along right behind them, a warrior in red armor jumping effortlessly across the city. He caught up quickly and got into a small scuffle, ending it with knocking away the woman's daggers. He seemed incredibly strong, his weapons damaging the metal of the opposing weapons with each strike. A jangling plate could barely be seen of platinum rank.

 _Having arrows that could hit like that would be great… a bow that could naturally enhance them without ever needing to buy those types of projectiles would be better… of course, being no longer useless when I run out of ammunition could help the entire team._

As she made her way to the Mithril District checkpoint, waiting another twenty minutes as the wealthy slowly sifted through, the ranger finally made it into the shopping center that was five stories tall. There were so many people walking around inside, bumping into her shoulders and clogging up isles, that it made it difficult to head up to the next floor. In a small store in the corner, just next to the signage to point at where everyone should go for equipment, was the bowyer she knew carried some of the best enchantments back when Artinia was still around. _Alyano's Finest_ was written just above, the glass windows showing off some of the best-ranged weapons she had ever seen. Unfortunately, it was closed right now. "Damn it…" she cursed softly as her eyes landed on _**Dragon's Reach**_ , the very bow she had hoped to buy.

The cost was an astounding ten platinum pieces, increasing beyond what she had thought it was before… and exceeding her limit by one coin. The young woman just stared at the window, mesmerized by the stylish look of the elegant weapon, flaring at the tips of the limbs with gold and silver shining, the double bowstring an incandescent blue, clearly enchanted to make drawing back as natural as breathing. Suddenly, the closed sign flipped to open, with two men and an elven archer walking to the door. Dina watched as they entered, said something to the shopkeep, and gawked as he walked over to pick up the bow.

 _No, no, no! Please! Just another day or two! I can get it, just… just hang on!_

She instinctively entered the shop, her eyes landing on the large purse placed on the counter, which was quietly opened by the elf. The owner of the establishment counted out the coin and nodded at her, having a piece of paper written on as a receipt and having her sign it. "Wha… wait." The three very high ranked adventurers turned around, blinking at her. The elven woman simply stared at the ranger, wondering what she wanted. "I…"

"You… what?" the elf asked, her friends crossing their arms and standing patiently. Nothing else came out of her open mouth, the words unable to leave her throat. There was nothing she could do, there was no hope to get the money in time. "Well, whatever." The team picked up the bow and walked out, Dina being bumped into accidentally as if she was just a piece of furniture, seeing their rank plates twinkling. Adamantite. This team was well beyond anything she had seen before, easily capable of handling the hardest quests the guild could provide. They were practically heroes, some of the few almost as powerful as the legendary Morlan and others of his ilk. She was barely a gold rank, newly initiated. The man who bumped into her apologized as he left, no ill will meant towards the teenager.

"Is there… something you need, miss? A new bow, perhaps? I believe I have a few commission slots open right now." The shop itself did not have many weapons available, but what was shown were all some of the best ever seen. The man himself never bought other's crafts, only created his own based on what was requested or what was considered unique at the time. His name was well known throughout Aureos, even as far as Silvinholm. Anything past that, and she would need to travel to Eil'Ta or Olva'lore forests to get her hands on an elven made bow. Why the elf that had just entered didn't have a much more advanced archery weapon made by her own people was beyond the brunette.

 _Shit, I forgot he doesn't create basic weaponry, only customs and specialty ranged weapons._

"Um… can you… are you able to replace the string?" she asked quietly.

"I don't do repairs or sell replacement parts, I never have time for that. Head to the Silver District for those, good repair smiths available, we only sell pristine wares here. Gold District can reinforce that limb if you need it; get a new handle as well, it looks worn." That really annoyed her, the fact that she had come all this way and would leave empty-handed, even if the shop seller wasn't rude. All the other bows shown were well past her price range, forcing her to finally leave as he wondered why she was even there as if knowing she didn't have the currency to pay for anything. As she walked down the stairs, her eyes moved past another window that was almost a mirror in quality, a display of dashing armor behind it. While her eyes landed on the suit of chainmail and segmented plate designed for a fast-moving archer, with a full armor set next to it made for a frontline warrior. There was even a dragon scale robe for high-end wizards.

As her eyes adjusted back to the window, her appearance popping in front of it, wearing studded gambeson armor and a cloak, she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.

 _It's taken a few years to get to this point for me, nearly losing my entire team in the process. It's going to take many more years to reach platinum rank, and by the time I even think of reaching Adamantite, I'll be a frail old woman. What were my goals even before all of this? I think I've forgotten, just like the faces of my parents and brother so long ago._

"No, keep focused… one day at a time…" she whispered to herself. "Just gotta stay positive. Tilly will have some new quests to deal with in the next few days, should make getting much better equipment a breeze."

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little ranger." Dina spun on her heel, looking for the owner of the voice. The group that had made fun of them before was walking down the hall in her direction. "Come to look at everything you can't afford? It's ok, happens to the worst of them. Gotta keep your chin up; maybe if you work really hard, you'll get the chance to carry our loot! Hah!" the warrior, Nixon was his name, said to her as he let out a guffaw.

"Leave me the hell alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry, were we disturbing you? My mistake, I guess you were too busy waiting for the next thief to catch. Hope you grab him, whoever it is. Leave the heavy lifting to us while we save this new empire and protect that beautiful empress." He gave her a big wink with his mouth open in a goofy smile, ruffling her hair as she pulled back and threw his hand away. He chuckled as the rest of his team followed behind, completely ignoring her now.

"Fuck off!" she snapped, with the group not even listening anymore as they entered a shield smith's shop. No one looked in her direction as she glanced around before the ranger stormed out of the shopping center and started to jog. The look on her face told everyone that she was pissed, ready to stand up to the challenge of an Adamantite rank. She didn't know how to do it just yet, but she'd figure it out somehow. As if on cue, a poster was seen in the distance on a wall, part of it being blocked by a crowd of people. Dina slowly pushed her way through the throng of arms and bodies, nearly getting knocked back a few times by annoyed onlookers as she deviated her path to finally get near the front.

A sign up for a tournament was happening next to the wall, sponsored by the noble houses. Heroes, adventurers, warriors of high renown were needed to enter. The winner or his party would receive the grand prize, an entire upgrade of their equipment, land bequeathed to them with home, and a stipend of coin. The second place had equipment and currency, with the third-place just receiving money. There were multiple areas of expertise to sign up for, to prove who was the best in that field. A parade was set before it, market stalls were getting prepared. The whole event was scheduled in two weeks, giving her just enough time to run it by her team and get ready.

 _There really isn't any direct combat unless we go for the arena, which I have no intention of jumping into. Fire at a few targets, hit some things thrown in the air, do a few trick shots, and it should be no problem to at least get third place. Most of the supposed heroes of Artinia were roasted alive by the demons before the Clockwork Empire showed up. Those stupid idiots, thinking they have what it takes to be anywhere near the empress… I fought alongside her when we went to Elesia's Abbey… or at least… I was nearby…_

"Psst," she heard as the teenager looked around, finding titian curls waggle nearby. "Dina, are you signing up here?" Tilly asked.

"Tilly? What are you doing here? I uh… I haven't decided yet."

"Oh, me? Well, the guild has to always watch out for things like this; adventurers join up all the time to show their mettle, which tends to lead to disturbances with mercenaries, the city guard, noble houses. We stick around to make sure nothing happens in the background, make sure everything is fair."

"Isn't that a little difficult?"

"Extremely! Surprisingly, adventurers and mercenaries are the first to jump to using underhanded and illegal weapons or tools to win in one of the events. We're the ones that had to set the guidelines for everyone, so it's as controlled as possible. Luckily, I don't have to staff the table this time, Jules gets that honor." The receptionist motioned towards a man staring at her, his forehead almost covering his eyes with a constant frown while his hand went through the motion of signing acceptance of the waivers given to him. Dina had no idea of whether he was unhappy with Tilly, or that was just the way he looked all the time. "So, still deciding?"

"I… probably shouldn't just yet without talking it over with my team." The brunette teenager looked over the choices of events, which was reasonably large. Supposedly, there were a few exclusive rewards for style usage and impressive flare, allowing anyone who wanted to show off to get something a little extra. There were no restrictions on rank, and the tournament didn't stop civilians from entering that had the means to fight. There were even cooking contests available, smithwork challenges, gauntlets, and magic contests.

"That's understandable; just let me know if you're interested later. The signup list will be sealed by the end of the week. Oh, one last thing, pets aren't allowed in the tournament, they cause too many issues for one on one battles or team combat." That meant her hawk would have to stay back in the inn if they went ahead with joining.

"Ah… alright, I'll… I'll see if they are willing." Tilly waved goodbye to her as the ranger stepped out of the crowd and headed down the street, seeing quite a few windows that displayed plenty of other items that weren't for warriors. Dresses that would be the envy of most nobles, perfumes, toiletries, and different food, with a stall that had a small gathering around it for something fried. The same woman that had past by her the other day with odd eyes showed up, heading in another direction yet again. This time, Dina could see her irises were, in fact, rainbow-colored, settling finally into a soft frost blue. She gazed at the ranger the entire time while walking, turning a corner, and entering a building for a high-quality blacksmith that didn't work on weapons. The agent's long black hair seemed to flow effortlessly behind, almost like smoke as the door closed behind.

 _I wonder if her hair can change color as well?_

The teenager furrowed her eyebrows as she spotted the guild seal on the door, marking it as belonging to the blacksmith's guild of the Clockwork Empire, and under the control of a Headmaster Giles. The owner of the establishment was some apprentice, just finally being promoted to journeyman. Anyone who had the guild's symbol was well respected now, providing maybe not the best quality of equipment, but always good reliability and cost. "Why do I keep seeing her nearby?" she whispered to herself as she looked around, noticing no one else seemed to be interested. Their daily lives had seen a drastic improvement with the empire now controlling everything inside Aureos. There wasn't a point to interfere with the background actions of the empress's agents. It wasn't conducive to a long life.

"Have you heard the word of the empress today, child?" a comforting male voice said as she turned around and noticed three priests behind her, an emblem of the gears marking them as members of the Church of the Clockwork Empress. "You have worries that may be soothed if you listen to the teachings." The leader had his head shaved, with a symbol of a black inked clock on his forehead.

"Um, no thanks, I'll be going now." She brushed them off and headed back to the checkpoints, eventually reaching the tavern her party was lounging in. The girl found Pops cleaning his mace, followed by Marv lying in a booth with his hand on his chest half asleep, though his face looked to be mildly in pain as he blew air out of a puckered mouth every so often. Dylan was eating some breakfast and pointing his fork at the warrior. No one else was in the hall, bar two drunks passed out on the floor, and the tavernkeeper cleaning glasses.

"I'm telling you, if we just grab one of the bigger quests, take it easy, travel with whatever product in Sweet Water is needed to get here, it could be very lucrative for the nobles and us."

"That's not going to happen, Dylan, you know what they're moving is contraband."

"We don't know that. It's possible most of what they are moving is consolidation of their assets. Would you want any of your property liquidated in another city if you don't get the paperwork done on time? They probably are scrambling to adhere to the new laws and don't want to piss her off."

"Empress's tits, Dylan, how daft can you be? Any coin being brought over won't have adventurers guarding it, it'll have the best mercenaries riding alongside. They also have contracts in place, you know, the ones where we pay ahead of time and invest our money and then paid back at the end, so we don't try and steal?" The rogue took a bite from the kielbasa in front of him and pointed the fork again.

"Hey, we aren't the… oh, Dina, enjoy your trip to the rich and wealthy part of the city?" Dylan said as she sat down and dropped her head onto her crossed arms on the table. "What's wrong?"

"Someone else bought the bow."

"Oh, sorry to hear that…" he replied. "It's not the end of the world, you know, there will be other top-quality weapons in the future. Just have to keep your eyes out for em." The rogue looked at Marv, who was staring at the ceiling. "Oh, come on, can't you just cleanse your stomach?"

"Priests do that you dumb ass, I'm a wizard."

"I thought you had healing spells, what the hell?" Marv sat up on his elbows and glared at him, his stomach grumbling unhappily.

"I do, I just don't want to waste my mana on an upset stomach."

"Told you not to add those spices into your food pal, you just had to try and show you could keep up with my eating habits." The wizard grumbled something and fell back on the booth.

"Tilly will have something for us tomorrow, no doubt. Dina, keep your chin up lass," Pops said as he stopped cleaning his weapon and tried to pat their ranger on her shoulder.

"I know… hey, um… what would all of you think about joining a tournament?" Both men at the table looked at each other, then at her.

"Like one of those hero championships? Oof girl, I don't know we have what it takes for that just yet."

"Oh come on, Pops, we're a lot stronger since that trip to the abbey; don't sell us short like that," she whined out as the brunette rolled her head towards him. It was true, they had gotten better in their fields of expertise since meeting the empress. The constant capturing of running criminals had helped with training their bodies in the past few days as well, the battle to defend Silvinholm during the siege before that. What they didn't know was that a report had been sent involving most of the adventurer parties roaming around throughout the empire to the new ruler of the lands they lived on.

"You do realize why they throw those things, right? Nobles see who they need to look out for, then get them as hired help permanently. It has nothing to do with the rewards, they're inconsequential. If they can stop one of the other houses, minor or major, from getting a new hero around here, then it was worth the effort. Beats having a new assassin to worry about, or someone breaking down their doors and killing the guards to ransack the hidden vault behind a painting. Shit, how often does that happen anyway?"

"In Silvinholm or Aureos? I remember there being scuffles between houses about once a month from what I heard from the mercs," Dylan remarked, finishing his meal and drinking his ale.

"I'm not saying we join a noble house on all their romps; I'm saying we test our mettle, get something hopefully in the process" Dina replied, waving her hand over the table casually.

"Ehhh… we won't be the only ones to join up lass. Every rank from the bottom up will want a piece of the action as well… including those Adamantite goons who have a shady feel to them," Pops grumbled out, putting down his mace and leaning back, the back legs of the chair barely containing his weight with a creak before slipping on the floor and dropping him to the ground.

"If it's broken…" the bartender snapped as he wiped the counter down.

"I know, I know… ouch…" the old man yelped out as he got up and picked up his seat, rubbing his back the entire time. "I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking." The owner mumbled something about people pushing their luck, then walked downstairs and out of the room towards his cellar. Pops sat back down on his chair and looked between both of his teammates, wincing in the process as the sun warmed the area from the open door near the balcony. "At best, we'll barely reach the minor rewards for those things, which are all rubbish, by the way."

"Yeah… maybe…" Dina responded quietly, staring at the salt shaker in the middle of the table. There was no guarantee they'd win anything, coming away empty-handed while others walked away with land and riches. The tank of their group patted her on the shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

"You're still young lass, take your time in pushing yourself."

"Yeah… but… I'd like to at least somehow show we aren't lower than dirt, prove those assholes are all talk or something… I dunno…" They sat in silence for a few minutes as the ranger just mulled over signing up for the tournament, if not to fight with her group, then to at least shoot some targets and call it a day. The minor rewards provided little more than some extra pocket coin to spend. Just then, footsteps were heard at the door. Pops looked up and had to perform a double-take, noticing it was Ezra with another priest. He elbowed their archer in the arm as she looked up and saw him walking towards the bar, almost oblivious to their team.

 _Is he following me? No, he looked like he was here for something._

The barkeep walked out from the cellar and greeted him at the top of the stairs behind them, then brought both men of the cloth up a flight of stairs to the third floor where his family lived. "Wonder what they are here for. Don't they stay in the temple now?"

"Maybe blessing someone in the name of Elesia? Who knows," Dylan answered Pops's question. Marv sat up and raised an eyebrow, confused for a moment with a thought flying through his head. "What now, Marv?"

"I was just thinking… at the abbey… when Ezra resurrected all those people… was that really Elesia who came to his aid or… or was it…" The wizard shook his head and waved the thought off, grabbing at his stomach. There was a groan, followed by the man getting up and heading for the restroom quickly. Both the warrior and rogue sitting next to Dina looked at each other and blinked due to the question.

"You don't think…" Dylan wondered quietly.

"She couldn't have, that was the goddess Elesia doing that… unless…"

"There's a reason there's a religion built around her and all… bloody hell… we fought next to a goddess…" Dylan replied. Both men instantly flexed their muscles with a goofy grin on their faces. "We're amazing!" A random warcry came out of their mouths as their female companion rolled her eyes.

"You see? That's why I think we can at least try for the tournament." They both sighed and had a small silent conversation between each other with their eyes. The old man nodded and set his jaw after rolling it for a moment.

"Alright, lass, we can try, and I only mean we try. If it gets too difficult, no sense in having to crawl away beaten to a pulp. It'll just show where we are on the totem pole against other adventurers and mercs."

"All the weapons are padded Pops, except for the bows, of course; they get leather tipped arrows. Whoever knocks out the other team wins. That's only if we join the team matches; there are solo events that we can each do instead," Dina explained. "Are we really going to join? Seriously?" A huff escaped the tank's lips as he nodded again and closed his eyes for a moment, chastising himself for enabling her and getting the teenager's hopes up. It would at least show where they stood now that they were gold-ranked adventurers. The ranger threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you!"

"Alright, alright! No need to strangle an old man. When's the tournament?"

"One week from now. We have time to prepare."

"We're gonna need some time to practice at least. Let's start tomorrow. In the meantime… today is an I don't give a shit about anything day," Dylan added in as he entwined his fingers together and put them behind his head with a smirk.

"That's not the response from a winner," Dina told him.

"That's the response from a rogue who is going to put as much effort as needed, and if it becomes too difficult, we don't lose anything for it."

 _ **Three Days Later, 24th, December**_

Hrist and her sister landed on their Pegasus near the temple, their journey ending from the ship that carried them there. The trip was almost entirely uneventful, keeping themselves occupied while the crew took care of menial tasks; once off the vessel, they were provided ample supplies for their stay. The Valkyrja were also provided a care package tailored to each of them, courtesy of the empress on this day for some reason.

As the raven-haired woman lowered her hood and dismounted, gazing at the slowly crumbling architecture of the temple with no one to maintain it, there was a pang of pain that struck her heart at seeing such a display. There was nothing left of the pantheon beyond them, not even the rest of the bringers of the slain were alive to come with these three battle maidens. Skuld put her hand on her sister's shoulder reassuringly, nodding at her. "Let's head in, the wards should allow us to walk freely." Hrist nodded as the other two headed towards the entrance, with her trailing behind for a moment.

 _Everything happens for a reason, this is no exception. A new world springing up from the old, coming up from the ashes that came of Ragnarok. Odin… may you rest in peace knowing we do what we can for the Clockwork Empire, hoping that someday the empress we follow will somehow reach godhood. Selene… I hope you are safe right now._

The battle maiden headed after her sister, passing through the stone arch in front as the ward shifted, no door seen that needed to be moved. The women stepped softly down the stairs into the main entrance area, following set paths as they peeked through doorways into empty chambers. What should have remained of the furniture was mostly rotted pieces on the ground, tattered tapestries, and forgotten tables. What magic or godly power that kept the temple looked after had faded quite a bit, leaving only ghosts and echoes of a once incredible past. "Look over there," Brynhildr told them as she motioned towards a spot that looked as if it should have had a bed.

Lying on the ground amongst broken pieces was a skeleton wrapped in a rat eaten grey robe, still as can be with a nightstand collapsed nearby. This concerned all three of them, believing that their trip was all for nothing and that the library was already dust. "Let's find a room we can at least set up a camp in first, then we'll head further inside," Skuld suggested as Hrist nodded with a muffled agreement. It took them about twenty minutes checking through each entrance to another room before they found one sufficient for their use, a window facing away from the land outside and out towards the ocean. The temple itself resided on a cliff to the northern tip of the first island, with most of the structure hidden deep in the rock below. Multiple portholes were strewn throughout each floor to let light in and provide a view of the water down below.

As the Valkyrja unpacked their supplies carried with them, the Pegasus outside having more than enough strength with the drastic change to their physiology to handle the load, Skuld sat down for a moment as Brynhildr pulled out a canned juice drink. Her brunette sister pulled out her package each had been given for that day. "Huh, wonder what she gave us. Is today some sort of holiday?" the blonde asked, looking up at Hrist. Her sister simply shrugged as she leaned against the wall, looking at her own backpack. There was one for her as well.

"Wow! Uh, this is unexpected…" Skuld yelped out in surprise as she opened the main flap and pulled out a beautifully made clock with carved wood and ornate engravings. The whole contraption was wind up, with no need for batteries or alternative power. It still could run on other sources, that much was clear, with a small panel on the back along with a cord hidden in a tiny cubby hole. "I told her there needed to be some things to brighten up my office and bedroom, as I've started collecting random odds and ends from Gold Pine shops. This is fantastic." There were figurines that moved about in the dial, slowly shifting through different phases in an endless show that acted like a flipbook. The package still had quite a few other things inside, along with a carefully polished magnifying glass, compass, and even candied pecans. The final item inside was a necklace with an emblem of two angular wings aiming upwards at the top of a sword. At the pommel, a cog was emplaced.

"Oh, now I definitely have to see what I got," Bryn commented as she pulled her pack across the stone floor and flipped through some of the pockets. Once the care package was dragged out, the flap was popped, and all the items were pulled out one by one. A very high-quality bottle of whiskey was found, one of the empress's private stock, along with assorted puzzles. "Huh, she remembered…"

"I swear, you love those things, don't you?" Skuld giggled out as one of the boxes contained well over 10,000 pieces.

"Hey, I don't drink and screw around as much as you think I do. Sometimes there's a need to just sit down in a quiet room and just put one of these together. Oh, look… what are these…"

"Board games… well, you do tend to head into Gold Pine often enough… we all do, I guess." Bryn looked back and forth between her sisters and smiled. Each box had multiple games, the board itself rotating or flipping to allow new rules and tokens to be used.

"There's a group I think I've made friends with of Abbey's, they got me into some of these things. I mean, I like them, at least." Two small bags of potato chips were pulled from a protected pocket on the inside of the package, both her favorite.

"Hey, I didn't realize it, but there's a secondary flap on the outside," Skuld told them both as she opened another pocket and pulled out a stocking filled with candy and a juicy orange. Hrist stopped leaning against the wall and walked over to her pack, pulling her own care package out. As she silently looked through the items inside, she glanced up to see Brynhildr pull out the same necklace Skuld had gotten. There was surely one for her as well. Inside the container was a small box that seemed to be quite cold, with magic or some unknown science she didn't know. As the box was opened, there were blocks of ice cream kept frozen, enough for eight portions worth. A secondary box had something that looked like ice cream, though it was room temperature and dry.

"Is that still ice cream? Try some," Bryn asked her as the battle maiden bit off a piece, allowing it to melt in her mouth. A small label on the side said, "Freeze-Dried Neopolitan Ice Cream." Great care was put into packaging the blocks of it and not have any pieces break off in transit. "How does it taste?"

"Delicious." Hrist had a small grin slowly creep up on her mouth as she looked at the remainder of items. A portable music player was provided along with high-end quality headphones, some pocky, a few books, freeze-dried mixed berries, and a smaller package hidden at the bottom. Once it was ripped open, the bag expanded, having been vacuum sealed. Inside was a plushie of her with a note attached.

" _ **I heard from Jeeves and the maids that you liked collecting these things. I haven't seen any of them myself yet, so I figured adding another to your pile might help vary it up. Maybe in the future, you'll show me the collection? Hope you like it, stay safe."**_

A tear dropped from her eyes that she didn't know was building as she touched the face of the plushie, the intricate work put into sewing it together. Two black half orbs were sewn in for eyes with long raven-black hair flowing down the back; everything was meticulous, down to the parting of her bangs on either side of her forehead. The toy was wearing her Valkyrja battle armor, visor kept up, and weapons in hand. There was a smile in place of the mouth, something she didn't have very often it seemed despite enjoying living in the castle with the empress.

"Looks like you got another one… is that you? Gonna go next to the one you brought with, I'm assuming?" Bryn smirked at her and winked. Hrist's face immediately went beet red as she snapped her head up at her sister, pursing her lips together and trying her best not to look embarrassed.

"I… I have no idea what you're talking about." Her hands swiftly grabbed the plushie and put it behind her back, though her actions came with a cost at trying to hide her new toy. The maneuver had the foot of the plushie grab the necklace chain and fling it across the room, launching it through the open window. The raven-haired woman leapt up and bolted for it, grabbing hold of the thing as it left the window sill and kicking up a bit of dust from her speed. Hrist exhaled in relief, scared that a present that was given by Selene would be lost to the ocean on the other side.

"Nearly lost it there for a moment," Skuld said concerned as she looked at Bryn. The battle maiden simply stood there with her arm outstretched, still shocked. A present that was recently given to her was just about to drop into the open ocean. She pulled the jewelry back through and put it around her neck quickly, then picked it up and stared at the craftsmanship. While it might have had some enchantments on it to protect her, the thing had more sentimental value than combat utility.

 _Odin, forgive us. We took a vow to follow you, and now that you have sent us here, we have added a new pledge to adhere to the rule of another. You'd be proud of us, and her, if you did get to lay your eyes upon the empire she's building. We know you were wise beyond all and would agree this is the best choice. We are her Valkyrja now._

"Well, we should probably start exploring before we get too caught up in all the new gifts we can play with. Shall we get to walking through the bowels of this place?" Skuld asked. The other two warriors nodded and headed out with her down multiple flights of stairs through new floors, carrying flashlights along with glow sticks and a satchel of sticky lights to place along the walls. Their night vision was beyond compare, though leaving a bread crumb trail back to the small camp they made was still useful. The lights also kept little critters from getting underfoot that didn't see them very well, stopping their boots from crushing the odd mouse that was trying to find a morsel of food hidden somewhere. Pests were not blocked anymore by the wards, letting them know they were almost dispersed completely.

As they reached the 4th floor, they finally reached a sealed room. All three of them stood side by side and pulled on two levers, raising the wall they knew that hid treasure behind that was hopefully worth something. As they collectively held their breath, the opening raised enough for them to see the room seemed almost immaculate save for a light layer of dust. The library beyond was perfect, more than likely the area where the magical protection was cast from to maintain the temple as well as its anchor point to finally dissipate from. The books that lined the shelves ran for what looked like miles but was more than likely only a kilometer at best. The ceiling, however, reached almost up to the 1st floor, with multiple spiraling staircases at the corners to reach much further down to the bottom. The bookshelves were built in cylinder shapes, with an inner abode that held tables still not collapsed. Piles of books were lying on the ground, with many more bunched up together with end caps on each shelf.

"Wow, it looks like we found what we're looking for; if this is the worst it's supposed to be for the library, it should have another year or two before even these crumble. We came just in the nick of time," Skuld remarked, her eyebrows raising at the sheer amount of history before them.

"Let's check the last of the rooms before we start digging into all of that. If we start now, we should have most of the temple mapped out and able to come back to the important stuff," Bryn replied. They turned on their heels and continued exploring through the myriad hallways and quarters of the old seers that had once considered this place their home. The crumbling architecture was a little worse for some areas, with a few of the rooms collapsing due to structural integrity. As they slowly moved from one area to the next, a wall eventually gave way on top of Hrist, causing her to throw her arm up and block the falling stone bricks. While she was unhurt by the event, it did show the other side had a room that could no longer support the weight from above.

"This place must have been incredible before the fall," Bryn said in awe as she stopped in front of a tapestry that was torn in half, showing a great battle of Valkyrja against monsters, two gods leading the charge with an army of Einherjar backing them up. The faces were worn out, with the paint faded, though all three of them could at least make up Sigrun at the forefront. In unison, they all prayed to one day see their sisters again, whether they were resurrected somehow or reincarnated, maybe even when their lives have been given in service to the empress. A forlorn silence fell upon the hallway for a minute before they walked on, having a job to do.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Morlan sat next to his lover in the helibot, checking over his equipment one last time as he glanced at Bronze Team. "You sure you really want to come with us? It's just a demon nest, nothing to get excited over; intelligence even believes there is no respawner," Ethan told him.

"I'm sure. I've had explained to me that the training I've been through may temporarily come to an end in a month or two, at least once our empress has had time to focus on matters that don't involve the integration of the old Artinia. Besides… I want to see first hand what I'm probably going to need to keep up with in the future with my… well, my teams." He checked his bracers and gauntlets to make sure they were clamped right, with the new material vastly more comfortable than anything he had worn before. Selene had told them if they went out and encountered any sort of combat, they needed to bring the best of the best in equipment that she had specially made for her troops. As far as he was concerned, this was god tier that he was wearing. The warrior could feel his strength and speed improved just by strapping on the chest plate alone. With the rest, he felt almost invincible. It made what he used to wear feel like trash he had pulled from a bin.

"Still don't have a name for the agency you'll be overseeing?" Turnie asked as her shoulder mounts popped up temporarily, twisted around entirely in a 360-degree arc, then folded down. There were four of them, making her look a bit like a spider ready to strike when they were extended. Two submachine guns were strapped to her thighs along with two heavy pistols just under her chest. The ex hero of Artinia was surprised she looked far more human these days than the first time he had met the automaton, with what looked like metal paneling for hair. Her face especially was able to show more emotion now, not just smiles or frowns.

"I'm going to leave that up to the empress, given she'll also help me vette any future agents. It's also… well…"

"Going to be part of her government. Psychologically, it means she still has total command," Orlo interjected as his dome rotated and looked at both Elsei and Morlan. Oddly, despite minor improvements in the body structure for the others, with major ones for Jorge and Turnie, the Light helibot didn't have much of a design change. There were no legs, no arms attached; he was still very much a curious-looking mechanical creature.

"I still think you should start easy after your run around in the gym for the past few days. These aren't critters or stupid cunts that are the enemy of your kingdom; these are demons and demi-humans," Deacon informed him. The sniper looked at his commander, who simply kept his mouth shut and shook his head softly. Jorge knew Morlan eventually would need to get his feet wet with how the empire would handle security matters, how to work with the military and police forces, and how to, in general, run things in a different way than what he was used to. There was far more communication, more tactics and small group strategy, less charging into battle, and more stealth kills. Real-time logistics was a must, with backup only a call away. The mental preparation courses he was taking back at the castle were strenuous at best, grueling and exhausting at worst. To the warrior in that helibot, the training was for the best of the best to excel at. For Bronze Team, that was casual Monday work after a relaxed weekend.

"Five minutes out," the helibot transport informed over internal coms. Typically, the team simply spoke via silent channels, except the two organic beings inside didn't have that capability. Morlan looked over at Elsei, who was holding onto her halberd, wholly replaced with one crafted by the empress. From what he heard, it was supposedly called a legendary quality tier item by Selene; the name was _**Aldon's Breaker**_. She had said it was named after a special smith that was renowned from where she came from, an old friend of hers. His own sword, _**Haden's Last Word**_ , was purported to be able to carve through just about anything. At first, he thought that meant it was vorpal in nature; however, her design of the weapon was beyond his comprehension. All of his gear looked like he shouldn't be worthy to carry any of it, instead meant for a legend beyond legends.

Each piece of equipment he had on had a name, the same going for his partner. Jorge and the rest of Bronze Team already knew that their creator could have called them anything, such as " _ **Morlan's Big McLargeHuge Sword Mark II,**_ " for instance. What the two-level 38s didn't know was that most of the improvements emplaced on their gear were set for defensive purposes to keep them alive, with little set up for offensive strength upgrades. They'd be relying mostly on their Martial Arts skills as well as keen combat capability to survive, along with the new weaponry.

 **[[Ethan: You think our girl can make something like the Norse gods could wield?]]**

 **[[Deacon: Easily. Probably make something better than that pissy little hammer that Thor carried around. I'd hope that she'd make me a custom rifle in the future. I should probably ask.]]**

 **[[Orlo: The Star Steel that the Valkyrja know of may have hidden properties that we are unaware of. While it might be as strong physically as Carbyne or Borophene, there may be effects that it naturally has. We won't know for sure until some of it is brought back to the science division. There is a very real possibility that it exceeds the strengths of our current materials.]]**

 **[[Turnie: As long as we aren't the ones poking at it. Selene now has a full branch of scientists taking everything apart now. Much more satisfying in healing the wounded and taking out the trash, aka those who would pick a fight with the empire.]]**

 **[[Jorge: There is a time and place for everything; she needs us where she needs us. If Selene wants us nearby her, then that is where we will be. If she needs us out in the field, we go.]]**

 **[[Deacon: Amen to that.]]**

The transport landed carefully next to the town, the mayor standing there gawking at the vehicle arriving and the troop jumping out. Jorge walked up to him as he looked up, his eyes wide. "We've heard you have a bit of a demon infestation somewhere."

"Wha… uh… ub… yes… well… you see… um…" the mayor looked down at the poorly written paper he was given informing him of the arrival, with little to no information on what to expect. What he didn't know was one special forces team with support would show up to deal with the threat directly, with security forces not required; instead, the military would be coming up from below to find the way the demons had come into the temple. It gave them a chance to gather new intelligence on where the infernal creatures were staging, along with showing the citizens that the empire takes their protection seriously. Given the nest couldn't bring in new demons and only build respawn points for monsters, once the infernal creatures were dealt with, they wouldn't need to worry about the sector nearly as much. "You are… uh…" the man looked at a small name painted onto the shoulder of the medium automaton, "Ja… orge…"

"That would be pronounced _George_ , and yes. Have you evacuated everyone from that temple?" the commander replied with a little annoyance that his name was said wrong, his deep British accent lilting a bit.

"Uh, yes, yes, everyone is safely away… uh, besides two priests trapped inside. I… I wasn't expecting such a quick… I mean, I never thought the empire could react so fast to such danger…" The team walked by him and towards the main temple doors near the rear of the town, now looking as if they were rotted. There was an aura slowly being emitted through the area, one of malice and decay. The white stone that was used to build the walls was becoming tarnished with impurities being forced into the blocks, though no other effects could be seen just yet. Ethan and Deacon both pushed open the doors, looking inside carefully as they slipped inside as quietly as cats, taking point as the group continued forward with Morlan and Elsei behind. The warrior couldn't believe someone as large as Jorge could make almost no noise while moving with such armor.

"You two, let us deal with the main force in here, take any stragglers and find the two priests," Jorge commanded; the congregation was almost devoid of any life beyond them, with nothing really to be seen that needed to be fought against aside from signs of damage near the pulpit. Morlan was about to object, then realized this huge metal man was at the moment his superior in almost every regard right now. He needed to respect the new chain of command beyond Empress Selene, even if he was to be in charge of another branch of the government.

"Understood," Elsei replied for him, her halberd up and ready to strike. There was a hole behind the crushed altar in the middle of the sanctuary at the very end of the nave, with branching entrances from multiple directions. The temple itself was five stories tall with balconies that could be stood on to watch the pews below. Most of the pews were destroyed already, pushed into the alcoves, or arched doorways to stop anything from getting in, though it clearly failed. Deacon pointed at the opening in the ground where two imps and a ravager arrived, crawling out and looking right at them. Multiple orcs and a troll, clearly not born from this world, were also seen climbing out with clear discoloration and disease showing on their skin.

"Dominic, 113th ready below?" Jorge asked through coms.

"They are, it appears there is a nest that has four connecting tunnels dug and heading towards the mountain range. They're working their way down from multiple avenues of approach; however, be advised that means they're pushing them towards you. Might have an influx of the few demons and their minions rushing just to get away."

"Just more target practice," Deacon commented as he took aim on the ravager. It growled and roared at him, snapping its twin jaws together as it got ready to attack. A horn was blown deep inside the hole they came from, considered an alarm to warn of an incoming attack. Dust and gravel blew along the ground towards the team as they just stood there for a moment.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Zayde Wølf – Wildest Ones)**_

"Dinner bell has been rung, time to get to work," Turnie shouted. Morlan and Elsei broke off and pushed through the makeshift barricade of one of the doorways, heading towards the living quarters. They could hear the sounds of rapid-fire weapons and movement by the small holes in the piled wood, the occasional splatter of a body smashing against the ground, and the thunderous roar of a railgun. Morlan caught a glimpse of Ethan wall running with his rifle outstretched and firing as piles of bodies started to come out of the main point of contact in the temple, pouring through to attack the new defenders. Deacon had leapt up to the third floor and was providing pinpoint sniper fire, taking the heads off from the largest of the demons that could crawl out as he sat on the archway outcropping over the main doors. Elsei caught a full view of Turnie dodging backward in a graceful cartwheel, latching to the underside of a balcony and firing down, tearing apart the face of the creature that the elf couldn't see.

As the warrior charged forward, down two halls and into the kitchen, they came across four grotesque and obese creatures nicknamed gluttons due to eating just about anything, including whole bodies of humanoids. One could be seen holding the ripped off arm of a priest now dead, proving they had exceptional strength. Elsei shot forward and speared one, carving a chunk out of the body as the second came at her. Morlan ran ahead with his shield ready, bringing it to bear and blocked. He expected incredible strength due to the footage he had the privy of seeing back at the castle, the power the demons had during the invasion. What he wasn't expecting was their power significantly dropping since the end of the war. The arm slammed into the metal and was repelled, not from the material, but from the energy shield that was installed in his armor.

 _You really do look after those who would follow you, empress._

A few rapid strikes from his sword and the creature had no arms, the head impaled on the tip of the weapon. A gurgling sound was heard, followed by spewing of stomach acid that could eat through a stone wall in seconds. It did nothing to the energy shields, though they crackled and warped from the caustic fluid flowing down the outside of the field. He was sure that his face would have been melted off from the effect, recoiling a little as his sword slipped from the wound he had created. For the glutton, this was not the end of that wound, as golden sparks started to erupt from that point of its body and eventually detonate, blowing the head clean off. Whatever he struck, it wasn't just going to cut through, the remainder would clearly explode from a secondary effect imbued into the equipment. To him, this was well beyond anything he had seen in any magical weapons, even those wielded by the most wealthy of nobles or renowned adventurers. If he connected, there was little to look forward to for the enemy other than a gruesome death.

Three more glutton appeared through the open door but were quickly dealt with as both specialists sliced their way out of the room. Both of them smashed through another door, still listening for the battle that was taking place. A Kyton was blown through the walls in the center where Bronze Team was fighting, flying right by their faces a good few feet, missing most of its limbs as a stone smashed into the face once it connected with the wall nearby. It slumped to the ground and lay there lifeless, pouring caustic fluid on the ground as Morlan looked through the opening made, seeing Jorge far down on the other side, his ghostly blue optics tracking them for a moment before returning back to the fight on their end. He didn't realize that the automaton knew of his exact location the entire time, a beacon in his suit always telling the clockwork military his vitals as well. Elsei ran forward and kicked a door open just as they heard a cry for help, seeing two priestesses cowering in the corner with multiple imps holding knives.

Elsei slipped inside quickly and swung her halberd in an arc quickly, lopping off the heads of three, though three others jumped back. Morlan charged forward and impaled one on his sword with a battle cry, slamming his shield into the last two and smashing them up against the wall. He then proceeded to push sideways, grinding them against the coarse stone and hearing them scream in pain as the physical barrier kept them from moving away.

 _How do you like it you infernal little bastards..._

"Behind us," Elsei quietly told him as they turned around, watching four more gluttons and two ravagers try and push through the smaller human-made opening, far too tiny for all of them to fit through at the same time.

"You need help, Morlan?" Ethan asked over the earpiece he was wearing. It was terrific the real-time communication that the empress had available to the troops within her borders. He was never out of earshot.

"No… we've got this…" a small grin crept onto his mouth as he got ready for the first assault. It was time to really put the training he had been going through for the past weeks, with more to come, no doubt. He got into a defensive stance and waited, with his partner having her halberd ready to swing and dropping her visor. "One." Two gluttons came at him, allowing a quick footsweep followed up by a slice across their heads, launching them both back. His movements were fast and precise, with Elsei right beside him taking a ravager as it jumped at her, splitting its belly down the middle as she slid on her knees forward, then spinning her weapon to ward off the second. While he was an up-close specialist and liked to sword and board, she kept his back watched, attacking over his shoulder with mid-range melee, as well as able to fend off anything that was cavalry or too large. He remembered during the dinner so long ago, hearing of the escapade that his younger brother had with the adventurer team into a crypt in Silvinholm's Old District, hoping he could eventually reach the same unified fighting style that Hrist and Empress Selene had together.

The priestesses watched in surprise as the fireteam beat back the unholy forces before them, quick strikes and blocks with the shield and returning attacks, then a spin sweep, breaking a rush forward without much issue. The armor ultimately shrugged off the enemy claws and extremities, practically allowing them to wade through what should have constantly wounded them. While they could parry or deflect most of the mass of meat trying to reach for them, every so once and a while, they had to let the shields take the hit. Both of them knew it was only a matter of time before the next phase of their enhancements were ready to be provided that would make that even impossible; they just had to be patient.

"Two, left," she replied soon after as they pushed out to the hallway, filled with lesser demons. Things wouldn't work as well for her and the long weapon she was carrying, resorting to stabs and keeping the enemy off-kilter while Morlan did most of the work. The halberd shortened and split into two pieces, acting as two warhammers now, which threw the elf completely off-guard. A roar escaped his lips as he pushed away three of the creatures at the same time, struggling forward as his muscles rippled under the armor. They fell on the ground with two sniper shots teleporting in and popping the heads of one ravager and a succubus weaving a spell. That very event surprised both of them as Morlan raised an eyebrow, his eyes wide.

"Just letting you know we're still here," Deacon told them over the earpiece. The blood that was meant to splatter on either of them washed over the protective energy field and fell to the ground without issue.

"Tunnels cleared, nest destroyed. No sign of respawn point, monster spawner disabled with neutralization of casters inside" 113th reported to them as Bronze Team continued clearing the rest of the temple. That at least told them the empire wouldn't have to worry about keeping the area contained or evacuating the town, given that the nest didn't have enough time to set up a permanent spot to summon twisted races into. If they had been a little slower, there would need to be a security force present. Demonic strays could come back and try and dig new entrances later if they sensed a more permanent infernal abode to hide in. "Moving to collapse tunnels."

"Then let's end this…" Morlan whispered out through gritted teeth as he slashed twice in two directions, using a multi strike Martial Art **[Chain Strike]** immediately attached to **[Reflective Shield]**. Every attack he performed for the next ten seconds added an additional attack on top of the first, eventually becoming ten in a row. This also worked for the enemy's attacks against his physical and energy shield, turning him into a ball of damage that could push right through anything in front of the man. Fighting against a warrior that preferred defense versus offense was still quite dangerous with arts that allowed them to literally let the enemy kill themselves.

By the time they reached the end of the hallway, everything was dead or fatally wounded, with Elsei leading the priestesses out of the front door and noticing Bronze Team just sitting around, Jorge nodding at them. "Good work. Still a little sloppy, but doing better."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Morlan chuckled out.

"You'll improve. That's a given already; just take your time and don't try and show off, there's no fucking point in trying to prove yourself to the empress. She already nabbed you, that should say something about her eye for quality," Deacon replied.

"I'd suggest we leave now. The temple is… structurally unsound after our scuffle inside," Orlo informed everyone as the roof above the altar collapsed to the ground below. The team headed out, noticing the town watching the priestesses, their eyes glancing back and forth between the women and the automatons. They had done what the people thought impossible, with two new faces along to help.

"It's a miracle."

"Not a miracle, ladies and gentlemen, just the empire doing what it needs to do to protect this town. Now, if you'll excuse us," Jorge explained as the group walked back to the waiting helibot. The whole battle took roughly half an hour, but it felt like a few minutes to the two following Bronze Team. Adrenaline was flowing through their bodies, though Elsei barely showed the effects compared to Morlan.

"113th took samples from the nest, they're sending it back to the eggheads at ARC," Ethan reported.

"Ahem," Orlo said in an annoyed tone. His sensor pod on the top rotated and seemed to be glaring at him.

"Sorry, _scientific prodigies_."

"Better. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have nearly the amount of advancements needed to watch over her majesty's borders."

"Let's just head back to the castle," Jorge commanded as they got back to the waiting transport, the mayor in awe at how efficient they were. Morlan had a lot to mull over, getting a chance to see how effective a real military functioned. While he may not be a part of that, the warrior at least knew that he could rely on them when his own agents could deal with a situation in the future.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Ainz sat at his desk, writing down the costs required to fund some of the towns he now had inside the Sorcerer Kingdom. No one had told him it would take so much effort to run everything, what with his guardians taking what he said either word for word or conjuring up new plans from the bare minimum of information he would give them. It was stressing his psyche to keep them from rampaging around just to get him what he wanted, either new land, intelligence, or even new citizens. He had made a recent remark about how one town, Re-Gunovale, had such a small population. Demiurge and Albedo dredged up a plan to steal away citizens from another kingdom, not through tourism or offering a better life, but merely picking them up and mind-controlling each and every one of them to come to live there. They didn't exactly do very much, praising the supreme being every time he arrived, but their lives didn't exactly matter to the demons, and other heteromorphs, under his command.

Once Albedo had learned that she had misinterpreted what he had said, as he just worried that there might be an issue that needs to be addressed in the town to draw more settlers, she very well nearly tried to decapitate herself in shame, overexaggerating the entire event. All that was really needed had been to improve the infrastructure, as it was too far away from any major trade routes or good farmland.

 _Things were relatively more straightforward back when we were starting out. Now I have to worry about one issue or another that the liches that are maintaining governance keep having difficulties with. Growing food isn't an issue, keeping the cities repaired isn't one, it's the incapability of undead to understand the real needs of the people when they request something be altered due to creating a lower quality of life. Still, their conditions don't always exactly mean much these days to me… I have slowly changed to not care about what happens outside of making Ainz Ooal Gown well known, haven't I?_

Ainz, once called Momonga so long ago, stopped marking down the payments and sat there in his office, staring at the pages. Being undead did not allow him to enjoy sleep or dreaming, no eating or tasting; he couldn't even enjoy sex without altering his form, and that was only for a short time. It wasn't as if he would even do such a thing, as Albedo would quickly end the life of whoever attempted to get in his bed in either the Tomb of Nazarick or E-Rantel mansion.

He quickly looked up to see two forms walking carefully up to his desk, Entoma, and Yuri. "Ah, both of you. Do you know why I have called upon your presence?" he asked.

"Ainz-sama, we would never say that we know why you are allowing us to be in your presence, to hear your infallible plans. Please, indulge us with this information," Yuri replied, bringing her hand up to her chest as they both bowed slightly.

"Uh… yes, well, I have a job for you both. There is need for an expedition to be sent to the northern continent to the west; I require a fleet be sent to investigate that area. Once the land has been surveyed, bring back any information you can immediately. There is no need to make a detailed study of the area; just provide basic intelligence."

"Oh? Is this going to be the next place we head out for, to expand the kingdom?" Entoma asked as she looked up at Yuri. Her leader didn't seem to respond to that question.

"Lord Ainz-sama, we are taking one of the defense fleets crafted in your honor?" Yuri asked, making sure she understood his orders. There had been many new lands that had been conquered or added as vassals since they had arrived on this world, with enough time that had allowed them to gain the upper hand in some scientific advancements as well as magic. Gunpowder was a closely guarded secret by Ainz, with a new regiment of death knights that instead of carrying great swords, held cannons in their massive paws with runecraft etched on them. They fired every five seconds, but could easily destroy most stone walls that defenders hid behind. Some of his old guarders now held onto crude rifles, what he remembered being called arquebuses. It was a little difficult for him to keep in memory every improvement that had slowly made its way into his kingdom.

The new weapons and tech, which was little more than moving into the equivalent of the Renaissance Era for his lands, was more than enough to scare most smaller kingdoms or empires into submission… bar the few that seemed almost a match for him.

"Yes. Demiurge has attempted to teleport there without success. The continent itself may be protected against such a spell, making some movement magic difficult to use. Tread carefully, come back with what intel you can gain." It seemed unusual that there was such a restriction in that area of the world, though it could have been due to some unknown material that he was keen to try and harvest. It wouldn't be the first time his guild had come across new interesting finds that were incorporated into his kingdom, to better it in more ways than one. If it was some unique resource, he wanted it to keep some of his enemies from attempting to sneak through his borders. Finding spies was reasonably easy these days, with only a few living outside the tomb allowed to know some of their plans. That didn't stop attempted assassination attempts, which at least gave Shalltear some enjoyment in hunting them down. Somehow, it had been found that the faking of his death was a ruse, though it mattered little these days.

"We understand, it will be as you desire," Entoma replied, both of them curtseying and turning to leave.

"Oh, one last thing. If you should find any interesting materials, bring samples back where possible. You should attempt to land to the south and work your way up. If you meet any resistance, do not engage, simply return immediately so that I can plan accordingly. It could mean I have found suitable subjects to add to the kingdom."

"It will be done. We would never seek to harm your grand design that we can only dream of understanding." They both left without another word as he got back to dolling out taxes given by the Baharuth Empire and all of the other vassal kingdoms. His borders had increased so much now, though they were now knocking against others who were proving almost as capable in some regards. He knew of only one leader being a player, though the others might be the same. There was no guarantee on any of that, though, as they could just be especially powerful natives to this world. Luckily, he had met them without the aid of his guardians, speaking to them personally after a few skirmishes proved fruitless.

Now negotiations and backhanded deals were the norms, with little actual combat anywhere near the land he now called home, except for trying to block the natural land bridge above his kingdom. It would only stall those who were trying to come down, unfortunately. Other continents, however, were hard-earned to join his borders, whether they were annexed in or vassals, now slowly relying on brute strength to conquer instead of needing to skulk in the shadows with intricate plans. It was still amusing to concoct a new way of annexing a neighbor, with Demiurge all too thrilled to work his will upon those who did not agree to join without issue.

"Demiurge." He stopped once again, communicating via magic to his subordinate.

"Yes, Ainz-sama. What is your will?" the devil asked, nowhere near the tomb at the moment.

"How goes the crafting of scrolls?" the supreme being requested; an update was needed for what they could have used in another nation being quickly conquered in the continent that looked somewhat like Africa. The people there seemed exceptionally hardy against physical attacks, yet weak to magic. This seemed to make them excellent guerilla fighters, ambushing any convoys he had moving through the area without a chance for his liches to cast quick enough. It also didn't help that one kingdom there was paying them to perform these acts, hampering any actions in that sector.

"We have added many new expansions to stay at the farm. Our livestock should be taken care of well enough to increase our production." _Livestock_. That was what Demiurge claimed was staying there. It was what he thought of the people that were held captive, flaying them alive and regrowing their skin to create new scrolls efficiently. After so long, it didn't really affect Ainz after finding out the gruesome ways in which his guardians performed their duties to him.

 _We acted as monsters back in Yggdrasil due to how others treated us, now I act like a monster to those that are not living under my rule because I simply do not care. Maybe I will eventually lose all connection to my previous self and just accept what I am now completely. This world will know the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, it will forever be etched in history. I just really, really wish they wouldn't give me all the details about what they do, I mean seriously, if I had a stomach I'd vomit… I don't need to know what you just did to that one man or army! Send a report without that kind of stuff!_

As he felt that slight revulsion, the calming nature of his form lowered his emotions to a much more manageable level. This had become the norm for him, and he was now used to it. There was no need to be afraid, happy, or angry; it just washed away within a few seconds. Sometimes, if things were happening beyond his control, it would activate multiple times as he just kept getting anxiety attacks over and over again… usually when Albedo arrived.

"Ainz-sama," Albedo said as she opened his office door and stepped in. He visibly shivered a little as he looked up at her. "You called for me, finally? Should I undress here or when we head to your quarters?" she asked, beaming with pride as her black wings ever so slightly twitched.

"What? Uh… that is not why I requested your presence. I want you to go with Sebas Tian and Solution Epsilon to the Land of the First Men. There, you will inquire about the production of another fleet, it has been slowing down for the past few days. I want to know why."

"Oh? Have they lost sight of who they belong to? I will do as you ask, inform them of their reason for existing. How dare they inhibit your vision… just the thought of them not keeping pace with your goals is just… just…" her hand clenched tightly as she felt angry at the thought of natives not being productive, to advance their future under the watchful eyes of the supreme being before her. The woman's teeth clenched as her lips pulled back, making Ainz flinch for a moment as he brought up his boney hand.

 _Please don't cause a scene, please don't cause a scene…_

"Yes, do so in a way that does not damage the property I own or kill anyone that is required to fulfill my wishes. We still require them to continue their work in construction, at least for a time. Most of our forces are still holding back the enemy to the north, we do not need to open a hole for the enemy to push through below."

"I understand Lord Ainz-sama. Um… might I be allowed to ask one single question?"

 _This is about having kids. No, no more. Please no. Quick, think of something to hold this off…_

"Is… is this… ahem, there is not a moment to lose, Albedo; we must have those ships built soon to continue expanding across this world. There must be new thralls, soldiers, and resources to bring in to maintain our supremacy. I have a schedule to keep to, our enemy is not going to rest while we sit here. For all that is known, he is already on his way to inhibit our growth outwards." She visibly jumped then collected herself as she nodded quickly, forgetting her question for the time being.

"Yes, of course, Ainz-sama. Could I… could I ask the question later?"

"You… er… may do so when I believe it is more convenient…" She looked incredibly excited, her eyes almost in tears at the thought of getting to ask for an answer. He had left it open-ended, however, as there were quite a few ways to stop her from requesting for him to take her to his bedroom.

 _All this time and I still don't know what to say! I'm also kind of afraid to do anything in the first place! I mean, yes, I sort of grabbed her that one time, but… that was different! I'm sorry for altering that piece of her…_

She bowed without saying another word, making an excited squeak sound as she left through the doors. Mare and Aura were walking by as she dashed down the hall, a smoke trail behind her that surprised both of them, now quite a bit older. They had swapped their attire, now aging a bit more to look like teenagers instead of children. Both of them blinked at the speed in which the guardian overseer moved in such a tight dress. "I haven't seen her move that fast since… wait, she moved that fast yesterday. Lord Ainz-sama must have agreed to something she requested again," Aura commented as she put her hands on her hips.

"Now… if I can get this done… I can get back to working out the reputation of Momon… Narbarel is going to need to travel with me again…" he whispered out to himself, relaxing somewhat as he focused on his paperwork and letting his partner in adventuring deal with another job given to her.

 _ **Also Meanwhile**_

Selene walked next to Sultan Gazi as they walked through the market, Aldemir watching their backs as her escort of honor guards kept a tight watch of the area. Commoners observed them as they bought their wares, picked up groceries, and traded amongst each other. Space was made in the middle of the broad street, allowing the entourage to walk amongst them as the empress was shown the city. She noticed quite a few stalls had rotting food, almost all of it produce or bread, very little if any was meat. Most of the negotiations were already long since completed, with the sultan more than willing to agree to multiple treaties between their people. They were quite friendly to each other, very much wanting relations to improve. It offered plenty of advantages between Salunbalos and their kith, the people of Tal Salunbal, and the Clockworkians. "I've seen food lines while flying down from my ship every day, and now the stalls have poor quality food. I was wondering what the reason for that is." Gazi looked at her as Tariq walked on the other side of the dev, both looking apprehensive in explaining the situation. The prince looked over at his father, who seemed worried about her opinion on the matter.

"It is not what you think, I would not want this for my people, ever. There is a disease that is starting to stretch across the northern lands that are farmed. We cannot combat it, only burn the area and try to regrow the crops. It has been sufficiently immune to magical cleansing. The people have not had much to eat without my intervention. Luckily, it does not affect those who work the land, only the crops it appears."

"Your intervention?" she asked. The dev was starting to get the picture now.

"Yes… much of the royal stores have been brought out to feed my people when the orders to burn the fields happen, halting trade for a time. I've done my best to compensate them against the wishes of most of my viziers." Her eyes dropped to a young boy in the line to the far side of the street, waiting with a metal bowl for his ration. Servants were waiting at the front behind tables, ladling out porridge and bread, stews with hearty vegetables. Even here, royalty had their own gardens that were unaffected by whatever plague was ailing the people northward.

 _So he's sacrificing his personal storage for them. Noble._

"Why would they stop you from feeding them? I'm curious."

"Because they wish to undermine my father's reputation and—"

"Tariq, not now." His son looked up at his father, who seemed to be scolding him with his eyes, turning away and shrinking a little in his clothes. The sultan sighed and looked around, noticing some familiar eyes, servants for his viziers and governors. "It is not safe to speak of this out here."

 _Internal politics, something isn't right. Are his own advisors trying to work against him?_

"Is there a problem, your highness?" she asked. He suddenly broke into a smile and glanced at her while they continued on slowly.

"He speaks of one vizier that has been dealt with already. It is not the same with all of them. There is some corruption in all governments, even more so with Artinia… er… I… I did not mean that as an insult to you, your imperial majesty…"

"It's alright, we're not Artinia. However, corruption doesn't always happen in every country. Mine doesn't… uh… well…" she shut her mouth as the empress realized her entire governing structure was built on automatons, machines that listened to her above all else. Loyalty was a given, with no way to be bribed or have ulterior motives. Her empire was the exception, not the rule here. It was a little embarrassing for her to recognize her words were shut down as soon as they left her mouth.

 _Earth suffered from so damn much of that, he isn't wrong. Greed is a powerful force anywhere, damn near impossible to stomp out no matter how hard you try… at best, you can sometimes divert it into more productive avenues that benefit all._

"You may not have these issues, and I congratulate you on not needing to deal with this topic; however, we are not a part of your empire and thus need to address it accordingly. Luckily, it has been rare to cause such trouble, and almost always from minor nobles."

"Huh, for Artinia, it was from the top down. The minor nobles seem like the easiest to get along with right now, but then, of course, they probably are hoping to fill the slots of the major houses that have angered me in some capacity." Gazi glanced at her as Aldemir ordered a man to get out of the way, oblivious to their movements. He did not shove the commoner, simply warned him he was in the path of the sultan. They turned a corner and continued talking.

"Do you… do you smite them when they are not obeying?" the sultan asked with some amusement in his tone. She blushed at that question and seemed to mouth something, no words coming out of her mouth for a few seconds.

"Wha… uh… I haven't really done anything to the nobles, even the ones who kind of caused some of the events that led up to Artinia becoming such a failed kingdom. I mean, yeah, they're sacks of shit sometimes, but that was enabled by their culture in all honesty. Some of them are cleaning up I've heard."

"And the others? They are still full of shit?" Selene laughed at hearing him accept that swearing was allowed between them.

"I'll admit, I may have to make an example of those who I cannot get to abide by my laws, though smiting isn't exactly something I do much of. Rehabilitation or exile is probably the standard way of dealing with anyone who cannot conform to how society works now, with execution being the last resort. The economy is booming, with chances for the rich to get richer if they just take care of those who are working for them."

"I applaud your effort. You must be instilling a sense of justice in the people. Their rights, they can speak freely?" Gazi raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh… yes? I mean, freedom of speech within reason." An entire family bowed deeply to the passing entourage, with Gazi smiling at them as he lightly touched the young son's head before they continued on.

"Can they speak of you openly?"

"Yeeeees? I mean, it's not like I really care if they mouth off. There's always going to be someone that is just unhappy with everything or outspoken about how they are something they aren't, no matter what I do. It's whether they try and take action about it, that's when I get concerned."

"So, they can insult you?"

"Uh, not anywhere near my castle or The White Palace… feels weird calling it that in public, need to think about a new name for that place… anyways, not insulting someone in their own home is supposed to be part of having good manners. Outside… I honestly don't give a damn. If they hate how I run things, they can leave to live somewhere else or try to have one of the many mayors or governors address the issue."

"Hmm, you have more self-control than I am willing to admit for myself. I should probably work on that." The empress was surprised he was willing to acknowledge his shortcomings right in front of her. The sultan seemed relatively humble in how he thought of himself, even as a ruler of a reasonably strong nation with warrior monks that could destroy an entire army. She wondered if Tal Salunbal had ever had run-ins with the Seong Neow Republic or Kohar Confederacy in the past.

"Back to the disease… do you know where it is coming from?"

"We believe it is coming from the far north, supposedly from that necropolis filled with undead. Even my own monks will not go there for long. Oddly, they never invade, simply unleashing something horrid upon the lands outside and letting it wander once in a while. Aldemir believes the ruler there is running tests as if it was just a game to him."

"This… lich, I guess?" Gazi nodded, "Does he have a name?"

"Lost to time, though I have heard minor rumors it started with an F. He was once an old man that met his superior in magical prowess, learning the power to control strong undead. He cares not for the living anymore, seeing us as test subjects. My people believe that he is the cause of missing person's reports to the local guard, with the kidnapping a way of gaining subjects to experiment on. There is no evidence to corroborate their theories, do not be concerned. Even one of my own viziers was thought to be taken, though he returned without any search party sent out. There is a higher chance that they moved to another land or set out like your… what are they… adventurers?"

"Ha… yes, they did have a 50% death rate… before my empire came along… heh…" She made a note for Will in the background to have a census survey of the adventurer's average equipment, verifying what the standard tier was for copper all the way up to Adamantite rank. His response was sending her a list already completed. Their standard gear was almost pitiful for the coppers, barely beyond regular clothes and a kitchen knife in some cases. A few of the lower ranks were desperate for a new life, just doing anything they could to survive. The new policies put into effect were supposed to help them get started, but it was clear the lower levels needed a little bit of a boost.

 _We might need to start issuing minor quests with trash tier equipment as rewards. Go collect ten pieces of wood, go kill ten rats… oy, good thing there aren't any players here, or they'd think that was boring beyond belief. That was old fashioned back in the 21st century, let alone when I started developing games… "go in the name of the empress" and all that…_

"That is concerning, though they knew what they were getting into, I am told." They stopped for some tea, one of the monks retrieving it from a shop that seemed to be his favorite. Most of the citizens bowed to the sultan when he passed, with few knowing who the beautiful woman next to him was. Some believed she was a new wife, whispering to each other about the ruler finally gaining a second one. "Ignore what they say, your imperial majesty, I am faithful to one and one only. She will always have my heart." Tariq looked at his father, his face curious. "Though, my children also have a piece of it as well."

"Good answer," she replied as she looked at Tariq and winked at him, the boy nodding in response. Tea was offered to the prince, but he declined after one sip, there not being enough sugar put into the cup. His father wouldn't allow him to eat too many sweets, as it would rot his teeth. Selene quietly put her hand into her inventory and pulled out a tiny bag of candy that she had crafted to give to children as she traveled around her own empire. He eagerly grabbed it from her hand and hid it in his pockets, with the dev bringing up a finger to her lips to stop him from blabbing. "Be careful not to eat too many at one time, try to somewhat adhere to your father's teachings."

The group turned around and headed towards the palace, though an overturned cart blocked the street halfway. "Move this," Aldemir commanded as his monks complied, assisting the owner with placing his wares back. Their strength was impressive to the commoners around them, not so much for the empress as she waited patiently, seeing a young girl running down an alley with her brother chasing her and giggling. A hooded figure walked past the same lane, watching not her, but the sultan. Selene furrowed her eyebrows and tracked him as he moved right by as if knowing exactly where the kingdom's ruler was.

 _Maybe a secret guard watching over the sultan's son? The monks are not the main fighting force here, as I've seen hundreds of other soldiers._

A second figure, this one seemed more feminine in size and shape, followed their predecessor. Once the cart was removed, they continued back to the palace. The sultan called for entertainment to be brought in as they discussed other matters, such as races not a part of the empire or kingdom. She kept most of the information about the dwarves out of the conversation, remembering to check in on their actions after it was time to leave."I have heard word of troops of circus acts and actors in your empire. Perhaps they would be willing to travel here and provide a show?" Gazi asked her as a performer juggled flaming orbs to another, not once getting their hands burnt.

"That would be up to their group, I'd rather not order them to do anything other than follow the law."

"So you are one of those. I admit I was worried I could not find another like myself in ruling over my people. Providing enough freedom so that they do not worry about my interference in all matters was paramount once I became sultan after my father passed away. My lineage has a reputation to upkeep." Selene was pleasantly surprised to hear of the endeavors he made to improve their society, even trying to get research done on coal. He leaned over the side of his throne at her cushion to speak quietly.

 _Early steam power? It didn't work, and they ran out of funding for the alchemists, but still… someone else who is interested in science instead of focusing on magic._

"Where is your wife? I have not seen her this entire time." Gazi lightly tapped his forehead and smirked.

"She is traveling the oceans right now, gaining new trade routes to other lands. I worry about her safety; however, she has proven a capable seafarer, and if it were not for my other half, we would not have nearly as much as we do right now." He seemed to be musing over his wife, her name not yet mentioned. "May I ask a question? I hope I am not asking much of you in my home."

"Ask, I'll do my best to answer."

"Very well, would it at all be possible to buy some of the schematics you have for this amazing technology? It could do wonders for my people if only a few of them were attained." Selene screwed up her face and closed her eyes, wincing at that. "Is that a poor subject to request from?"

"No, no, I just… we have a strict policy I put in place. I do not share my technology with those not of my empire. Uplifting someone isn't my forte, too much troubleshooting… uh… I mean… how do I say this…"

"It is alright, I had thought it was too much to ask. Perhaps, in the future, we may show what we are capable of to your empire, so that you may rethink this choice."

"It's mostly set in stone, so there is no rethinking it. I'm sorry." He gave a facial shrug and nodded slowly. "Maybe… I mean, I can provide some of the things I've given my own people, at least not the tech my government uses? I hope you understand." Gazi rubbed his goatee and looked at the multicolored ceiling.

"I do; to provide someone you have just met with similar advancements could backfire quite quickly. We have only just begun to negotiate with a non-aggression pact and allowed convoys to move between our borders without issue. Anything new that does come to us is more than welcome." That was it; there was no more pushing for her to share their knowledge.

"You'll already be getting access to some of the new magical equipment that your merchants will bring back. As a gesture of goodwill, we can look into the disease that has been infecting your farms." He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

"Do that, and I will see what I can do about providing you with a copy of the tome that taught us the hidden path."

"Did Aldemir not tell you? I made that, the Woad Mastery, that is."

"He did speak of it, and I cannot jump to conclusions based on what you have said. Many have tried to lay claim as messiahs; many have been proven to lie." Selene looked at the warrior monk standing next to the sultan and with a casual survey, knew each of his symbols.

"If my memory serves me correctly, **[Advir's Will]** on your shoulder for ignoring pain and fear, **[Howl of Lowden]** for increasing strength just below it by a multiplier of ten, and… well, I'd hazard a guess your feet have **[Long Stride]** for increasing your speed and stamina?" The music stopped as Aldemir stared at her with a mix of confusion, fear, anger, and surprise. Gazi seemed quite amused at this predicament as the commander appeared almost as if he was having an epileptic seizure due to how his face was conveying his emotions at that moment. "You should really alternate with **[Sulvoran's Burning Fire]** , you have… what… three on your hands? Four? You need to rotate other elements for those who are resistant to flame."

"How… do you know this?" he asked, dropping his muscular arms and kneeling in front of her, his composure breaking in wonder. No one knew the names of the woads beyond the monks, and they never shared the secrets under penalty of death. Selene raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, waiting for him to already answer his question. She motioned for him to lean in a little as the entertainers continued with their show.

"If you wear hide clothing or straps with animal teeth, you'll amplify the effects. Never wear chain mail or plate, it will drastically hinder you." Gazi clapped and laughed.

"Incredible. Simply incredible. Aldemir, I believe you have found the physical manifestation of the one you believe in. The scriptures were correct." The monk stared at her, the shock wearing off as he just kneeled there, unmoving as he studied everything about her. The dev looked over at the sultan with a questioning face. "Ah, how do I say this… you are known, at least indirectly. Even the founder of Tal Salunbal had said he was not the maker of this unique art the monks use. How can I translate this… there was mention of one who creates that allowed him to survive in such an inhospitable land."

The ruler of Tal Salunbal explained the history of his people, how the biome they lived in wasn't always theirs. It had belonged to multiple demi human races, all of which hated humans. They would have been wiped out, had he not shown up, and fought back, training new warriors to stand next to him. Eventually, they pushed the demi-humans back towards the south, far beyond where the Seong Neow Republic now resided. This area became the location that the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe started. What she learned afterward was somewhat interesting, as the animal folk were not, in fact, native to the continent, coming from across the seas and starting a new life there. Tal Salunbal pulled back its borders, focusing on concentrating all of its efforts to slowly work on science as well as magic and woad tattoos. Once the founder passed away, many attempted to prove they could be his equal, with none able to compare.

 _Do they know about combo strikes with the symbols? Sometimes using multiple minors instead of even a medium-size could cause far greater effect than just putting the more significant inscriptions all over. Hmm… I also wonder if… they couldn't… there's no way…_

"Uh, Aldemir, you use anesthetics, right?" she asked. The man looked at the sultan, who shrugged. He knew only of what the leader of the Temple of the Hidden Path explained to him, not truly attached to the religion. The monk blinked. "Oooook, I'll take that as a no… you realize inscribing the symbols into the skin was supposed to be done while numbing the nerves, or it could cause internal issues with your organs?" He shook his head. Selene facepalmed as Gazi laughed heartily, looking away from both of them as drinks were brought.

"We performed the rituals long before a battle, preparing carefully."

"With nerve inhibition drugs, even chewing on cocaine leaves, it can help with the pain. Too much adrenaline can harm the body."

"We believed pushing through the pain was a trial that proved whether an initiate can handle the teachings as expected." The empress shook her head. There was a whole process for a player to use woad ink, though in the middle of a fight, there needed to be an emergency system in place for them to regain some capability to fight. No party wanted to sit and wait at a campfire for an hour until the Woad Master was ready to get up and charge into battle again. As the dev put her hand in her inventory, she pulled out a datapad that provided an extensive survey list of the herbs that flourished in their lands, with at least five that could fit the bill and be used to calm the body or help coagulate blood on the wounds created. The entire process made everyone in the room stare with wide eyes as her hand disappeared into thin air to retrieve the electronic tool.

"Empress, I hope you understand… we are not yet allies, and you offer up this information. May I ask why?" Aldemir questioned her.

"I somehow doubt we will ever clash against each other. Having the eastern border secure with someone who I'm quite certain will look to working closely with my empire instead of breaking it down is what I'm expecting. It shows in the rule and care put into protecting its citizens." Gazi smiled at her and clapped. The entertainment stopped as he stood up.

"I'd like to show you something. It would normally be kept as a secret until the unveiling, but… I get a good feeling about you. It isn't much, at least not compared to what you have…" The empress stood up and looked around. She followed him out of the throne room and down a flight of stairs, through the whole of the palace and out the back to a winding path protected by stone arches running along the sides. There was a massive building that they were allowed inside, with multiple floors that had different experiments. Selene noticed multiple alchemists busily working on all manner of projects, even some potential doctors on cadavers. How they were keeping the smell down was beyond her, though there was a spread of some sort of salt around the bodies that looked like sulfur in color.

 _That should produce even more nastiness to enter the air, but somehow… it isn't… that isn't sulfur… are they working on similar quality of life improvements for the people as well? Could trade the growth enhancement pods that were invented if they can give some of that to us. It's not technically protected tech._

As they walked out to the attraction he wanted her to lay eyes on, she stopped and stared at the incredible display. It was the same project the inventor in the empire was working on before his house was burned down. They were trying to create one as well. "It isn't quite finished yet, though we're hoping to use the first one here to fly to a farm just outside the city. If it works as intended, we could make travel much easier with these." Though it was crude, the hot air balloon was amazing. It was being held up by ropes and refilled with supplies. Even with such low-end technology, the whole thing was beautifully designed.

"No gryphons?" she asked, still looking at the not quite functional transport.

"They don't nest in our part of the continent for some reason."

 _Never thought about that. I had zoological studies done on them already, though it didn't go too in-depth. No wonder I haven't seen anyone flying around on them beyond where Artinia was… but Be'arkeln Grand Tribe didn't have any, might have had difficulty raiding the nests? Or just didn't care…_

"I take it giant eagles don't live around here as well?" Gazi shook his head in response.

"There are… large vultures, though I doubt anyone is willing to ride one of those." The dev walked forward and touched the cloth, harsh and sewn together with finger-thick sized threads. "Magic isn't as prominent as some would like to tell you. If you can cast spells, then good for you; not everyone is so lucky. In that, we endeavor to try and allow my people to take trips around our lands easier."

"We have someone in my borders working on something similar."

"Great minds think alike, an old proverb from the original founder." She turned around and stared at him, blinking. "Might I ask… would you know why it isn't quite ready? Are the hints already there?" Selene licked her lips and nodded, smirking at him.

"You're expecting me to somehow finish the design for you." The sultan chuckled and scratched the side of his goatee.

"Can't blame me for trying…" there was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked up at the sky. "After meeting you, now knowing of your empire, we may never reach your technological advancements; however, I had a dream, long before we met. I wondered if it would be possible to somehow beat our restrictions as humans, without wings, without gills, without so much that other animals have, to reach the sky or swim below the waves without needing to come up for air all the time. We would break the bonds that keep us chained to the ground, without the need for living mounts or magic for those who have been blessed with it. Who knows, maybe one day, reaching the stars we see in the night?" Gazi walked forward and stood to her left, surveying his kingdom… and gazing upon her air fleet in the far distance. He took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, ready to continue. "I may not live to see the day we do all of this, but I can at least try and get everyone moving in the right direction, the same as Mazef Niam Razim Salunbal did when he had his vision to create our civilization."

The man looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a cocked grin on his mouth, as she brought her hand up to cover her eyes and shake her head softly. Earth had done the same thing, breaking the bonds that kept them down. Moving from trains to planes, to submarines and satellites, they continued to excel where all would believe they couldn't. Humanity could not be stopped if given a chance to exceed their restrictions. Gazi's future that he was striving to attain was almost palpable.

 _Smart man, smooth talker. Yet, I'm sure he's not just playing on my sympathy for his dream. I keep seeing that twinkle in his eyes, that willingness to push the envelope. If he wasn't the sultan, I could easily see him becoming an extraordinary scientist. There isn't a Nobel Prize in this world, but I wouldn't be surprised if he, or his alchemists here, earned something worth the same notability. Fact is… why didn't I think of doing this for my people? Oh, right, I didn't want to damage my empire's culture and allow it to slowly flourish through the ages as they changed. In a year or a little less, I was going to get my own empire up to this tech era… *sigh* Oh… fine…_

A small smile crept onto her lips as her fingers suddenly splayed out, deciding to at least slightly give up on withholding essential information to troubleshoot the technical issues. "What are they having problems with…" she groaned out, surrendering to his questioning, at least for the time being.

"They are having difficulties with landing it, not enough weight once they get in the air."

"So let the air cool inside."

"Takes too long."

"Install a parachute valve on top, use grappling hooks at the landing zones."

"How can we steer it?"

"You… kind of don't, I mean, beyond learning how the wind blows at different altitudes. You… uh…" she stopped for a moment as she realized there was a rune that fired strong gusts of wind that they had already researched. Adding it onto small stones that could be attached to the balloon's exterior could allow it to go where it needed to go, like thrusters. Her eyes went wide for a moment as the thought hit her like a sledgehammer. "We can sell runecraft stones that will allow control of movement." Gazi was taken aback by this information.

"You have dwarves as part of your empire?"

"Not exactly," she mumbled out. The sultan blinked and pursed his lips together, thinking on that. The dwarves were the only ones who knew about that craft, and for her to have access meant her government knew more than it was letting on. He wasn't sure if that meant he needed to stay on her good side or be very wary of her. The dev could tell by his body language and his temporary silence what he was thinking. "We perform research on anything we get our hands-on, guilty as charged. I'm… willing to admit… if I could get my hands on some of that odd salt you have downstairs…"

"Hanasafa Salt? Ah, the air purifier. It's a common commodity we have." The fact universal translation didn't activate on the word meant that it was the name of some plant or ingredient they used.

"Yes, that stuff."

 _That shit is like baking soda on steroids. That could go a long way in improving air filter designs, maybe even work somehow in water? Cleaning soil? Four shot combo for even the most inhospitable climate: clean the dirt, pump nutrients into it, plant seeds, fast-growing. Could help Tal Salunbal too with much smaller plots of land, keeping diseases from spreading from… wait a minute, the north? Are they sharing a border with the Kohar Confederacy? Then that means…_

"We would be willing to provide an even trade. Could you… maybe provide insight into the creation of those runes?" Her mouth curled up in a catty grin.

"Well, we can… at least for that rune… it takes some effort to produce though, you might not have the infrastructure to manufacture them in bulk." He leaned down in front of her face and smirked.

"The apprentice monks may be able to help with that," Gazi replied, looking at Aldemir, who stayed stoic, watching her and the escort she had.

"They use mana?"

"Not exactly…" he echoed her own words, narrowing his eyes at her. The empress gazed at him with her eyelids half shut, annoyed that he suddenly tried to find fallacies in her admission on creating the very system that allowed him to fight against an army.

"You ask this, yet you just said you created what they have harnessed?" Gazi asked, looking between them both as if finding an explanation on their faces.

"I meant internal mana usage, like those who are also magic casters. Woad inscriptions in the body draw on two sources, the essence in your blood, as well as the essence of the world around with the inks, pressed into the inscriptions." Aldemir now knew she had created Woad Mastery without a doubt. No one but the highest ranks knew of that; that knowledge wasn't written down. There were only her guards as well as the sultan and Aldemir there to hear it, however, with Tariq down below. "What? The sultan knows this, right? I could already tell," Gazi turned to Aldemir and blinked. He knew. He just didn't expect her to spew the deepest secrets so casually as if it didn't matter.

The commander of the Hidden Path monks sighed and tapped his foot, mulling over his next words carefully. She already had more knowledge than even he did. "Please refrain from explaining our art to any others… some wish to unravel the mysteries of our combat technique, our… Woad Mastery…" Aldemir looked to be straining himself as he stopped crossing his arms over his chest and pressed a fist over his heart. There was no eye contact, the monk just stared at the ground and waited for her response.

"I… see… that was my mistake, I'll keep that under advisement."

"Swear it."

"What? Why?"

"Swear it, empress."

"Alright, fine, I swear not to let anyone else know about Woad Mastery. It's not as if anyone would ask me anyway, so you can calm down." The commander seemed to exhale in relief through his mouth, settling on that. She still had far more secrets she wasn't giving anyone.

"We've been working on altering a woad symbol that would allow the creation of mana bars…" Selene brought her hand up to her chin and thought for a moment.

" **[Ildiah's Peace]** … that's supposed to provide nourishment when no food is nearby, along with regenerating wounds and providing mana to allies that use spells… it's an aura of sorts. What, have you been trying to split off just the mana generation?"

"We've been trying to use it to fill containers, then harden it with special tools we were able to… allocate from Drow…" The dev blinked at him, almost as if trying to understand what equipment he was referring to.

"Doesn't that stuff break when it sees daylight? I mean… I… I thought that was what happened… or am I getting my facts wrong?" Aldemir pulled from his cutoff robes and harness a vial, allowing her to inspect the contents as he rotated it in between his fingers. "Ah, forgot about protective oils. Huh, So you have the ability to make solidified mana…"

"In minimal quantities, yes."

 _Small volume, hmm… we just came upon it in the Underdark, haven't found much use for crafting the bars just yet with new machinery…_

"Would you be willing to maybe assist in the symbol creation?" Gazi asked her. She glanced at him for a moment, then sighed.

"And if I do so?"

"We would provide copies of the tools we have in the creation of the mana bars."

 _We_ have _samples of the bars already from the Underdark. While we're performing experimentation on it, the tools might speed the process up. Plus, it doesn't really hurt my empire if I help them in this endeavor._

A call was sent to her through coms by Will as she continued the conversation with the sultan about the other projects below, agreeing to help with the alteration. There was a rudimentary steam engine being crafted using coal, with them finally figuring out the complete design, they just needed to understand how to release pressure to stop it from breaking after only a few uses. Selene casually informed them when they questioned about the design that she'd offer the answer only after trade had started, that she received the Hanasafa salt and that both sides proved they were able to work within the agreements they both signed. It would take some time, though Gazi seemed very optimistic. "I do believe in the next few months we will both see that an alliance could come about. It is next to impossible to find another that is so interested in science instead of just relying on magic. The feeling of complacency everywhere else feels… wrong…"

"I know what you mean. We'll see what will happen, though if it is what you believe it will be, I don't see a problem with providing some clues to help your scientists over the hurdles that they reach with their advancements once in a while." The empress opened the communication channel to her chief of staff as Gazi smiled.

"Sorry to disturb you during your trip to Tal Salunbal ma'am, but you wanted us to let you know about any new events regarding the dwarves or our borders."

"Go ahead," she replied silently as Tariq was brought up to the rooftop after looking at some of the new contraptions they were working on down below. Selene felt it was so strange for them to just openly show off their advancements to her, a ruler of a foreign nation, entrusting her with that information as if she wouldn't just try and take it away. It made no sense to her at all that he could be so forthcoming with someone he had negotiated with for the past few days.

 _I doubt Gazi is stupid, not by any means. He probably has a good feeling about me, he's probably had that feeling since we met… highly empathic, maybe? While that's not something to always stick with, as plenty of people can backstab with a smile etched on their faces, at least he met me before some other random psycho willing to use his optimism against his nation. Still… this all makes me concerned about holding back so much from my subjects; they don't have any of this, with most of the similar projects niche toys they are playing around with right now. I wonder if I'm doing this all wrong…_

"They're in open civil war. Apparently, the government has broken down to untenable levels with the nobles now pointing fingers after an incident that happened two days ago, an assassination attempt along with ruining a mineshaft somehow. They're unsure who did it, other than it was internal with no outside interference. Yes, we are in the clear in their eyes, surprisingly. On top of that, one of the houses is about to reach the research lab they have going that is experimenting with the copper dragon eggs. It's doubtful they can find much use for the eggs beyond a bargaining chip."

"Well, that can't be good. I thought I wasn't going to need to deal with them again so soon; they've really degraded… can we get strike teams to head in if an envoy arrives to ask for help?"

"We're not sure anyone will come to ask for our assistance in the matter, preferring to die to stupidity rather than have empire intervention. The civilians, however, don't see the same way, and there are refugees already abandoning the fortress. Wait… never mind, someone just arrived at the gates of Sweet Water Harbor. They're requesting an audience, a noblewoman."

"I'm a little busy, can we send a diplomat? I still haven't spoken to the Seong Neow Republic yet on my trip, and Aldemir was going to show me the monastery just before I start heading back. That doesn't include all the other meetings within the next week." Tariq beamed at her as he pointed to the hot air balloon, marveling at its capability. While he had seen wizards fly with spells, he was unable to use magic himself, being a regular human like much of the populace was over the continent. This was something he could understand, he could control. It made the average human feel as powerful as a wizard.

"They are… from initial reports… quite adamant in having you present."

"Well I don't give a fuck after the response I got last time really, I thought we had concluded our negotiations; we leave them alone, they leave us alone. I got my bunker ripped out of their mountain, they don't worry about us interfering with any crap they start unless it pours out into the lands beyond their front door."

"They're offering up a copper dragon egg as payment for your time." Selene gave a long blink in surprise, then frowned.

 _FUCK. That causes issues, it doesn't help me! The dragons will flip out if they know about what happened to the brood in the fortress, they might demand annihilation or punishment or… something! Damn it!_

"That's damaged goods to us, isn't it…"

"It… could cause a disturbance that the dragons may find needs our intervention… if they find out, of course."

"It isn't being waved around like a bag of coins, is it? Concealed and well protected? We'll just say it was found in a cave in Artel Mountains as if the dwarves never got their hands on it. How many of the others were used for whatever crazy experiment is hidden down there?"

"Seven, none of which have actually been experimented on yet. The project is on hold, with little actually done for preparation. It's only been a month, we expected years before any fruit was born from their labor. This means we might be able to attain the remainder without any more complications." Selene sighed as Aldemir and Gazi watched her. A small report showed on her Hud that provided data on the lab. Six copper dragon eggs completely untouched, excluding the one that was being carried around by the dwarf noblewoman in Sweet Water; however, there were numerous vats of… something… sitting nearby in their hastily built lab. The first thought was of a chemical mixture they somehow concocted with runecraft to speed up the growth of whatever was bathed in it, though it might not even be ready yet.

 _This might be a way to finally get those idiots to stop trying to kill themselves, push them in a corner and give them little toys to play with instead of allowing them to poke at the gun snuck from the nightstand._

"Is something wrong, Empress Selene?" Gazi asked her.

"Ah, uh, nothing! Nothing at all! Just a little distracted and running ideas through my head." She tried to smile at them to disarm their concern, darting her eyes over to Tariq, who was holding a small necklace in his hand. Aldemir cleared his throat as the sultan looked between the woman and the monk commander.

"Ah, uh… I believe a tour of the monastery might be in order now… uh, come, come! We can talk about new advancements again at a later date, I'm sure. I can definitely tell we will be meeting each other far more often," Gazi said as he broke up the awkward silence.

"Will we be able to visit the Clockwork Empire?" Tariq asked his father.

"Of course you will, I'll make sure there are rooms ready at a moment's notice. We still haven't finished your tour of the empire yet, have we?" Selene interjected before his father could respond. Gazi nodded in acceptance to this, hoping to see just what their neighbors had created. Meanwhile, in her mind, he was so open and trusting to her. She had no idea how many assassination attempts there had been on him or his family, how many times he had needed to deal with the rich who tried to control him. He didn't have the luxury of an almost endless treasury like she did. He had to make hard choices to take care of his people and weave them a new future. The dev didn't want to harm any of that.

 _They really could be strong allies if I play my cards right, at least when it comes to talking with other countries. I can only imagine them advancing into a new age, or even going the way of steampunk. Not everything needs to be a part of my empire, there can be some diversity in leadership if it's done right. His people, at least most of them, enjoy his rule. Tariq will grow into a fine young man as well._

The monastery visit was slow, with demonstrations of what the apprentices were learning, how well they were faring, at what rituals they went through. The empress knew all of this already, noting a screw up in their administration of inks during one such event. They were under the impression that one ritual was sacrificing of their own bodies so that others around them could heal, acting as a beacon for a party that was heavily wounded. It turned out that the mixture was completely wrong, a miscommunication from the scriptures they had read. There was no reason for the monks to harm themselves, using healing salves and poultices in a fifty-fifty combination with the woad ink to drastically increase the speed of recuperation for all of them. This was on top of the anesthetic recommendation.

The sparring sessions were impressive, with Selene getting a chance to really see them in action, at least the younger warriors still in training. Aldemir watched her with keen interest, knowing now that she really was the one who created the basis behind their faith. He was heavily conflicted now between his loyalty for his sultan… and her. For all intents and purposes, she was the messiah that started everything, even without being there or physically acting to create their beliefs in the first place. It rattled him, as the one who built the monastery, the founder of Tal Salunbal… was himself following her teachings. "Empress Selene."

The dev stopped watching the show as another group of teenagers stepped forward and grabbed their weapons, ready to test their mettle against each other. She wondered what he was so worried about. "Yes?"

"Did you ever meet Mazef Niam Razim?"

"I… I somewhat remember him from a meeting a long time ago, we… well, let's just say our work interconnected at that point in history." The name did ring a bell for her, as the man was a prince that was investing in game companies, trying to revitalize his country. The empress didn't really know much about him beyond the minor facts in his online biography; he was filthy rich, and he had a knack for finding talent to work on the next generation of game technology, becoming a videogame mogul as it were. His actions tended to bring about new revolutionary ideas, not always from the companies he invested in, but the competition.

 _He had scouted me out to lead a think tank at one point, what, ten years ago? It never panned out as my schedule could never keep up with any meetings or dinners he asked me to. I kind of wonder what would have happened if I had taken that chance… the pay was pretty damn high, probably should have… but then I wouldn't be here…_

"How… old are you…?" he asked quietly. Gazi looked at him sternly, and he became silent.

"For your information, normally it's considered poor form to ask a woman her age; add that to your manners for future reference."

"My… apologies for saying that. I will remember that rule."

"For the record, I'm not as old as you believe I am. Things are… complicated with who is where." Her answer hid the fact she didn't quite understand why players were being launched to different times in history for this world. She didn't even know what the time skip was between each placement or if it was random.

The tour of the monastery ended after two hours, reviewing the armory and equipment usage, knowing of how many monks were currently available. It was mostly meant to warn her they would defend themselves and were very capable of doing so if anyone attempted anything, regardless of if her military could wipe them out. There were mostly crossbows with staves, though some standardized arquebuses were sitting lined in a weapon rack with a hook at the end. No armor was seen anywhere. The regular guards were seen to have full chain mail with some plating, halberds, and falchions. Each one also had a partner with an arquebus for ranged support, with archers in rear groups for volleys.

 _They have gunpowder, not just mana cannons like Artinia had. Few siege weapons, almost nonexistent large weapons… they have explosives in large numbers._

"You may be wondering why we allow you to see all of this," Gazi told her as they walked out slowly to the waiting escort back to the palace. The sunset was beautiful as it gave the woman a chance to see the hills to the east, beyond having the ocean that she thought was still the Atlantic.

"You want me to see how much you've progressed, both militarily and economically. It's to make sure I know you are a threat to those that do something underhanded. I don't see you as a threat, in either direction." He let out a dry chuckle.

"I am guilty as charged for that. None of this worries you, does it? I did not mean it in that way towards your empire."

"Not in the slightest. However, you shouldn't worry as well." She stopped and looked up at him, her honor guard milling about around the group. "What I'm seeing is the need to defend your people with science as well as magic. You're also doing whatever you can to improve their lives. Your monks of the Hidden Path have shown self-control, with no intent to try and conquer others; you're holding back in hopes of peace and a better future. You're in luck; I'm very much impressed compared to Artinia. I… may not provide every answer to your questions with advancing your technology… but we could invest if you need funding." The sultan had a giant grin on his face, making his cheeks almost hurt. His chest swelled with pride at the compliment.

"I believe this is the start of a fantastic relationship between our two nations." A small alarm went off in her Hud, informing her it was time to finally leave. The empress told him her time was up, after such a long trip to speak with him. In the entire time she was in Tal Salunbal, the dev had seen much of the land, observing their markets and trade. Their wares were still exotic to her subjects, definitely ready to be bought by nobles and middle class alike.

"Next time, I hope to meet your wife."

"Indeed, it will be difficult to nail her down long enough to have dinner with us. You know she has created twelve new trade routes across the seas, with ports contracted along the way?" They continued heading back to the palace and towards the waiting helibot. Multiple automatons were sitting next to the transport, watching the guards who were wary of them.

"I should probably ask her where they dock so we can send our own merchant vessels along, get a convoy going for both of our interests. It'll keep pirates from attempting anything." He motioned at her with both hands, his face lighting up.

"Exactly! That would do so much to allow goods to reach us! Both of our nations would prosper!" Both of them stopped at the waiting stairway, with Tariq trying to keep his chin up but failing. She kneeled down and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Your father will send an envoy to warn me of a future meeting, so don't look so sad I'm leaving. I'm looking forward to the visits."

"Very well, I understand. Until next we meet, Empress Selene."

"I know about that bag of sweets she gave you, Tariq… you may have two, no more until tomorrow," Gazi informed him sternly. The dev stood up and put her hands up in surrender.

"Guilty as charged, sorry."

"It's alright, I simply do not wish for him to ruin his appetite for our evening meal and prayer."

"Yes, father." A quick shake of the empress and sultan's hands, then she was inside the flying vehicle, heading back to _Majesty's Grace_. Once aboard, Adesha was waiting for her in the docking bay. The ambassador past by, heading for the small office provided to duplicate paperwork and review what had transpired before with the dwarves, to look for an opportunity that the empress could use.

"How was the trip today, your majesty?" she asked.

"I did well, pleased with the results. We have a guaranteed non-aggression pact, multiple trade routes with protection details provided for any convoys on either side of our borders, a slew of samples to hand back to Nikola and Robert, even some investment opportunities I can have posted for the rich to spend their money on to try and create some healthy competition. I even got quite a few history books. All in all, I honestly can't wait until we get some sort of an alliance."

 _Even if the alliance is entirely economical for my citizens. Still… if we help them build up, Gazi was willing to sell some of the creations to my people. It could speed up the whole process of entering them into the next age if another nation has the same luxuries. I wouldn't have to worry about them sitting around in the Renaissance Era, using our neighbor as a guinea pig of sorts while helping them reach a better future._

"Shall we head home?" the white-haired battle maid asked.

"Yes, as much as I did enjoy this trip compared to all the others, I'm tired and want to be at the castle. We'll head back out to meet with the Seong Neow Republic at a later date. Too many other things are popping up, and it isn't as if they want me to show up at the end of the year."

"That is quite understandable, empress. We'll have your supper ready soon." The air fleet turned around and slowly headed back towards the empire's borders, with no order given to teleport just yet. It was one of the rare times the dev got a chance to look out the windows and just enjoy the view of the land below without cannons going off or fighters flying in an aggressive formation. There was nothing to fight right now, just focusing on building her country up and making a few friends in other nations. She didn't yet know that eventually, somehow, things were going to happen that would drag her into something world encompassing.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Far to the north in the lands that still vaguely resembled Europe, right in the center of a fairly prosperous city, was a fortress of incredible size. Hidden in the center was a throne room that sat a man covered from head to toe in black armor, surrounded by hundreds of loyal followers that seemed to have a blank stare in their eyes, all incredibly strong… at least by this world's standards. Two women fawned over his hands and feet, providing a manicure and pedicure as he just grinned with a paper read to him. "Your majesty… Ainz Ooal Gown is sending a scout flotilla to the area you… you called… North America… there are also new ships that have not been finished just yet in the south. It seems our actions have slowed their progress in expanding across the world, allowing us to continue with our… your… plans."

"Excellent. I'm going to show him once and for all, show everyone what the true number one guild can do. No one is ever going to shame me again..." He slowly broke into laughter, looking up at a window above that shown light from the moon getting brighter above.


	36. Ch 35 Small Miracles

_**((Author's Note: So yeah, I haven't added a chapter in a while, and this is the explanation. I just finished a semester of college and now it's winter break posting this. I focused pretty hard on getting good grades while also trying to finish this. I haven't forgotten the story, it just took longer than expected. This was not supposed to be coming out this late, it wasn't planned for Xmas Eve or anything.))**_

 _ **(The Recommended song list in this chapter is: BigRicePiano – Cappucino; Two Steps From Hell – Miracles; Gåte - Gjendines Bånsull. Notices are still placed at key points. From now on, this list will appear at the top of each chapter.)**_

 _ **25th, December**_

Hrist awoke early and checked on her sisters, having stayed awake longer than she did and packing every book they could get their hands on in the library. While the rest of the temple was ever so slowly crumbling, that room was the last refuge that was completely untouched bar some light dust. They had even found some tomes that seemed quite useful to read later, gilded with incredible symbols and locked cases, keeping them secure. The raven-haired woman slipped outside to start some solo practice with a sword and shield, wearing little more than pants and a dark blue sleeveless top.

As she went through her motions carefully, swinging her weapon as if the Valkyrja was in a battle, the waves of the ocean nearby seemed so soothing. It was still somewhat dark outside, with no real light to be seen beyond the fading stars, as she kept to her routine and exercised. Once she had finished with the sword, Hrist swapped to practicing her martial arts moves that Selene had shown her, sliding effortlessly now around the small little arena she had cordoned off. After two hours, the battle maiden stopped and grabbed a towel she had brought outside, wiping herself off and grabbing a cereal bar in the supply bag.

With morning training done, she wiped her face, her eyes landing on a woman down the path leading up to the cliffside, just at the edge of the forest there. Her hands stopped moving as they just stared at each other, the other woman standing and wearing a leather skirt with a small strap bra holding her ample chest from spilling out. The Valkyrja noticed her physique was well-toned, trained for combat. A spear was in her hand, along with a round wooden shield strapped to her left arm. Strap sandals were worn on her feet, new from the looks of it, given they probably fell apart after a short time. The hair was weaved into cornrows down one side, a light pastel green it seemed. What happened next made Hrist immediately grab her sword and sheath it in the scabbard at her hip.

Four others came out of the forest, all standing next to their sister. All they did was watch the battle maiden stand there, uncaring about who they were, just what they wanted. Even from that distance, Hrist could tell they weren't a threat at all, being little more than an inconvenience at best. "Hey, Hrist, what did you want for breakfast?" Skuld shouted out through the open door to the temple. The raven-haired woman didn't respond at first, still observing the five down below, what slowly dawned on her to be amazons.

 _There must be a tribe here on this landmass. This might be interesting._

"Hrist? Aren't you done with your… sparring…" Skuld yelled out as she walked through the archway, her voice dying away as her eyes landed on what her sister was staring at. Brynhildr came up behind her and leaned against the doorframe, clicking her tongue.

"Looks like we have natives," the blonde commented, shaking her head slowly, then heading back to their small camp to retrieve her own weapons.

"Are they hostile?" Skuld asked as the women slowly started walking up the path to the temple.

"We'll soon find out, won't we?" Hrist responded as she narrowed her eyes, keeping her fingers on the hilt of her sword.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Let me see if I have this correct, if you'll pardon me," Selene said to the dwarven noblewoman sitting opposite her in front of a fireplace while both sat in large cushioned chairs, tea provided for both as the mayor and her police chief sat off to the side. Ralos observed next to his friend while wearing a crude firemen's jacket, his arms crossed over his chest while they tracked what was said. There were a good twenty automatons in the room, all security or deadlier, with ten police officers to watch the six dwarven warriors that escorted the noble to Sweet Water. "You require me to send in an army to sponsor you in taking the throne of Morzon'Tol?"

The dwarf sipped her tea lightly as she crossed her legs, wearing leather pants and what looked to be a fashionable adventurer's ensemble, complete with a rich green coat. There seemed to be a short sword strapped to her hip, jeweled and covered in gold lace along the crossguard; whether she knew how to even swing it or if it was just for show mattered little to anyone in the mayor's mansion. "That's correct, get me to the throne and provide support, I will provide the remainder of the copper eggs, one of which I brought here. It is such a simple matter, I should be the next ruler, obviously."

"I'd rather not get embroiled in this civil war you are in, lady…"

"Marzim, Marzim Stoneblood. Perhaps you have heard of my family? Of course you have, even you humans know of the greatness of my clan out here. That should tell you that you must heed my call and acknowledge my request."

"Never heard of you. A complete mystery."

The dwarf spat out a little of the tea as Gilford smirked a little at the empress's response. Marzim soon regained her composure as the empress looked slightly bored.

"I guess I'll have to overlook that… regardless, given what has already transpired so early in our contact, and how few real soldiers we have right now after those calamities, I am willing to pay a hansom sum for some of your metal warriors here."

"My troops are not for sale."

The dwarf let out a haughty laugh and rolled her eyes. It was clear that meeting with royalty outside of her own civilization was not part of standard noble etiquette. "Everything is for sale, dear, even them. You there, you," she pointed at one of her honor guards, "how much is she paying you?"

"Your actions are considered insulting by us towards our empress, Lady Marzim Stoneblood. Please refrain from attempting to bribe us in front of our creator. Further actions may be dealt with accordingly." The advanced core metal warrior stared at the dwarf, no change in motion for what seemed like an eternity. Two Light tier forms came up behind, showing that the size wasn't always that of Mediums that protected their ruler.

That made the whole room go quiet aside from Gilford and Ralos, both sharing a short giggle as the police chief's ex-commander smirked and shook his head. They didn't know what the empress of the Clockwork Empire really could do, that the show of power the last time in the dwarven city wasn't just of her capability, but of her military as well. Selene herself simply facepalmed and groaned a little.

 _I'm sure you were there when I collapsed those walls inward and sealed that entrance from the faith eaters. You can't be this stupid… or are all the dwarves on this continent dredging from the shallower part of the gene pool?_

"You seem to be mistaken on how to act when in foreign relations, Lady Marzim. I would suggest you be careful in how you speak in the next few minutes, or what words that come out may sour everything beyond repair. Your… reasoning… behind questioning my guard tells me you have no real care about my support, just trying to get a military that will allow you to march to the throne."

"Empress Selene, had I my own soldiers I wouldn't be here, what with-"

"So your clan has fallen on hard times, I take it?" Marzim glared at her in shock, implying that she was from a minor household. The dev simply smiled at her, though it seemed icy. Selene continued on with her interruption. "You just said that you are low on numbers, your very words tell me you have difficulty gaining warriors. I'm not exactly proficient in dwarven history, but I believe from the refugees that are abandoning your city that mercenaries are not allowed in your kingdom, so sellswords aren't exactly common."

"Had you not had that tunnel created that allowed those things to arrive when they did, we would-"

"Ah, we're going down that path again, are we? In this mansion, no doubt? I see, I see. Well then, it's been interesting talking with you, Lady Marzim, but I believe what you are attempting to uh, provide as compensation for any services are quite lacking."

Marzim stood up, bumping into the coffee table between them. "I am providing a dragon egg that is worth an entire treasury!" the dwarf snapped.

"I have citizens who are dragons, with their own broods slowly building, along with a clockwork dragon of my own creation. Technically, that egg you have does belong to those who are not quite yet in my empire, though they've been vouched for already and will be arriving soon. I wonder what would happen if they decided to talk amongst each other about their previous issues with the dwarves in Morzon'Tol?" Selene said as she brought her finger to her lips and looked up at the dim chandelier above them.

"You would threaten that? I come here to negotiate-"

"I didn't threaten anything, simply providing a reading suggestion that having those eggs has been nothing but bad luck for your people. Since they've already had one run-in with your soldiers, I would think that would cause the newcomers to, well, come knocking again to reclaim their children; word of mouth amongst them must travel quickly to give them an update about who is where and what belongs to whom. Now, here's something interesting you should really worry about," the empress informed her as she leaned forward a little, "let's say they do come poking around at your doorstep. Well, that's my citizens causing some trouble to a nearby neighbor, correct?"

"Wha… uh… yes! Yes, then you would have to pay recompense for all the damages they caused and-"

"Oh no, no no" Selene waggled a finger at her and clicked her tongue, "that's not what will happen. Those are their children you have. So, if they claim kidnapping, then they have a right to reclaim those eggs, potentially request assistance by me. Given how big and strong those dragons are, it would seem a little pointless to directly interfere, barring some healing if one got hurt… they are my subjects, after all, I would hate to see them in pain. Now, that means I'm aiding them in some capacity. Wouldn't that convey that I am openly hostile?" Marzim's face went pale as the empress explained the worst-case scenario. "Now, _I'm_ not declaring war on you, I've done my best to be professional where possible, but I'm finding it a little hard that the rest of your noble houses wouldn't band together and stop your civil war temporarily to somehow… jump into something they really shouldn't have as a life or death scenario."

"You wouldn't punish your own subjects if they went into… into our fortress?" Marzim stammered out in shock.

"Oh, I don't know about punishment for inciting further trouble between our people, but given how long they live, placing any of them in prison is quite pointless, especially since it is technically protecting their families. I'd find other ways of making them repay their debt if that was the case, to me, of course, given they would break my laws and cause trouble for my government. I could really care less about yours right now, obviously, given we aren't friendly in the slightest it appears." There was silence in the room as Mia had a small smile creeping on her face and just how little shit their ruler was willing to take when it came to watching out for her subjects, even for the dragons. "Was there anything else? Anything?"

"I… we… we will not stand for this."

"Oh, so what is it you will exactly retaliate with? I'm listening," Selene replied as she balled her hand into a fist and rested her chin on it, giving the dwarf a small smile as she blinked. There was no response, just the noblewoman's mouth moving with no words escaping. They didn't know of the concept of tariffs, sanctions or embargos just yet, with so little trade happening with the high elves before they joined the Clockwork Empire. They had nothing, only what 'civilians' would cause if they came to reclaim their children. Any war that would break out would be stifled within a day at worst, heavily favoring the automaton military by a ludicrous degree. "No? Well then, I believe we're done here; I have no interest in siding with one clan or another, given you are the only official to arrive and speak with me. If other officials came about, we could have a neutral meeting held in my empire, one where all of you could settle your differences. The last thing any other country should do is get in the middle of a civil war unless they're interested in claiming something as payment. I have other meetings to attend, my apologies for not staying for much longer."

The dev stood up and smiled at her, motioning for the police to escort the dwarf out of the building. The entire time, Marzim gritted her teeth and started swearing under her breath. Her entourage followed her out as she glared at the officers flanking the front entrance, double doors swung open with light snowfall outside. She shivered as one of her escorts brought a cloak, which she clasped around her neck and elbowed him away, then quickly jumped in the carriage with large oxen pulling it; the creatures had horns that split multiple times, creating a sort of grill over their faces like a football helmet. What wildlife that lived underground and was bred the empress didn't quite know completely yet, with most of the surveillance being done on the dwarves themselves.

As the mountain men and woman started to head back out of the city, Selene just stood there in the doorway, staring at the receding coach's form. "Grey?" she questioned over coms.

"Go ahead, ma'am."

"I'd like intel on which clan is doing what inside that city. If we're getting refugees, then they don't really care who gets in the way. That's putting their lives in our hands compared to their leaders, which doesn't bode well, given they aren't heading to underground towns and villages far away from their fortress… I would think at least one of the clans would be looking out for the common man."

The director of intelligence sighed on the other side of the channel, worried about explaining to her what was now known. "So far as we've been able to gather, fifty-three clans are living under all that stone, dispersed throughout the city as well as the underground villages. Very few are town-sized or even attempted to reach that level."

"Go on."

"The Stoneblood Clan is not known for its pleasantries towards others, tending to get what it wants when it wants it. You've already more than likely noticed this."

"I've had the opportunity now to speak with a noble of that house," Grey brought up a dossier involving Lady Marzim for the empress to read through as she responded. "The fact she was the only one to come knocking on our door says something about the others. Fifty-three… that's a lot of voices in high places that don't get along…"

"The people themselves hold no ill will towards us or the high elves. The nobles, on the other hand, are annoyed we took away that bunker and somehow are still responsible for the loss of most of those eggs. How they expected to control a dragon hatchling is anyone's guess, let alone seven of them. Regardless, there's an emergency plan that is brewing in the background."

The dev cocked an eyebrow as the people behind her seemed curious about why she was just standing there, staring out the door. "Your majesty, is something wrong?" Gilford asked. She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled.

"Everything is fine, no need to worry. I have a feeling that is the last time we will see her." With that, the empress walked out of the mansion with her automatons and headed for the landing point, multiple early risers bowing to her passing by. "What's the plan?" the dev questioned back over her coms.

"It's no surprise that they may have access to mana ingots, given they are underground. Tal Salunbal is just starting to craft these, with Drow having mastered it from what has been seen. The plan is to attempt to smelt the bars into the deep forge and create a golem bound to an alliance of the major clans. The Stoneblood Clan is just at the cusp of joining, with the prince opposing along with two loyalist houses."

"So the assassination attempt was successful? The mountain king is dead?"

"Correct ma'am, Prince Ontar is the next in line for the throne, at least, that would normally be the case."

The dev stopped at the stairs to get inside the transport as they extended down, the engines powering up and her escort climbing in from the RORO. "Everyone is out for themselves in there, and the people at the bottom are running for the hills. Is it chaos?"

"Not exactly, there is still order being kept, though minimal. Granted, more refugees are now sneaking away, including guards at the gates. The prince is still attempting to maintain order, though his skills in that regard are… lacking. He doesn't have the finesse of his father or the experience. While he means well, that in itself isn't going to make everything better. Back to the situation at hand, though, ma'am."

"Of course." As the empress walked up the steps, Mia came running up behind her and yelled.

"Empress Selene!" The mayor cupped her hands over her mouth as the engines started up and rotated to check all flaps and gimbals. The auburn-haired woman turned around at the top of the stairs and waited. "I wanted to thank you for bringing my friends back, I… I just… thank you."

"You're welcome. I hope you have a good rest of the month and a happy new year. Beyond that, I hope to see you and your friends at the ball later this coming week."

Mia curtsied to her as Gilford trudged out with his hand up to block some of the snow that was being kicked up from the engines as the dev got inside, the door sealing and stairway lifting up. The police chief wrapped a cloak around the mayor's shoulders and pulled up her powder blue hood with fur lining as the transport pushed off and headed back to 1st Air Fleet. They would be at the event in the White Palace, to provide visual support to the empress.

"When the ingots are dropped in for heating, the dwarves are under the impression they can be forged into a massive golem to protect the city, capable of not only using physical force but also magic due to the infusion. The main issue is what the deep forge is attached to," Grey continued explaining as cabin pressure cut out the sound of the helibot's movement.

"Wait, the forge is attached to something?"

"A volcano ma'am, mostly dormant." The woman sat there, stunned for a moment as Grey continued. "They use the connection to gather rich iron deposits and –"

"That might be why they have full suits of armor for all of their soldiers. Even Artinia had a good fifty percent of their forces as just lowly footmen."

"It's the very reason why Artinia never committed to a full invasion at any point; they'd lose so many troops that they couldn't even hold the city before the dwarven citizens retook it."

Selene facepalmed. "Don't tell me they have geothermal energy capability. I just found out that Tal Salunbal is in the beginnings of the Colonial Era and ahead of the curb compared to my people… granted, that's my doing in the first place to slowly move them through the ages. The last thing I need to know is the dwarves are even more advanced than I had previously thought."

"No ma'am, this is just a very intricate construction process that helps with constant furnace usage. The original engineers for their race were unprecedented in intelligence. The main problem with putting those ingots in is that mana doesn't contain in the crucible the same way as the molten metal, courtesy of Sci Div's experiments."

The empress crossed her legs and brought her hand up to her chin, lightly pinching it as she furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not quite sure I follow. Are you saying the mana disperses down into the vents towards the rest of the volcano further down?"

"Mana, at least a physical form of it, doesn't like being reheated after being cast. It tends to cause small explosions that need to be contained when being hammered or cast. Basically, it creates its own fireworks display each time someone uses any of it, quite spectacular when Robert and Nikola got to test some."

 _I'm seriously surprised the dwarves don't have an army of golems pre-made, even with the faith eaters boiling up the tunnel or the inefficiency of using them for anything beyond siege weapons. When you have one hundred of a walking tank smashing the same area over and over, your odds increase each time to hit that one hero running around._

"I think Gabriel was taking some of it for use in some new spells?"

"He's currently visiting the wizard's academy in Aureos to oversee some library research topics regarding tier magic expansion. While Dimensional magic is arguably more powerful, it is far more difficult to harness now for anyone; it's doubtful it will ever take off, even if you were to train another. Having Tier magic widely available everywhere in the empire benefits everyone, not just advances in science."

Selene leaned back as the transport was five minutes out from her flagship in the sky. "Back to the matter at hand, so they make this golem… this is a reunification strategy."

"Any instability in the creation of the creature will at most destroy the surrounding sector of the city, not that the nobles seem to care about that given it's already been vacant. The smiths don't exactly live close by for some reason; my stealth teams retrieved city schematics that don't explain the planning their dwarven ancestors wrote up. It's possible there was a better set up with thinking outside the box from the caste system they are using now. Beyond that… they'll have a mana infused Adamantite golem, ma'am. This would all happen if they don't have their best wizards controlling the mana in the first place, in which there could be an attempted ambush to stop the whole process."

"A mana infused Adamantite golem? Singular?" the dev questioned, checking through her schematic list in her Hud with all the intelligence provided by Bronze Team during their infiltration before. Multiple different forms appeared, with the lowest grade being a stone material and going up from there into the different metals known. Mana infusion would cause the new mindless soldier to cast spells at random, like an automated defense turret… except this was all over its body with omnidirectional capability.

"Yes ma'am; the name should instill terror in most races around the world, excluding us. Player kingdoms also would have little difficulty dealing with this threat as long as they were high enough in level. Given we don't have any data on players anywhere, the likely conclusion would be the golem would be destroyed by anyone other than a mid-tier kingdom or below… we would rank Artinia as such, despite the territory it controlled." A scaling list appeared showing the golem standing at almost the end of the arrayed forms, topping out at roughly level 60. Then came an auto maid, much smaller in size compared to the juggernaut and holding a smile on her metal face. Even the civilian model was a level 100, with the empress's **{Steampunk Mechanical Engineering}** skill augmenting them. A second list was provided that could theoretically defeat it, including an Adamantite rank adventurer group, though they might suffer losses.

"Size?"

"Roughly twenty meters in height."

"So target practice… it's an unmanned dwarven tank…" the dev facepalmed and shook her head, already coming to a conclusion on what Grey was thinking. "So, to realign everyone on the same page, they intend to make this golem in hopes of having all the clans agree to follow their leadership and resourcefulness. Lady Marzim probably wanted one of my drones to improve the design. Oy… better have watch teams keep an eye out for any dwarves trying to sneak around near my troops… not that they'd do much other than causing a scene…"

Grey raised an eyebrow on the other side, sitting in front of a massive intelligence center with all of his agents working on one thing or another, keeping track of the goings-on within her borders and without. A massive metal orb with conduits snaking out of the top towards the ceiling sat in the middle, with almost no light beyond a few monitors. Selene had a comical thought of a group of dwarves trying to steal even one of her security models, only to get video footage of a game of midget tossing. Her director of intelligence continued on. "They may be hoping that this will make anyone else believe they are completely capable of handling themselves, of warding off vultures nearby. If it fails, this very well could be the end of their kingdom without any effort on our part, a government that simply is collapsing on itself, the death throes of a regime as it were."

"Even though she was a bitch, I'm pretty certain Lady Marzim was afraid… desperation to keep power can lead to interesting choices."

"Her clan isn't yet a part of this alliance, which means she did this all on her own, potentially for a bargaining chip and a place at the big kid's table, only to somehow make an attempt for the throne. Remember, this is an emergency plan that hasn't taken effect yet. Their civil war will reach a peak in three weeks, estimated. This could change depending on any clans gaining or losing too much power, being absorbed, or wiped out. This could slow or hasten the process up."

"Meanwhile, we have refugees jumping ship and have had it with their shit. Good thing, most of the commoners are perfectly fine being within our borders. They just want a stable government, they don't care who runs it. They're fairly different from the layfolk of Artinia, leaving the reach of their rulers instead of just getting trampled on. Well, Felix and the governors can get them situated quickly with new futures. At least it isn't their whole population hopping the fence and asking for asylum." The empress was surprised at their reasoning skills. Their dwarven lives meant more to them than staying within the boundaries of those in power, preferring to head off to a neutral party instead of handling the crap the nobles threw at each other. There were even soldiers that took their axes and armor to escort the lower castes to her lands; a few were also heading towards Sweet Water to get jobs in the police, with plenty of experience giving them good opportunities.

"We'll never know why Artinians decided to stay unless we ran a full census on their reasoning. I would suggest against that, as that could be imposing into their personal lives, trying to count the skeletons in their closets."

"I agree; it's also in the past. No one really needs to dredge up those awful days for them, it's better to let them look towards the future. Alright, well, keep tabs on the noble clans, have safety teams ready to seal the area if things get out of control with the crafting of the golem. A level 60… they'll trudge that thing out all pristine and shiny, send it off with a small army of the remaining loyal troops in a parade at the front doors… that's going to be one hell of a morale boost for them… of course, this is like allowing an unstable government to get access to weapons of mass destruction normally." As the helibot landed on the pad and was brought inside, Adesha stood up and waited at the door, holding the empress's small satchel of paperwork that she brought with her to Mayor Mia's home. The bag was now empty, with all documents provided for perusal by the city's top officials, Ralos included.

"Or a drop in morale if you think carefully. The warriors who would still follow the nobles might give up and finally leave, no longer accepting their leadership if it means they can be replaced with metal. That would cause a second show of power, potentially against us," Grey replied.

"That would completely fill in the gap that was the dwarves in my borders, making only the Seong Neow Republic and the Kohar Confederacy an issue. I want a warning ahead of time if they get their hands on some new artifact, no repeats of the mad king. If that golem looks to be an actual threat with new technology, I'm committing forces before it can even twitch," she told him.

"Yes, ma'am, I'll keep you updated." Just as the channel ended and Grey continued other investigations, Nikola chimed in.

"Empress, we would like to know if you have time to visit the ARC to review the resurrection chamber that is now complete," he asked.

"Ah, uh… sure? We know what it will do, correct? Every little detail?"

"Not every detail, but most of them. All the required materials are inserted, it just needs a dosage of blood provided. The chamber will create a new body and insert the soul into it; though, with no template programmed in, it may randomize traits completely."

"You mean it might make her an old man?"

"The gender we're fairly certain is sealed; however, there is no guarantee age won't play a factor. Also, as a reminder, there will only be general memories, such as speech, movement, and the most primitive of self-preservation experience, such as eating and knowing when to sleep or use the restroom; this… was actually implemented from a Lazarus System. From what the journals imply, no recollection of the previous life will be admitted. It will be almost as if they were reincarnated rather than resurrected."

 _Hopefully, I can help with that new life. They'll be in an unknown world, without friends or family. I didn't exactly promise anything, but I'll do my best to help her out where possible. Still wondering what my blood will do…_

"I… understand, I'll head over once I've finished my doctor's appointment." Selene checked her schedule, pushing a meeting with Liyana to the evening as a dinner event until tomorrow. It was to discuss the conservation center for the Eld Horn Forest, protecting the giant deer that the land got its name from; initial surveys stated they were already at a near-threatened level of extinction. They also suggested controlling hunting practices of the majestic creatures with their intricate horn displays, as they didn't reproduce nearly as fast as any other species. The horns were sold as material for bows and hilts for weapons, though Gold Pinewood was starting to show promise in replacing it. That was now a whole new resource to get exported from the towns, with new laws now needing to be written to protect the forest from logging groups.

As soon as the notice was sent out, Davin had commented near one of the administrative automatons on the chance to eat a feast with the empress and ask hundreds of questions, relayed right back to her without any lag. The dev immediately groaned with a small smirk on her face. "Alright, alright, he can ask whatever… no way I'm answering all of it, though… that kid needs to go to the academy for crying out loud…"

As the channel closed, there was a list of events that would be happening soon, many of which didn't require her presence. A tournament was being held in Aureos, sponsored by the noble houses in the area; quite a few barons and lords were traveling from Silvinholm to watch newcomers, many of which might be offered permanent employ. While she hadn't really cared too much about showing up before, Will had advised once she had awoken that morning to at least study the champions. It might instead be possible to give them a chance to join Morlan in his future agency. With a small twitch of her eye, her Hud brought up the list of applications while she headed for the bridge. The empress stopped just at the main doorway as her eyes landed on four particular names. "Oof, what do they think they're doing… this might not end well…" she whispered to herself. Now, it was all but certain she'd become an unexpected arrival to oversee the gauntlet that a specific team might go through.

 _ **Two Hours Later**_

"You're doing it wrong" Marv just closed his eyes as Pops swung his padded mace towards Dylan, who just simply backed off and kicked at his legs. They had been sparring since the buttcrack of dawn, with at least a little improvement in teamwork. The old man shook his arms in frustration at the wizard's response to everything.

"You want to come over here and explain why you damn dress wearer?!" he snapped back as his teammate was about to counter. None of them wanted to practice with other teams, as it could give anyone who entered the tournament an edge for either the cooperative events or solo.

"Both of you! Stop! Marv, you're not helping," Dina intervened, putting her hands up between them as sparks seemed to fly from each other's eyes. A low grumble escaped the tank's lips as they backed off.

"He keeps trying to use a clubbing weapon against someone who can easily dodge. That's never going to work," the spell caster tried to explain to her.

"Don't tell me that, try and give him the advice without coming off as a know it all. Maybe we should all take a break; this whole thing is getting on everyone's nerves," the brunette replied as the rogue sat down right where they were fighting, dropping his wooden daggers on the ground and crossing his arms.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," Dylan remarked as he glanced off into the rest of the training courtyard. The adventurer's guild had a new hall built, courtesy of the empire after the first one had been burnt down. While it still looked relatively the same as the old one, there were a few minor improvements such as brand new paint and different roofing. It was mostly done to prevent building fires from spreading with new sealant glazed on the outside walls. It did help keep the ambient temperature comfortable, however.

Pops glanced over at the ranger as she tried to mend fences between their stressed party. He knew it would dash her dream to at least try and prove their mettle, instead of the slow and steady approach they had normally taken in quests. In many ways, she saw more in them than they saw in themselves. "No, we keep going. Hopefully, we can-" he stopped speaking as his eyes landed on Ezra walking along the tiled pathway covered by a long pergola. The young priest noticed them and waved, continuing on towards another group of what looked like Mithril ranks. As the young Rikter stopped, he opened a small satchel at his side and pulled out a rosary for a man that appeared to be a half-orc. While uncommon, they held the same rights as anyone else in the empire and didn't share the same anger management that the full-blooded had in the grand tribe.

"Huh, I wonder how he rose up the ranks so damn fast," Dylan queried as Marv stepped forward a little.

"Probably one of the illegal arenas that were shut down. They kind of ran rampant when Artinia was still a thing. Damn, that's pretty impressive that he got that plate so fast." The half-orc thanked the teenager and nodded as they spoke, his large canines protruding from his lips and jutting upwards. They weren't as pronounced as a full-blooded orc's, though they were still noticeable. "He knows his stuff if he's with a band of adventurers that care about his skill rather than what runs in his veins."

A paladin walked up next to his partner, scratching his brown beard and listening to the conversation, then waved off the priest as he pulled out his own symbol of his god that he worshipped. Ezra simply put up his hands in surrender, not attempting to insult anyone. The man simply nodded and accepted they had faith in two different deities, though what power the paladin wielded was still undecided on where it came from. "You think that pally is given the blessing from his god or goddess?" Pops asked gruffly.

"Does it matter? He can cure some diseases, smite undead, runs around in plate armor, and is a walking lantern in some cases. I wouldn't care where that power comes from, as long as he was on our side and didn't want to backstab anyone. It seems they're friends at least, so that means he's ignoring the half breed's looks and understands the person he is under that face," Marv replied. A dark elf blade dancer walked up next to both of her party members and tapped the half-orc on the arm; as he turned his head to look at her, she handed him a sandwich. Dina was impressed.

"They have a pretty diverse group. I would have never expected a dark elf to become an adventurer," the brunette remarked. Ezra laughed at something the paladin said and waved goodbye as he left, slowly making his way to the Orc Destroyers.

"Greetings on behalf of Elesia, all of you," the white-haired teenager told them as he bowed.

"Well, look at you, in charge of a whole temple now, eh Ezra?" Pops asked. The priest looked up at him, confused, then pointed at himself.

"I share control of it with another. I… I mean, I guess I sort of run things now, though I'm not quite sure I really know what I'm doing," he replied, scratching the back of his head with a lighthearted chuckle escaping his lips.

"So, I guess you aren't in the adventurer's business anymore, are you?" Dylan queried.

"I'm a silver rank, aren't all of you gold? Congratulations on that, by the way." Ezra pulled out the little talisman that held his plate under his robes, with the rest of them having their tags sitting squarely on their chests for everyone to see.

"Yeah, heh, heh, we did rise up a little; right now, we're training for a tournament. Maybe… you might be interested in joining our party again?" Dina said as she giggled a bit.

"I'm sorry, but priests aren't allowed in that tournament. No assistance to keep a group standing, it's a rule," he replied. "It's to stop a band of adventurers or mercenaries from having a never-ending battle in team combat. If it went on and on forever, people would get bored and go home, with no clear victor."

"What happens if someone decides to cheat and poison another?" Marv asked, glaring a little at Dylan.

"Oh come off that now, I didn't poison you; that was your choice fair and square."

Ezra pulled out a small piece of paper from his satchel and handed it to them. "Priests are on the sidelines to assist anyone who requires healing. Look for those symbols, and someone will provide help. I'll be overseeing the tent nearby, actually, though… I hope we don't need to run into each other."

"Well, are healing potions allowed?" Pops questioned him.

"I'm… unsure. You'd have to ask the adventurer's guild if that is a rule, I just know what priests are allowed to do in the area. I only just got asked if we could spare some hands to mend wounds for those who were roughed up too much."

Marv started asking him a question involving how strong he felt he was after the abbey incident, stopping mid-word as Ezra seemed to gawk for a moment at someone leaning against a doorsill. "Morlan?!" he shouted in laughter. All eyes turned towards the door as his brother started walking over with a smile, Elsei right behind him.

"I saw you walk into the barracks and was wondering, 'why is my little brother going back in here? Is there another problem at the abbey?' The receptionist just informed us that you are in charge of a temple here. Congratulations, Ezra." His younger brother hugged his much larger older sibling around his waist, barely hearing the plate he was wearing shift slightly over the interesting under armor. Pops dropped his club as both he and the rest of their team saw just what they were wearing. It was well beyond anything an Adamantite rank could ever hope to wear, with weapons that rivaled what they thought possible.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were working alongside the empress," Ezra questioned him as his brother ruffled his hair.

"We're actually just heading to the palace here, had some free time, and walked around Aureos. I just finished a quest for our beloved ruler, and now I'm… well, I'm here." The warrior pulled out an amulet from under his chest plate to show the emblem of the empire, allowing access just about anywhere without interference. Anyone who attempted to stop them should be ready for open aggression, where even clockwork soldiers came to his assistance. "Are we interrupting anything?"

Adventurers from all ranks started to gather around after seeing them stand there, studying their equipment from top to bottom. From what they knew, the man had disappeared when being brought back to Aureos for a trial with his family. The entire time he was missing, Morlan was actually with the empress training. "Uh… we… we were sort of… um…" Dina tried to reply, just staring up at the mass of muscle and plate. Ezra looked at her and Pops, waiting for a reply.

"I guess we can take a little break…" the old man replied, waving his hand nonchalantly as he bent down to pick up the club to put away. The team followed the Rikter brothers out of the hall as other adventurers just kept watching around corners, heading off towards a café. Once situated at a large table outside, cups of a dark liquid were poured. Coffee had been introduced and became extremely popular just recently, with shops popping up throughout the country along with assorted teas. "Huh, things really are changing." Pops gazed at two bipedal rabbits sitting behind a small stall haking their wares from the Seong Neow Republic. There weren't just anthropomorphic animals or catgirls running around, with regular, highly intelligent creatures going about their lives.

 _ **(Recommended Song: BigRicePiano – Cappucino)**_

"Yeah, I guess their government doesn't control everything, their merchants sometimes steal away to sell to everyone else. Artinia would have never let them in, but the empire is more than willing to let them come around now without fear of being kidnapped and sold as slaves. Some of the stuff is kind of nice," Dylan replied as he poured some sugar and cream into his cup. A brisk breeze flowed through the street, which made them shiver a little. The owner of the establishment leaned out the door and cast a spell multiple times, creating floating balls that glowed orange and stayed in place just above the tables outside. Heat radiated down, like a nonvolatile fireball. A piece of parchment vaporized in his hand as he went inside, showing that magic scrolls could be bought and used somewhat cheaply to allow store owners to maintain customer service now, even carrying groceries out. There was also the fact that there were only four seats inside the shop, all in use.

"So, what's it like, working by her side now?" Ezra asked his older brother as he stirred his mug.

"Interesting. I've had to relearn a lot of things now. What's most incredible is the understanding she tries to put into everything she does. There's a lot of thought put into every action and swift response to protect those who need it. Empress Selene is… frankly, nothing like the mad king. It's fantastic." The priest was beaming at him, a twinkle in his eyes. "Now, don't be thinking you should convert or anything just yet Ezra; I see that look. I'm sure your goddess would be unhappy to lose you."

The teenager looked embarrassed as everyone watched him, the joke catching everyone by surprise as the huge warrior pointed at his brother, a catty grin on his face. "I wasn't… I mean, I didn't think… I would never do anything like that! I'm a priest and follower of Elesia, that's not going to change. Besides… um… the faithful of the empress's church are… are…"

"Odd? I've noticed that as well. I'm just letting all of you know, our majesty has told me most of what they preach she has never said, ever. They made up most of their own rules and follow the law of the empire to the letter. Their hymns they just made up, the books they made up. They're following an image they created of her, not the empress herself." The warrior took a sip from his coffee and glanced around at the entourage.

"I always felt they were a little touched in the head," Pops commented as he ate a Danish. "So, what's it like living in her majesty's castle?"

Morlan turned his head and leaned over the side of his chair to talk to the old man. "It's… well, it's not quite what I was expecting. Then, of course, I never thought to ever live in a palace. It's massive, with so few allowed to ever enter or stay. The empress seems to maintain her privacy and chooses carefully those who are allowed close in any way. To be allowed in is an honor honestly."

"Hmm, so that's why she's barely seen. Even the mad king had parades on a near-monthly basis as he was brought around on carriage from what I heard, disrupting street traffic every time. It's a wonder anything got done with his royal guard pushing anyone around in Aureos."

"It's worth more to have that money put into bettering the city or town," Morlan told him. "It's like she's trying to funnel the resources the towns and cities need to function and improve instead of just taking for the treasury."

"Her vault must be brimming with coin," Dylan chuckled out as Marv elbowed him.

"I haven't seen it myself, but I did hear that money isn't an issue for the government. Most of what you are seeing moving between hands around here is still the economy's doing. Almost none of it gets back to the castle, which… kind of makes me wonder how she provides sponsorships and funding for inventors and professors." Dina nearly spit out a mouthful of her tea then looked at him, blinking.

"She sponsors?" the girl asked as her hawk ate from a small bowl next to her.

The older Rikter looked around and seemed to put up his hands in surrender. "I'm not saying I know how she decides to assist in anyone's endeavors. Her choices are more than beyond my comprehension in many cases, but they always seem to bear fruit. Every time I've seen coin offered, it has provided a tool that has been invaluable to the people. Just look at those new gloves the fire department has or the police. None of that would be around had she not invested, with those alchemists and inventors ignored. There is even talk of a weapon that can disable a wizard's ability to cast spells, provided only to law enforcement." Marv sprayed coffee on the table from his mouth and looked at the warrior, stupefied.

"Good thing those officers are paid well. Chances of bribes I heard are next to zilch; I mean, they don't get anything out of it from working with the criminals. There's a rumor that they get bonuses at the end of the year for how decent a job they do, with pay raises expected by mayors every year to keep competitive," Dylan remarked as he warmed his hands on his mug.

"Thinking of signing up?" Dina asked him.

"Me? Are you kidding? You couldn't catch me in that uniform. Besides, even though we're helping them clean up the streets, I doubt I'd fit in."

Ezra leaned forward as Elsei quietly sat next to her partner. "So, what are you doing right now?" he asked his brother.

"At the moment, there isn't much to do. I'm currently still in training and becoming a… what's the title… director of… an agency, I think. The empress is working on a name to call it. I don't really have to worry about any jobs just yet until next year. Right now, I'm just keeping myself busy, offering to help where I can."

"How do you get in her majesty's good graces?" Dina suddenly asked. They all looked at her.

"Uh… from what I've seen? You don't do anything other than be you. She'll come knocking if she's shown interest," Morlan replied. "That's… kind of why I'm hoping to speed the process up for some people I know." Dina looked around at the others, her heart starting to race a little after hearing that.

"Others?" Ezra asked.

"Um, sorry, Ezra; on our travels, we weren't always within the borders of Artinia. There are other lands we did go to on occasion. There is a set of large islands to the southeast that wasn't exactly part of our territory… come to think of it, I wonder if the empress knows she rules over it, given it isn't in any books or ledgers…"

"It is mainly used as a port for ships to stop and resupply," Elsei finally spoke.

Morlan raised an eyebrow momentarily at her. "They didn't have much to resupply with. The villages there aren't like the ones on the mainland. It takes some effort to have them give up anything without a show of force… of course, they hated the kingdom so much, that might be part of the reason they didn't relinquish those supplies willingly."

"I thought those islands weren't inhabited?" Marv queried.

"Who told you that? Both have people with very different cultures living on them… with many who are much hardier than even Caerel. It's been a few years, I think some of our friends called themselves… what was it…" Morlan stopped as Elsei looked up and patted him on the shoulder. There was a carriage sitting in the middle of the street, part of a noble house's convoy to bring back liquidated assets. It was blocking most of the main road running through Aureos. There was an argument with people trying to get by as the head of the Reysor family sat back in his private transport drinking wine.

"Hey! Get that thing out of the way! We need to get through!" One worker snapped as others were in agreement. The obese nobleman simply sipped from his glass and waited for his employees to continue unloading what he owned into a house nearby.

"This isn't going to end well," Morlan commented as two police officers came around to see what the disturbance was about. The archduke of the Reysor family promptly waved them off, expecting the same entitlement as he did before the Clockwork Empire took over. That simply wasn't the case with the new law enforcement in the city.

One of the officers used a glove to lift the offending wagon and move it, with Alain gawking at the action taken. The police were purposefully made to be weak in Artinia, which was not at all what these men were in the slightest. They were equipped with far better gear than before, trained well and always were in two-man teams. "Stop that! Stop that at once! Do you know who I am?" the noble screamed out, pointing at the officers.

"We know exactly who you are, we just don't care anymore. Get these wagons out of here immediately, or we'll confiscate everything and arrest you for blocking traffic and causing a disturbance!"

Alain couldn't believe what was happening, looking rattled at everyone staring at him. "You'll… you'll regret this! I have far more power than you think I do! I'll have the tides turned within the week!" he snapped out. Morlan believed he was referring to the royal ball that would be held, probably in hopes of whispering into the empress's ear.

"No, you won't, but it'll be amusing to see anyways…" the warrior grumbled out, with Elsei pressing on the bridge of her nose and shaking her head softly, her eyes squinted shut. They'd have to act on some of these events in the future, well beyond the capability of the police or adventurers. Knowing just what was happening, even with the sheer strength of the empire's military and capability of the empress, helped them realize the issues that would never go away; no matter how powerful the government was, bar all organic life replaced with machines, there would always be discord they'd have to take care of.

 _I'm going to need a bigger team than just Elsei. This trip will hopefully bring that._

As the scene died down, the wagons moved out of the way, and traffic flowed again; Ezra returned his attention back to his brother. "So what's this about the isles?" he asked, curious.

"Ah, about that – I was thinking of heading over there and talking with some old friends."

"You've certainly traveled abroad often enough, we've heard stories of your exploits in other lands," Marv interjected, sipping at his tea. Morlan chuckled and took a swig from his coffee.

"Technically, most obviously wouldn't know about this. At least one of those isles we use as a port for ships, nothing fancy. It belonged to Artinia, well, at least the docks did. The towns never really followed the laws of the king, still believing they were independent. Given it took far too much to try and keep them in line, and the fact that we had other trouble elsewhere to deal with all the time, they were allowed to mostly govern themselves. Now that I think about it, I should probably warn the empress she controls that area."

"You mean she doesn't know how far her influence spreads?" Dina asked, surprised.

"Honestly, she's a very busy woman. There are times when I've been turned away to speak with her, having so many meetings in the day to keep the empire running smoothly. Most of the work is done by her creations. While it can be debated whether she is a goddess playing the role of a human walking amongst us, I can at least say it almost seems as if she is omniscient. Perhaps, she does know how far her borders really extend and just hasn't sent anyone to wrangle the Kaersians in. The Clockwork Empire has only had control of Artinia for, what, a couple of weeks? It took years for those lands to be incorporated."

"Kaersians?" Pops queried.

"Kaer Danel, the second isle. Kaer Orfur is the furthest. They tended to have trouble on occasion with a large amazon tribe raiding them. While strong, being picked at constantly does wear down their ability to defend themselves. Artinia provided… maritime assistance." Pops nodded in understanding at what the older Rikter son was explaining. While the vessels the Kaersians used were small and poorly equipped for combat other than boarding, Artinia had used battleships with mana cannons for broadside attacks to push back raids. Despite the discontentment of the people, they couldn't deny that the old kingdom was effective at maintaining border protection… at least when it served their interests to do so.

Ezra seemed a little downcast. "How long will you be gone?" he asked. Morlan gave him a quick smile.

"Don't worry brother, it shouldn't take too long. A few days at most. I have to be back for the ball to be thrown, standing by the side of our empress. In the meantime, I have a slightly open schedule so that I can catch up with you. Our parents would like you to visit at some point, though that will have to be planned and authorized by our ruler." The priest looked almost giddy, believing it would be impossible to ever see the inside of the palace in Aureos, let alone the Clockwork Castle.

"I'd love to! Oh… uh… maybe… that might need to wait until spring, though. I've got some new acolytes that need to be trained at the temple. I'm still surprised I was chosen to teach the way of Elesia in Aureos. Sermons are… well, I…"

"Stutter? Loss of words?" Ezra blushed, looking embarrassed. The warrior laughed out loud, holding his stomach. "It's alright, you'll slowly get used to it. Those followers look up to you, even if they have to look down to see you."

Dylan patted the teenager on the back in reassurance and chuckled, affirming the same thoughts as the priest's older brother. There was silence for a minute as they just enjoyed their drinks, watching the bustle of the city go by. The streets were clean, crime was being kept down, and for the first time… they weren't so afraid of the future. "We should probably get back to sparring…" Pops muttered out, hoping no one would really listen to him at the moment as he enjoyed the heating orb floating above them. It was slowly fizzling out, the scrolls used not meant to keep the spell running for long.

"Hey… hey, I have an idea! Um… well, if you're alright with doing it, brother…" Ezra piped up, looking around at everyone. Morlan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Elsei. She simply sipped her tea and closed her eyes, allowing him to make the decision. "Maybe… offer some pointers to my friends?"

"I was never very good at being an instructor Ezra, that was always General… er… Professor Falksworthy." The team unanimously sighed. "I… I guess I can give a few tips… I'm not sparring with anyone, though. You'll just have to listen to my advice." They agreed, realizing they were going to be trained by one of the best, an ex hero of Artinia, now an agent of the Clockwork Empire. "Elsei?"

"The bow is not my strong suit, despite what many would claim as the de facto weapon of choice for an elf. However… I do have some hunting skills that may assist in accuracy."

"Thank you, both of you," Dina told them happily. It would improve their odds if they decided on a team battle for the tournament. Ezra blushed a little at Dina, then remembered something.

"Ah! I can still help you as well!" he jumped up, nearly knocking over his drink. They all looked at him as he sat down quickly, nervously poking his fingers against each other. "I mean, I can't directly, but… well, not everyone is a priest at the temple. We do now have some of our own protection of the faith."

"You have a paladin to spare?" Morlan questioned. "Wait, why do you need one in the first place to offer?" He seemed a little out of the loop still, with what they were training for in the first place. Dina explained the situation, with the warrior dropping his forehead onto the table. There was a distinct frown on his lips that could not be wiped away with any explanation.

"You do realize those are just for the nobles to cherry-pick the best to keep under their control, right? The rewards are worthless compared to the chain latched to your foot afterward."

"That's what I was saying!" Pops replied, agreeing with the older Rikter brother.

"Haven't you been in a few?" Dina asked Morlan meekly, looking around at her group. He sighed and pushed back a stray lock of hair on his forehead.

"One, and I refused the prize due to the fact I was in Artinia's military, _and_ I was a Rikter. I dodged that arrow. Trust me, there's corruption still in those tournaments, I've seen it firsthand. Who entered the team?" the warrior asked, looking at each of their faces.

"I did…" Dina mumbled out, feeling as if she had made a mistake. A palpable silence struck them as Morlan sighed and put both of his hands on the table. "I'm tired of being looked down on by those higher ranked adventurers and –"

"To hell with what they think, ranger. Adamantite ranks have always been full of themselves, most of them anyway." The older brother scratched under his trimmed beard before continuing, "those team battles are heavily against anyone that isn't the top rank, and they'll do anything they can to win, even cheat."

"But Tilly said –"

Morlan let out a sarcastic laugh. "You think the guild is going to keep _everything_ out of that tournament? Dina… it isn't even sanctioned by the government anymore! The rules don't fully apply! It's run by the nobles for fuck's sake!" he snapped at her. She stood up angry for a moment, brief as it was, then promptly sat down again as she realized… he was right. Her head shrunk into her shoulders as she looked at the table, annoyed that everything seemed to be stacked against her.

 _Just because she joined the small army at the side of the empress back then doesn't mean she has what it takes to win this damn it. Grrr… I should know… I didn't win the first time… barely survived it actually… that was before they removed lethal weapons._

He stared at her as she felt put on the spot, avoiding eye contact as the rest of her team didn't exactly come to her rescue, knowing what he was saying. Morlan ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair and blew air out of his mouth. "So, you're doing this because you want to prove your mettle, I get that. Any reason beyond that?" he suddenly asked. She looked up at him as Ezra was about to speak, trying to somehow get his older brother off her back. The warrior put a hand up to stop the priest, waiting for a reply.

"Because if we win, we can take the prizes, even the smaller ones. It's not as if we can be held down by the nobility anymore anyway, what with the empress watching over us, right?" she snapped at him. He could tell in her voice that it was wavering, her eyes slightly watering. The ranger was sitting on a weak reason.

"That's not what I'm asking. Say you win something, anything; what do you intend to do with it? What are your goals after? Make a name for yourself? Buy a home in Silvinholm or some town? What?"

Dina stood up again and put her hands on the table. As she gathered her courage to explain to him her hopes for the future, her legs felt like jelly. "I… I…"

"I'd retire." Everyone looked at Pops as he said that, stirring in some cream into his coffee. "Oh, come off it all of you. I'm old, at least getting up there in age. My body isn't going to keep me holding a shield in front of you lot for much longer. What you've failed to see is me saving up what I can to get a small cottage, pay for the construction somewhere in Werelosil or Eld Horn maybe. Gold rank is frankly fine by me to sit on, whatever we walk away with from the tournament will just seal the deal."

"Pops…" Marv started to say, unable to really come up with any other words.

"So, this is how you tell us?" Dylan asked with some annoyance in his voice.

"Shut it, you. I didn't really know when was the right time. You'd find another to group up with in no time; besides, that new paladin Ezra has might be the thing you all need."

"She's only able to work with you for the tournament; her main duties are to the temple really," Ezra interjected, embarrassed that the assistance being provided wouldn't last beyond their test of talent and skill.

"Do you really need a paladin to protect the temple? Adventurers run around all over the place, along with the police," Marv stated.

"The empress has multiple tiers of security throughout each province. I honestly don't know if you could look in any direction that wouldn't have someone come to your aid in an emergency. I was a part of one such engagement, felling demons in Calloway," Morlan commented.

The priest let out a small chuckle as he avoided eye contact. "Every religion has warriors of the faith. Some are needed to go into more… worrying locations… to spread the word of Elesia."

" – Which means they aren't exactly needed as a security guard. It defeats the whole purpose of whoever it is your lending us," Pops remarked. Ezra seemed to squirm in his seat as his brother peered at him.

"You're the reason she stays there, aren't you?" There was no reply. "I figured; you're learning after all how to lead the followers of Elesia here." Morlan thought for a moment as they finished their drinks. "Let her choose afterward whether she wishes to stay with the team. Is she registered as an adventurer?"

"She'll do it today. Um… is a starting copper allowed to be in a gold-ranked party?" Ezra said, looking around at his friends.

"Has she even seen combat?" Dylan grumbled out. The priest nodded.

"Apparently… quite often."

As they got sidetracked for a moment, the group settled down again and looked at Morlan. "Whatever, I said I'd provide some help, but no sparring. If you really want to do this, I can't obviously stop you. You'll learn soon enough why the adventurer's guild isn't going to keep everything under control. Even pairing you against another gold rank team… it's not going to go the way you think. It never does…"

 _ **One Hour Later**_

"Hiiiiiii!" a woman clad in heavy armor jumped in the air and waved at them after checking in with Tilly. A brand new copper plate was swinging on her multi-layered plate chest as she ran to meet up with them, a two-handed hammer on her back and a buckler strapped to her left arm. Her winged helm swept back with an open face, arcing to connect the tips together in the rear. Despite her large bust and wide hips, not one inch of her skin beyond the head could be seen.

"She's quite… peppy…" Dina said, completely dumbfounded as the woman ran up to them.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Piper." Ezra introduced the woman as she shook all of their hands rapidly, going down the line. All of them seemed confused as to how to address her extremely positive attitude, along with the tingling in their arms after having been shaken so fiercely.

"Happy to meet all of you! In the name of Elesia, I'm glad I could come to your aid! I'll do all that I can! You can count on me!" she replied, thumbing at herself in response and closing her left eye with a smile on her face. "I know we'll be best friends! I can tell you!"

"Uh… yeah… sure…" Dina mumbled out as she rubbed her wrist and elbow from the interaction with their new paladin. While Piper was a little taller than Dylan at around six foot two inches, her strength seemed to belie someone much greater in size. It had to be some sort of aura or blessing she received from her goddess to help improve her odds in a fight.

"You're sure she can join us for the tournament? No rules stopping it?" Marv questioned the temple leader.

"Healers are not allowed to join. However, as long as Piper doesn't provide those services, and sticks to just defending your group, you should have no problems. This is for the team battle, right? You signed up for it?" Ezra responded. They all looked at Dina.

"We're currently signed up for the solo matches and a practice team defense against fake monsters," she explained as the teenager scratched her head and laughed a little in embarrassment. Morlan shook his head with his arms crossed over his chest. There was a tier spell used for military recruits, one that created randomized hollow creatures to fight against. They were nowhere near as strong as the originals, with only a few hits at worst to defeat even an ogre and cause it to vaporize. The spell didn't exactly prepare the troops for real combat, it just allowed them to learn the mannerisms of the monster itself.

"Choose now; otherwise, you're wasting her time," Morlan told her. Dina scowled at him for being impatient, then remembered he had a trip to make and was employed by the empress. He was about as busy as she might be.

"I was gonna do it when we got to the tournament! I'm sorry I didn't plan everything to the letter!" she snapped back.

"It's alright! If I can help before we show what we can do, count me in! Um… unless, of course, the high priest says otherwise! Hehe!" Piper commented as she scratched the back of her neck and looked at Ezra, a stray lock of pink hair popping out of her helmet.

"S-sure, go ahead. I think it would do well to… erm… see what you all can do together. Oh, sorry, I kind of have to go now. Sermons start in… uh oh, I really should be going! We can talk later!" Ezra replied as he grabbed his staff and ran towards the door, nearly tripping on his robe and waving back to everyone. Pops inched towards Piper as she bent over to rifle through a pack she brought, reaching towards her rear. A quick removal of a padded mace, twice the size of the one the old man used, as she swung it through the air over her shoulder and smacking him on the head. There was a loud gong sound from the connection.

"Let's get to sparring!" she giggled out as the tank of the group held his head and gritted his teeth in pain. Morlan sighed and started to instruct them in standard small group tactics that most adventurers never got, providing in-depth knowledge that only officers of the military had the blessing of learning. There was no guarantee they'd even meet part of his expectations, but it was their choice to continue with the tournament. He only had enough time to give them the basics before he'd leave on his trip anyways. Elsei helped Dina fix her form while holding her bow, altering where she held the arms of the ranged weapon while firing.

Piper, for the most part, didn't need much in assistance, excluding the fact that she was rather dead set on one-shotting the training dummies. While her wind up took some time, the wooden figurines were knocked out of the courtyard nine times out of ten, making most of the other groups watch her in surprise. None of them knew what she was blessed with from her goddess… or how few paladins there were that followed the faith. "Yahoo! This is fun! I really get to do this in the tournament? I can't wait!"

"Uh… not exactly…" Morlan grumbled. He immediately facepalmed.

 _ **Noon**_

Entoma sat on a crate being loaded onto the ship they would use to cross the ocean, with Yuri checking over the finishing touches for all the supplies they would have. While very little needed to be for food, excluding the green biscuits that her sister maid ate when she couldn't get her mouth on the arm of a human, most of what they had available was simply for speeding the whole trip up. Four mana engines were installed in a rotation wheel and would oscillate once each had burned out to, and away from the continent. There were quite a few magic scrolls and potions that would be used to scout the landscape, with most of the cargo being a small laboratory to test materials and document what was found. What concerned the Pleiades leader was the fact that cages were added… for valuable captives.

"I don't understand why I'm not going with you," Lupusregina said gruffly as she held her hands behind her head and paced up and down the dock.

"Do you doubt the orders of the supreme being?" Yuri questioned her.

"Of course not! I just don't see my current mission of checking on Carne as taking that long. All the people do right now is rut in their beds to keep warm, some of them even with the trolls and gob – "

"That's enough, sister. Some of that information could do well to be kept secret and out of reports," Yuri interrupted, marking everything needed as loaded on the flagship. There would be six vessels in total, with the entire trip taking three weeks due to unknown inclement weather along the way that cannot be removed, as well as tracked icebergs found ahead of time. Even so, the entire travel event was planned to start in one day, with two of the ships not yet in port just yet.

"Yeah yeah, I don't see what the problem is, though. One of these days those humans are going to realize that the troll is going to–"

"Stop, really. Stop."

"What do you think we'll find there?" Entoma asked as she waggled her 'feet.' The death knight carrying the crate slowly lowered it down onto the deck, waiting for another to grab it and move whatever was inside into the main cabins. The arachnoid jumped off the box and let the wooden container be picked up by one of the minions of the ship, waiting for a reply from her sister. A lich floated down into the main hold in the background, ready to do whatever was required during the trip.

"I would not believe I have any idea of what we may find there. If possible, a civilization that is willing to see the immense power and greatness of our Lord, to agree to join without any need for further plans laid down to sway them to Ainz-sama's incredible influence."

"As long as you don't find someone who is already allied with you know who," the cleric commented.

"Try your best not to speak of them unless Ainz-sama brings it up, understood? It is a… complicated subject," Yuri said calmly, though both of the other maids knew it was more an order than a request. The kingdom to the north was causing all sorts of trouble, and not just for Ainz and his vassal countries. There was a reason others called for temporary truces where required, not trusting the Sorcerer Kingdom enough for anything beyond a joint attempt to slow down a common enemy. Recently, those truces had become a regular occurrence, almost to the point where there might be a unified army to somehow push back those who were coming down to destroy them.

"Sure. Well, I guess I'll get back to leering into windows and reporting back what I find. You leave tomorrow, right?" Lupusregina queried.

"Correct. Do your best to make the debriefings… professional. Our glorious supreme one has many things that he is taking care of, superficial information can divert his precious time." The cleric turned around and waved in acknowledgment as the two who would travel to the west continued checking off all of the equipment they needed, with Yuri doing most of the work; Entoma seemed more than capable of sitting back and eating, then checking on the escort they would have to aid them on the adventure.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Selene's transport touched down on the triple landing pad that descended into the underground facility, like a flower closing up for the night. ARC was massive below the surface, with nothing but a small building and security station above ground. While still classified as a Heavy tier helibot, most vehicles she used were well beyond using rotary systems to lift off. As the vehicle dropped into the ARC, where her science division was now stationed, shaped like a giant metal turtle, it latched the engines close to the body to conserve space as the pad closed up like a flower.

Once at the bottom floor, the doors opened to allow the empress to step out and be greeted by her leaders in advanced research. "Greeting empress, we've been waiting for you," Nikola said as he bowed to her and waved towards the main entrance, a scanner not even needed. It knew exactly who she was.

"So everything is prepared?" she asked as they walked through the myriad hallways, her eyes landing on different projects that were in the middle of being tested in the side rooms. Not all of it was for new technology, whether miniaturization or improving the original design, as other teams were handling magical devices. Only a few of them were in their final phases of creation, with many being closer to early prototype runecraft and tier magic slowly being implemented. Multiple plants and animals were being studied, though the fauna was supposed to be treated humanely.

As they continued on, her eyes landed on the improved fabrication designs for 3D printers manufacturing military units meant not only for her inventory but also in hidden factories throughout the empire. Dominic and Will had gone through a long meeting with the empress after the war, noting security issues and countering any trouble in the future. The only time patience would be brought up would be if an enemy has no knowledge of their existence; once someone figured out her military was in the area, there would be no survivors, no chance for some special artifact to be used. It would be a swift annihilation from now on, once they confirmed who was hostile. Absolutely nothing would threaten her empire.

"I see small volume production is already in the works right now," she remarked as the floor changed to a moving walkway as scientists and engineers moved around large machines pumping out new soldier designs for her to peruse. Already, the armies of the empire were increasing well beyond what she previously had; instead of a ratio of one automaton for every ten civilians, the numbers were now pushing closer to one to one. One specialist unit was being moved on a ceiling conveyor hook, its armor already installed and shoulder mounts ready for weapon fitting. It appeared to be equipped with a secondary exoskeleton wrapped around the main chassis, amplifying strength and speed while carrying even more equipment for rapid swapping weapons or tools. It also allowed orbital drops, a brand new concept for positioning troops where needed. While they wouldn't replace paratroopers, it was just another way to insert soldiers onto the battlefield when required. Will had joked about calling them a certain acronym based off an old videogame license, one with humanity fighting against a large alien religious government, though that was squashed quickly.

"Yes, production speed has seen a drastic improvement over what it took before. Do you expect another war, empress?" Robert asked her. She temporarily was silent as the dev just watched the room slip away, followed by more rudimentary items being created for the people. New tools were being worked on to implement into society in hopes that it would help the citizens with mundane tasks. If it all went according to plan, they'd either head down a path of steampunk or regular technology that the empress had seen on Earth. In this way, they wouldn't be so starved for rapid communication or production speed in jobs.

"I'd like to keep my options open, just in case," Selene replied, staring through the windows as they were moved on the walkway. A slight twitch of her left pointer finger, unknown to her lead scientists, told volumes. Tier 9 magic immunity was completed, along with a prototype system for class VI shields. The power draw was still too high, along with openings in the field not yet closed completely, but the defensive equipment was coming along nicely. They'd have tier 10, and even super magic, become a simple annoyance in no time.

Further warehouse-sized rooms showed experiments with runecraft, tier magic, even new tests into wild magic and faith energy in controlled environments. "Anything new on wild magic or faith?" she asked quietly, the entire facility quiet beyond any movement from the walkway.

"Most of our focus has been on how to contain either, potentially to restrict damage, just like the immunity films we place on our soldiers. We haven't created much just yet, though we have learned there is an interesting half-life for each," Robert replied, motioning softly towards one window.

"The universal translation that is inherent in this world… it may eventually fade," Nikola commented. Selene glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment, returning her gaze to some of the work being done on understanding the way wild magic had been used to allow everyone to speak to each other without miscommunication.

 _If anyone had to suddenly learn a new language, beyond writing, it could suddenly disrupt everything. English is still considered a second language in my empire, I can only imagine if I couldn't speak to my subjects._

"How long until it eventually fades away?" the empress questioned.

Robert clasped his hands behind his back, the long laboratory coat shifting as his mechanical extremities moved. A multi-lens monocle lowered and raised over one eye as his left eyebrow wiggled a little. "Unknown just yet, though the maximum we believe is 10,000 years. While that might seem long to some, it could collapse societies if not tended to, with a new spell cast in the future that can remedy the situation. Right now, one team is determining how long the previous enchantment has been active, among others."

The dev looked at him with both eyebrows raised. "Among others?"

"Yes, that is not the only one we are aware of. Satellite readings from the expanded network have been providing a plethora of new data from around the world, with some in particular connected to certain landmasses, continents."

"So some lands are special, while others aren't? Like… Atlantis or Avalon?"

"Precisely. I regret to inform you, empress… we are living on one that doesn't have anything interesting; there are no protective barriers beyond coral reefs underwater restricting keel depth, with nothing else keeping someone from coming onshore. There is only one supervolcano, and it is mostly dormant. While the geography of this land is different from what would be expected back on Earth, and the weather is sometimes peculiar in some areas, our continent is rather boring compared to others."

Selene let out a short chuckle. "Sometimes boring is the best news to have. Given what has happened in the past six months, I'd say I like having uninteresting dirt under my feet." She mulled on that in silence as the walkway moved them around a corner, soft ambient running lights attached to the sides of the hallways as they continued on. They passed a medical department with brand new mixtures of not just vaccines and antibiotics, but also potions and elixirs. None of it was to improve her attributes or skills, with most being for sale; some were quite weak in comparison to what she already had, meant for cheap supply to those who tried to reverse engineer the recipe. The introduction of a new array of expiring healing potions was already underway, with a new, less repugnant flavor. "Do we have confirmation that medical science is still needed among the people? Excluding the magic immune diseases."

"We do. Cancer cannot be healed away with magic, it's the body's own cells after all. Those who suffer from it should not be healed by magic or potions; a recurrence may happen. This complicates matters for some."

The empress nodded in response. "So regular checkups are still needed by the people at clinics and apothecaries, to catch something that might be growing in them."

"Yes; however, some of the more notorious diseases can be cured with simple spells. AIDS, for example, is just like anything else. What we've also found is quite interesting; if a disease is magic immune, it's quite vulnerable to antibiotics or vaccines, while the same can also be said in the opposite direction. Further testing is needed, but we're quite sure that the reaction doesn't change." Robert seemed to rock on his feet a little, a habit she noticed he gained since his creation. It told her that he found what he was studying quite fascinating, with new things to explore, always piquing his interest.

As they passed one window, she could hear music playing in the background. It was Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science." The only thing she could do was gawk at both of them.

"When was someone going to tell me I could have musicians record copies of songs from Earth?" she asked, looking at the two scientists, both of which tried to avert their gaze.

"We… thought you already knew this…" Robert muttered out.

"No, this is the first I heard about it. I swear, does everyone think I'm omniscient? This is… this is…" she closed her mouth and immediately put a printer in her inventory to task, crafting an entire orchestra, all of which would be able to play multiple different instruments. While everyone else in the empire was still listening to bards and traveling play troops, the castle was going to have access to anything from rap to psychill and beyond. There was no need to constantly hear violins or pianos, now adding in electric guitars and mix tables among many, many others.

They finally reached a secure area with the old fashioned steampunk equipment attached to the ceiling and hanging down, the whole resurrection system in place with the large multi-tiered dais rising from the ground. Six spires came from around the raised platform, with the central machine in the middle looking like a bloated flying saucer stripped for parts. While the rest of the room was clean with no emissions, steam seemed to hiss out of the piping of the incredible contraption at certain points along the grommets and clamps, an intended feature. "Please empress, come over here for the blood sample," Nikola told her as Selene looked at a table with a lone chair sitting next to it. A venipuncture machine was installed along with two auto doctors waiting for the dev to sit down.

"So, details. I know the system will bring her back, and that the physical characteristics are somewhat random, correct?"

"Correct. There is no guarantee she will be a teenager; however, with all data compiled, the age range is ten years in either direction," Robert informed her. "No memories will be kept from the previous life due to the soulstone, though…"

"Though?" she asked, waiting for him to finish his sentence. The scientist looked at his partner. They would never keep information from her, but whatever he was hesitating on made her wonder.

"We have a hypothesis that player traits still stay functional; otherwise, this machine would be somewhat useless. Their skills and abilities should carry over, though she won't understand how she can perform such feats."

 _I wonder if it might be a good idea to implement these out in the empire for heroes to use in emergency situations. Don't worry, your friend isn't dead if he's had a sample placed at certain locations! Hmm, would need to work on the advertisement; plus, temples resurrect people anyways, would need to sell the idea that it can bring someone back from total corpse destruction. Eh, it's just an idea, I don't know if it's good or not. I might need to think about it for a while…_

The empress sighed and took off most of her clothing bar her underwear due to the effect it had on her body and defenses then put her arm in the auto-siphon system, waiting for the pinprick effect on needles puncturing her skin. Without disrobing, the machine would have broken itself, trying to combat her Natural Armor attribute and all the buffs layering on top of that. Selene grunted slightly as the system withdrew blood from her arm, not exactly being polite or tender. "Sorry, ma'am, we'll work on the bedside manner of that in the future," Robert commented.

"These aren't distributed throughout the hospitals and clinics, are they? It's a little rough."

"Not just yet; the auto docs and nurses are currently performing regular phlebotomy on patients." The dev nodded as the syringe ejected, a large vial of blood removed from her body. As the syringe receded, the small opening it created disappeared within seconds, her regenerative attribute healing the wound. "How was the doctor's appointment? No issues?"

"It was fine… surprisingly." Turnie had given her a clean bill of health in all areas, even with the information she knew was supposed to be different. With the transfer from Earth to this world, there was already knowledge that scars and other body complications were usually gone. One, in particular, made her shut up when asked if she had ever had children. The member of Bronze Team marked the question as answered even if Selene couldn't respond. There was very little reason to reply, given her previous life was gone now. What was known was there were no living dependents, and no marriage noted. Beyond that, Turnie sped through the questionnaire right quick after the air became tinged with a hint of an uncomfortableness that the dev would rather disappear. "Let's continue."

As she stood up to get her clothes back on and watched the vial insert into the resurrection system, the remaining ingredients were poured into assorted ports nearby. Each was carefully prepared, making sure that all of it was cleansed by both magic as well as science. Everything was as pure as it could get. "Activation in three, two, one," Nikola informed as he looked at one of his subordinates. The power engaged as lights turned on, electricity firing off at tesla spokes strewn along the outside. The spires on the ground moved inward on rails, all pointing at each other with flat tips as if waiting for something to come down. "Mixture complete, gestation for the next fifteen minutes."

 _Fifteen minutes? A respawn timer. Don't fuck up too many times in a raid. Then, of course, most games shorten the travel time to a location by a considerable amount, crossing continents in barely under an hour in some cases on a mount, two on foot._

Time slowly went by as she paced around the machine, now clothed again, a spark coming away from edge arced across the room to hit the other side of the saucer section. It happened multiple times, heading in different directions, making it seem as if it was intentional. "Report?"

"Nothing to be afraid of, that's what it needs to make sure the brain is functioning properly. Those are simply transfers of basic knowledge," Nikola told her. "Eating, sleeping, mobility, speech recognition, all standard requirements for continued survival." The machine finished with multiple arcs at the same time, connecting to the spokes and the spires as the middle lowered further to the ground, temporarily opening multiple flaps to encase the central point. "Hmm… interesting…"

"What? What do you see?" she asked him.

"Just wait, empress. You'll know soon enough. Her DNA, though… there is a relation. We were not expecting that of a donor."

"Related? Wait, you weren't expecting –" Nikola looked at her as she stopped speaking, diverting her eyes towards the resurrection system. She gasped as the bottom started to extrude some sort of glowing egg, shaped like a truncated icosahedron… with a figure inside it. As the pod-like object descended, the spires cradled the bottom and slowly lowered it to the ground, with the shell dissipating quietly into the air. "She's… she's my daughter?"

"We informed you there would be a connection, a sort of geas. There is no mention of blood relations; it must be because we do not have a sample of her own to use in the creation process. We apologize if it seems like we were underhanded, but I assure you, this is… not expected. Ah… so that is how this works…" Nikola said as he tried to calm her. "That soulstone port must have been implemented as a jury rig. It wasn't part of the standard schematic… the original inventor adapted other technology to house the item."

Selene walked forward towards the dais as the pod lowered to the ground completely, revealing a young girl lying on the ground in a fetal position, no more than five or six. Her long white hair didn't seem matted, despite what looked like liquid evaporating around her body. The spires moved back into standard position around the raised platform as the saucer rose back up to the ceiling, turning off. As the empress kneeled down to look at her, still unconscious, Robert walked up with a scanner. "Age, six. Body temperature, acceptable. Breathing and heart rate… stable. She's asleep for the moment."

The young girl slowly, very slowly opened her eyes and blinked as she sat up and rubbed them. They were the same color as Selene's. They just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, no words exchanged. Her bangs were asymmetrical, with a slight hump on the left side higher than the right. A lone hair lock stuck up in the middle like an antenna.

 _Blood-related. Blood-related. Blood-related. We couldn't be… could we? She has my eyes… and my nose…_

An auto doc walked up with hastily fabricated underwear, with two-piece white medical gown and pants added in. There was no apparent fear of the metal man carefully lifting her arms up and pushing the clothes on her body as she just kept staring at the woman in front of her. "Um… hi." There was no response from the girl as the dev looked at Robert for guidance.

"She's still probably acclimating to this whole experience; her brain is still trying to fully activate as if coming out of a deep slumber. Give her time." Tests were done quickly, with the question as to her hair color already answered as a random trait. Almost none of them were invasive, with what little needed to be done completed without complaint. Her immune system was verified as fully functional, capable of defending against colds or viruses. Selene slowly picked her up by the armpits and brought her to a table to sit at, waiting for a clean bill of health. "Physically, she's a healthy young girl. No abnormalities."

"All materials inserted into the system are exhausted. A sample would have to be inserted each time a player would reuse such a feature… interesting… some may forget if they're in a hurry to get back into a fight…" Nikola spoke to himself as he rubbed the metal mustache he had, studying the aftereffect of the whole experiment carefully. Robert, on the other hand, stayed next to his creator, as the young girl was read a few words and shown the alphabet. There didn't seem to be much effect on her, acting curious yet numb to the world around her. No emotion seemed to register on her face, trying to understand what was going on.

"We'll give it a few hours, keep track of her vitals. Then, if there is still no response, we can –"

"Are you my mommy?" the girl suddenly asked, interrupting the science leader. Selene blinked at her, not knowing how to respond.

 _Say yes. Say Yes. Say YES. SAY YES. I can traumatize her if there is no one around she can link to!_

"I…" her mouth stayed open, with no words escaping. Her mind was still coping with the fact that this child was born from a machine, not directly from her. While the technology was already developed, a feature of one of the recent Intersolar tiers she had already reached, the concept of having a daughter she didn't adopt or had to go into labor for was alien to her. As the empress sat there looking into her eyes, not even having a name for the six-year-old, she could see the worry slowly building on the young girl's face. Her emotions were slowly coming back under control, as fear could now become a response in the future. "I… am."

The child slowly raised her hand up to her face and touched it, making Selene realize she was just staring at her with confusion etched in her eyes. The girl's hand dropped as she leaned in, hoping to receive a hug; the dev gave in and held her close as she just looked down… at her new daughter. "Congratulations, ma'am," Robert commented, receiving a glazed look from the woman in response. This caught her off guard, something she wasn't expecting from her science division. The look in her eyes quickly went away as she just took a deep breath and calmed down.

 _They can't answer all my questions, I have to understand that. They're searching for facts as well. Still…_

"I'm going to take her back to the castle. You're sure there is no inclination of the you know what from before? She's completely clean?"

Nikola returned from his examination and gazed over her shoulder. "None, empress. This wipes the slate clean and –" he stopped speaking as her daughter's stomach growled. "–It seems prudent to get her fed, given that there most likely is nothing to digest in her system right now." The empress released the child and stood up, holding out her hand for her daughter to take hold of. The girl's fingers were so small in her palm as the auburn-haired woman walked slowly with her out of the lab deep in the ARC. The patience she had to show now as they headed back to the landing platforms was incredible, as the distance seemed minuscule before, now stretched out to take over half an hour. The automated walkways helped, though eventually, the child's gait slowed down.

"Tired?" Selene asked. She nodded in response. "Ok." With that, the empress lifted her up and wrapped her legs around her waist, carrying her the rest of the way out to the waiting transport.

"Mommy… what's my name?... I don't remember…" The dev stopped midstep, already thinking about that dreaded question and many others, trying to work up answers to each. Her mind was moving a light year a second, coming up with different responses to relieve her daughter of any worry. As she looked into the girl's blue eyes, innocent beyond compare, she didn't know what to say.

 _What do I tell her… I have no idea? Come up with your own name? Like hell that works… I might be good with other people's kids, but that was because of the e-reads I looked through so many years ago… she's my first child… first…_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Miracles)**_

"Eve. Your name is Eve." A smile curled up on the girl's mouth, rolling the name around in her tiny head as they continued to board the helibot. Eve was strapped in as her mother sat down next to her, waiting for liftoff.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

"Home?"

"Yes, we're going home." A quick request to the advanced core situated inside the transport to take a bit of a scenic route back, then a call for Jeeves and the maids to get everything prepared quickly under short notice. While the helibot flew along the coast and headed down, past the dragon eyrie, Eve got a chance to look out the window and watch some of the empire's citizens flying around. She marveled at what she got to witness, noticing they didn't try once to attack the empress's private aerial vehicle. Meanwhile, the castle was a bustle with movement as clothing was made for the new princess, food was prepared, the red carpet was rolled out for the landing along with her bedroom readied. While normally the trip would take only thirty minutes on a direct flight, this one gave them enough time to have a welcoming party waiting outside.

As the girl's eyes watched in awe as two young dragons rolled and played in the skies, they continued on, eventually reaching the walls of the castle. The dev had asked for a pass by to give Eve a good look at the palace where she would live from now on. "We stay here? Really?"

"Yes, really," Selene responded with a slight chuckle. The helibot circled twice to give her a good view of the entire area, with the walls and secondary buildings included.

 _Better than a cave, or a fort._

The landing was smooth and effortless as the door opened up, and stairs shifted down. What awaited them both was a double line of maids on both sides of the carpet with their hands clasped in front of them. "Welcome home," they said in unison. Adesha, Briane, Cameron, and especially the other battle maids were all arrayed at the end. Dahlia Blue would be the new princess's escort from now on, ordered to tutor the girl while Selene dealt with important business. "Wow…" Eve whispered out as she looked around at the size of the place as they walked down the red carpet flanked by all the help. Each face was smiling and bowing towards her as she had her hand held gently by her mother. That was when she shivered, her feet having no shoes and her clothes not meant for the snow falling. The heat lamps nearby could only do so much against the harsh wind blowing temporarily.

"Let's get you inside before you catch a cold, sweetheart," the dev told her as she nudged her lightly from behind. The woman put her hand on the princess's shoulder as they both walked to the doors, entering to find luxurious warmth envelope their bodies… at least for the girl. The empress didn't really feel any heat or cold these days unless she did everything she could to lower her resistances in a bath or exercise. Eve was brought up to her room and changed to a warmer shirt and sky blue sweater with matching pants, accompanied by socks and slippers. A black headband was put on her head to push back some of her long white hair, leaving her bangs to cover her forehead, parting down the middle. Her mother tried to push down the single antenna, which kept popping back up within seconds, eventually casting a spell to keep it down. Somehow, it broke through, shooting up and arcing forward in defiance, confusing the hell out of the empress. A slight growl was heard from her abdomen. "Right… you're hungry, sorry."

"Lunch is served, madam," Jeeves informed them as he motioned for the elevator to head to the dining room. Once they reached it, the girl was helped to sit at the table while Selene figured the easiest thing to give as a meal would be a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. She waited patiently as Eve picked up one slice and took a bite, almost holding her breath as the girl swallowed and nodded; she liked the taste, at least for the nonliquid; the crust was cut off as an added measure. Once she took a spoonful of the soup, the empress at least knew what her new daughter would eat in an emergency, assuming some things didn't agree with her.

 _She's going to need more than that to stay healthy… and a chance to become comfortable here… and a slew of other things… I need time to bond with her too… there's going to be a need for play dates with other kids so she can somehow make friends and not be hidden away all the time…_

Thousands of thoughts shot through her head as she watched Eve eat, almost forgetting to take a bite of the dev's salad. Regardless of her attributes, pounds were pounds if she didn't watch what she ate now. "Why do we live here?" her daughter asked, curious about the castle.

"Because I am the empress of the Clockwork Empire; that means you're an imperial princess." None of that seemed to ring a bell in the young girl's mind, her eyes clearly showing she barely even understood what an empress is. Selene smiled and turned from her food for a moment, hoping to give her a small lesson. "An empress is… a ruler above all rulers, like… above a king and a queen." Still no idea, the information was flying over Eve's head.

 _I'm an idiot. Of course she doesn't know what I'm talking about; there's no knowledge of titles, she has no education beyond the basics._

The dev gently put her hand on her head and gave her a soft pat. "I'm a very powerful woman and your mother, we'll leave it at that for the time being." Her daughter seemed to enjoy the pat as they both continued to eat. Halfway through, Eve spilled her glass of milk all over her sweater, panicking for a moment as Selene calmed her down. "Easy, easy, don't worry. Here." With a quick snap of her fingers, the milk was cleaned up by using **[Scrub]** , quickly getting rid of the spill entirely. "See? It's alright." Another glass was poured for her as the princess settled back to eating. A request to speak over coms from Will popped up on her Hud.

"Greetings, ma'am. I've just received the notice of your… next of kin. It took a little longer than expected given how fast we all communicate, and the fact we've been dealing with so many issues."

"Issues? What sort of issues?"

"Nothing to be concerned with, we've dealt with them as you need us to, there is no trouble at the moment. I've heard you seem to be a natural at being a parent, not just looking after our new princess."

"I've read the books before and… I…" there was a long pause while she decided what next to say, watching Eve finish her glass as Dahlia Blue walked up and knelt next to her, two chignons popping out from her blue hair along with twin bangs coming out from the middle of the top of her forehead like antennae. They seemed to share that similarity, easing the child as the maid smiled.

"Hello young highness, my name is Dahlia. I'll be tutoring you and providing for your education. Do not hesitate to ask any questions, alright?"

"Ok," Eve replied quietly, nodding in acceptance.

"Let's just say I would have had previous experience, now no longer a factor. I've done enough research to know how to act around a child…" the empress finally finished through the direct channel to her chief of staff. Her answer was dancing around the question, though never really keeping any secrets from her automatons either; there were things even she didn't want to talk about involving her past. Some memories were a little too painful. It didn't matter much, as Will quickly understood what she hinted at, yet didn't exactly know how much information was given.

"I understand. Well, to continue forward, perhaps you should spend the next few months building a relationship with her. Beyond that, the reason why I called is the meeting the nobles have requested to have with you has been… authorized on your behalf during the ball… by Duncan."

 _FUCK._

"Alright… and when did I give him the authority to… you know what, never mind. It works, though I'm going to have to teach him how to use that damned communications stone to call me before making rash actions like that. He isn't running the show, merely keeping the palace in order and Aureos from descending into chaos. The police already have everything in hand, so that is doubtful, but still… for someone who is supposed to be lawful good, he's kind of annoying."

"Paladins, in many stories, have been of the same alignment and still been obnoxious in their actions ma'am. Speaking of which… multiple invitations were sent to other 'heroes of Artinia' that survived the Demon War. They'll be coming to the winter ball as well." Selene scooted her chair over to the side of the dining table as Dahlia answered some basic questions about the castle, with a few involving the princess's mother. Eve glanced up at the dev's face to receive a quick smile and her back rubbed gently, returning her attention to the battle maid instructor. The empress was trying to ignore some of the scanner information about her daughter, one of which showed a level 1 registered. She was all too certain that was just a placeholder, with the more advanced features not allowing it to go into decimal points just yet; it was more than likely Eve was closer to 0.2 or lower right now, barely able to take care of herself if even that.

 _Now that I think about it, Tariq was the same. All children are probably below level 1, given some of their parents I've noticed never raised above it, even some ex Artinia soldiers._

"Some survived?... I take it they aren't like Morlan or Elsei, are they?"

"We'll have to wait and see. There's no dossier on them just yet, with most just coming back into the borders from overseas trips. There are six in total, with the potential for two others that are MIA."

 _That's a lot of names and faces I won't recognize as I sit on a throne watching people dance and eat… maybe this wasn't a good idea after all… giving a speech in front of citizens is one thing, having to act proper and pomp in front of all those nobles, on the other hand…_

"Mommy?" Eve asked.

"Yes, dear?" the response was almost immediate, not even having any hesitation, which surprised the empress slightly. This girl had been alive for roughly three hours and she was already getting used to the responsibility added to her shoulders, with it feeling as natural as breathing.

"Can I go outside?" the white-haired girl questioned her mother. Selene opened her mouth, no words coming out for a moment before curling up in another smile.

"Why do you want to go outside? It's cold out there right now."

"To see the white stuff."

 _She doesn't know what snow is like yet._

"Sure, let's get you bundled up first." They both got up as Dahlia followed behind, Adesha leading the entourage to a closet with some quick additions for the child. Some snow overpants were added, along with a pair of gloves and a pink hooded jacket with fur lining. All Eve had to do was lift her arms and feet while she was dressed properly, with her mother holding out her hand. "There, now you can go outside." A grin appeared on Eve's young face as she ran to the grand foyer, Adesha and Dahlia keeping up handily. "Don't run! You'll trip!" Selene shouted out as she hurried after, watching as her fears were justified. The battle maid leader quickly caught the falling princess without so much as a misstep, bringing her back to a standing position.

"Sorry," Eve quietly said as the empress kneeled down and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"It's alright, just don't run inside, got it?" The princess nodded in response. As they left the palace, the girl walked over to a smooth, untouched layer of snow and picked up a ball of it, having the frozen water fall apart around her glove. Then… her eyes landed on the wolves playing around. Blue noticed her almost immediately, bounced through the white powder partways, and stood there staring at the small thing. Eve quickly turned tail and ran towards her mother, afraid. "Don't worry, don't worry, they're friendly," her mother cooed as the girl jumped into her arms and was picked up. Then Luna showed up, launching snow everywhere.

"Eek!" the princess cried out as she brought up one gloved hand to block some of the cold white stuff from her face. Selene called to the massive white wolf to come over as Ash came out from near a bush, shaking off a layer of the frozen fluff covering her winter coat. The giant animal padded carefully over to the empress and looked at the young girl in her arms, trying to hide her face and holding onto the woman's neck for dear life.

"See? She's nothing to fear. Go on, look."

The princess turned her head and glanced at the white-furred creature sitting there gazing at the small form in hand, with Luna eventually leaning in to sniff her. "She's not bad?"

"Noooo, she's good. Luna, this is… this is… my… this is my daughter, Eve." The dev looked down at the girl's face and back up at the huge canine. "It's ok, try petting her." The child reached out tentatively, extremely hesitant at putting her arm out with the thought that it would be bitten off in one snap of the wolf's jaws. The animal just leaned in to sniff her glove a little more, looking at Selene for guidance, before the little hand touched her nose and rubbed the top of her snout. "See? They're family too."

"Family?"

"Yup, family." Eve gave Luna some more attention as the empress hugged her daughter closely for a moment while carrying her, giving a small kiss on her forehead. "Will, sorry; please continue," the dev said quietly over coms.

 _Gotta get the pack out on a hunt soon. They're getting a bit rambunctious._

"At the current moment, there will be nine major heads of the noble houses from both Silvinholm and Aureos, with one that survived the collapse of Paldos, coming to the meeting. You can still say no to this; we, your cabinet, are all certain that they'll try to leverage some sort of power in their direction from you, in hopes of keeping themselves above the law." The list ran by on her left eye as she put her daughter down, letting Blue get a chance to see who she was, then being educated by Dahlia on what snow was and why it was cold. One of the names spoken by Will hit a nerve… Alain Reysor.

 _The main reason the mad king sent an army to lay siege to Silvinholm, just to prove a point by attempting to slaughter half the population. The only reason I didn't have him executed was that he technically didn't raise a hand against anyone, just had the missive sent. While his hands are covered in blood in other regards, he didn't actually have his mercenaries fight anyone._

"Do we have any predictions on what they'll want? Just to humor me, of course."

Adesha packed a snowball and threw it gently at a tree, letting it splash apart as Eve did the same, though her strength barely got the ball beyond fifteen feet. The princess was at least laughing, something that seemed like music to the empress's ears as it relieved a lot of stress and fear that the girl wouldn't be able to live a normal life… normal enough, at least, given her circumstances. "Currently, what we believe they'll ask is for more power to do what they want, thinking they can somehow control you with demands," Will responded.

"Wait, demands? Oh… I see… because of how most kingdoms tend to be, with having to gain the support of the nobles and their knights, funding, they think I'll acquiesce to their partial control. I've had to negotiate with people outside our borders, inside is entirely another matter; if they want more power, they need to just move out, start a new life somewhere else with none of the benefits of my empire." Eve stuck her tongue out to catch a falling snowflake, then another, before a being almost covered in snow by a running white beast playing around, the backwash knocking the girl over. "Easy! Luna! Don't do that!" she chastised the wolf as the princess got back up from the small tumble, getting patted down by both maids. While the empress was worried her daughter might have gotten hurt on her first day, Eve just continued on, being led to the stables where horses were kept, not a single tear dropping or cry out.

 _She's a bit of a bruiser beyond the initial fear of the wolves. Good._

"It's only nine of the houses, ma'am. The rest of the nobility are doing whatever they can to adapt to your rule, with many using the new laws to increase their wealth. With better pay, their employees spend more; therefore, the economy keeps chugging. That, in turn, allows the barons and viscounts more opportunities. These nine simply want more, as what power they had was taken when the king was eliminated."

"And this is where they dance for a position to fell those who were previously above them. I guess this is also why they are throwing a tournament to build up such weak for… er…"

"You dislike the idea of insulting the Orc Destroyers."

"Mhm. While not exactly my friends, they were colleagues during my trip to Silvinholm and the abbey, now citizens just like everyone else. Dina is being a bit of a fool for joining in the competitions held by those pompous nobles. Seriously, what is she thinking? It's going to end poorly for her in some form or another; at least everyone could have waited until there was an official championship sponsored by the empire, with certified rewards for all tiers." Eve was picked up by Luna in her jaws then carried back to the group in front of her mother. She shivered a little as the day slowly turned into evening. "Alright, munchkin, let's get you inside. There will be time to play again tomorrow, I don't want you catching a cold."

"Okay." The girl raised her hand up to hold Selene's as they both walked inside, followed by the entourage, letting the wolves run around a little longer before they would come in.

"Would you like us to place the tournament on hold until it can be inspected? This way, we can show the adventurers and mercenaries that they don't have to rely on the nobility to win the lotto or backhanded actions to compete against each other," Will asked through the channel.

"I'm thinking about it… I'll be giving them a surprise visit before the ball anyways; it will give me a chance to see who is who amongst the best Artinia had that are still alive. It might throw a massive monkey wrench in the noble family's recruiting drive if I suddenly swoop in and provide alternatives to taking contracts. It might also give Morlan a chance to check over the dossiers and cherry-pick any who might work in his agency. Besides, that team hasn't exactly joined the group combat trials, at least from what I read; it's mostly solo events with a show of skill and form anyways, with a few cavalry duels. There's one 'monster defense' in there, but that's non-lethal anyways."

"Understood ma'am. We'll see about getting some initial reports from the signup sheet the adventurer's guild has, their personal reviews on the delvers as it were. It should give us an advanced warning on anyone we should keep an eye on. Now, if there are any found that might be… how should I say it…"

"Disadvantageous to have drawing breath in the empire? That depends on the dossiers… and their willingness to change their ways. I'll read the recommendations before deciding on any assassinations," the dev replied, gently running her fingers through her daughter's hair, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. The young girl moved closer and held onto her hip, getting used to the woman as family. The empress had gotten so used to planning one thing through her internal coms while showing a different side of herself to those around her physically. Many would be frightened at what was happening in the background, with the military giving updates on potential threats, intelligence agents prowling around and offing those who could terrorize the empire, and ambassadors still interacting with the two kingdoms they had just negotiated with. During that time, the empress could be all smiles to everyone nearby, with new plans of action flitting between her ears on what needed to be neutralized.

 _I wonder what my alignment is right now, given it just has a dash in my character sheet still. Lawful neutral? Chaotic good? Hell… lawful evil? I'll do what I need to protect my empire… and my daughter. It probably fluctuates on a daily basis…_

"Mommy?" Eve asked quietly.

"Yes, honey?"

"I like it here."

Selene smiled at her as they both headed inside, with the empress placing an order for the naval shipyard to construct a yacht with submarine bay capability. Her daughter was going to get a very impressive education throughout the years, with Dahlia planning out everything quickly. In the meantime, there were a few days to spend bonding until the tournament, followed along with the ball.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Multiple forms snuck towards the temple, trying to use the low light of the sunset to mask their presence. One by one, they slipped inside through the weakened door ward, seeking out three women somewhere inside. The last one of the five never got a chance to clear the doorway as there was a sound of breaking wood, a crunch, screams, followed by each body of her sisters being flung back out. None of them were dead, though they were clearly beaten very quickly. Each one slowly got back up with the aid of the fifth, looking towards the temple as Hrist walked out and dusted her hands off, rotating her gaze to each of their faces. "Next?" she shouted out, waiting for another attempt to attack them.

An arrow was shot from near the corner, which she caught effortlessly and snapped in half. Her eyes shifted to the archer, who slowly slunk back around the stone wall, attempting to lead her into a trap as the Valkyrja stomped off. Skuld came out with a cup of soup ready, indifferent towards the amazons lying bruised as they all heard the sounds of a scuffle; more bodies of their sisters were flung one by one around the corner to join the pile, with the raven-haired woman stepping back out and ripping a lasso from her chest. "Having fun?" the brunette asked, noting that her battle maiden sister glared a little at her and blew away a stray lock of hair trying to land above her eyes.

"This is getting old," Hrist replied, "it is the third time today. Don't they understand I'm not even wielding a weapon yet, and they're still getting flattened like wheat stalks? If I was really serious, they'd be dead on the first round this morning." The leader of the group slowly rose up and tried to brandish a dagger, but her wrist couldn't really support it. The rest of her troop clustered around her, all staring at the Valkyrja as Bryn came out with an electric lantern. Each and every face was battered amongst their team as the bringers of the dead just stood there, unscathed. "Go on, run away with your tails between your legs; maybe this time you'll get the hint not to start something."

"Grrrr… I'll prove I'm the strongest and take down a battle maiden once and for all! Just you wait!" the leader shouted back, growling a little after as they turned to run back to whatever village they came from. Hrist just sighed and shook her head.

"If you come back a fourth time with the intent to fight, I'm not holding back again…" she muttered out, with Skuld smirking.

"You've given them enough chances to give up and just talk. Besides, it wouldn't just be you getting serious; don't forget about us after all," the brunette remarked.

"I'm really surprised that they even started something with us, to begin with. The fact they know of us speaks volumes right now, that and the symbols they're using for their jewelry. They worshipped Freyja, yet they decide to pick a fight with Valkyrja. I guess intelligence has been bred out of them over the centuries," Bryn yelled out from inside the temple.

"I'm thinking they were hoping to either somehow prove their mettle, or become Einherjar. Maybe… maybe it's a rite of passage? Pick the strongest on this land and defeat it, or at least show they have no fear?... could be for a ritual to… what is it… lead their tribe?" Skuld commented, thinking up the reasons for the almost comical amazon incursions.

"You're justifying their actions?" Hrist asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not justifying them, trying to understand why they are constantly coming back to be thumped in the head. Frankly, we've already tried to speak, it failed. The next time, I really don't care if you kill them, negotiations seem to have long since died off before they even began. Anyone who refuses to converse with words instead of a sword when the former is offered makes me have no compunction about how their lives end." Skuld handed her the cup of soup then headed back inside, noting the sensor placed on the doorframe to act as an alarm in case there was another attempt during the night.

There wasn't just food and sleeping bags in the equipment cases; the empress made sure there was a slew of defensive gear ready to install if they needed to protect the temple, one of which was a man-portable auto turret. It still used gunpowder ammunition, though it was at least caseless. While not as powerful as the more advanced weapon emplacements, the machine was more than enough to take down a good hundred troops by itself, more if it was positioned at the end of a hallway. It also would get rid of the massive abundance of spare ammo in storage depots near the military bases judiciously sprinkled throughout the empire. All automaton forces were going to start using electromagnetic weapons as standard given the "Rifle+" project that the empress had hinted at one time with Will and Dominic. Hrist just happened to overhear some of the new upgrades being put into production. It made her wonder if melee was ever going to survive the transition, with ranged becoming the end all be all with the military.

Both women walked back inside and sat down in their camp room, lights attached to the walls as the burner didn't provide much illumination. "Shouldn't we call? You know, to let the empress know we're here and still ok?" Brynhildr asked as she sat back and ate a spoonful of her own soup.

"A report would be advantageous to give her. There's a slight caveat to that, though. We should give it in the morning instead of this evening. If she knew about the amazons… well, we don't exactly know how she'll react," Skuld warned.

"If her majesty speaks with them, they may try to attack her for being weak. That won't end well, and I'm fairly certain the two brain cells they seem to have to rub together between the lot of them would allow the feeling of utter terror to flow through their feeble bodies when Selene gets angry" the blonde replied, chuckling a little after.

 _That's if her honor guard doesn't counter the attempt in the first place… or allow me to end their annoying lives…_

"Hrist?" Skuld questioned as her sisters both looked at her.

"I cannot believe we ever considered using amazons as prime Einherjar candidates. They've really gone downhill since we've last seen them." Bryn tried to stifle a giggle at hearing that, only for all three of them to break out laughing. "I mean, there is no reason for them to descend this far from what we are used to. It's almost shameful."

"Perhaps, once we've offloaded all of the books onto the ship, we can sneak around and find this city or village they come from? They cannot all be as… untrained… er, inept… oh to hell with it, buffoons, as those ten. Maybe what we are seeing are just rebellious teenagers?" Skuld said, attempting to provide an alternative to ending their bullheaded existences, even if she didn't care about their deaths for the fourth and final encounter. From what they remembered, amazons should be tall, proud women warriors just as capable as any man, many times much stronger than any knight from some far off kingdom. Brynhildr knew of one instance an older Einherjar she had called upon that threw her spear straight through two soldiers and impaled the tip through a stone wall. Of course, they still would rather prefer the berserkers or other Vikings compared to these wild females fighting with spear and loincloth. The warriors of the frozen north were a fairly hardy bunch in almost every regard, even if they weren't mainly one gender.

"Perhaps. There's no guarantee we will have enough time to do so unless…" Hrist looked out the window towards the ship they had traveled on. While her eyes couldn't see the lone frigate, it was there, hiding and waiting for them to bring whatever tomes they decided to carry out. She had seen firsthand what the automatons on board had access to, the equipment available to the marines stationed onboard. From what she knew, there was access to some sort of red gem attached to their chassis, a way to dispense gear or send it back from somewhere unknown. When questioned in the past, the soldiers simply responded with information regarding a specialized inventory system set aside for their use by the empress. Hrist had no idea it involved something directly connecting to a tab the dev had set up for her troops to pull resources from.

"That look on your face tells volumes. What are you thinking?" Bryn remarked, raising an eyebrow as she sipped from a chilled cup.

"There might be a way to speed up the whole process. We don't need to read through all of the books available, just bring them back. Selene won't be annoyed if we… if we… dump all of them right into –"

"For the record, I have no idea what those gems do and where they connect to. Adding in whatever we find may destroy what we provide, making everything we have worked for on this trip be for nothing. Still… if we can get affirmation that it won't damage the texts… worth a shot" Skuld waggled her finger at her raven-haired sister. Each Valkyrja looked at each other, acknowledging the plan. Hrist slowly got up and walked to the auto turret stationed at the end of the hallway and checked for the same gem. At the base of the mount sat the large glowing connector, feeding ammunition into the barrels ready to fire at attackers.

"If we remove that, we'll have no way to put it back," Brynhildr commented, worried that her sister might try and take the machine apart. Given how well built it was, that seemed highly doubtful without trying to actively destroy it; that would most certainly cause the thing to either defend itself or detonate due to damage, to keep the technology from falling into the wrong hands. As Selene had once informed them, a chain reaction of stored ammunition is not something to be near when it goes off.

"I wasn't going to remove it… what if we try and push the books into it?" Hrist replied, annoyed a little by her sister jumping to conclusions. It wasn't as if they were meatheads, she _was_ trying to use her brain after all. Skuld deftly picked up a scroll and lightly touched against the gem on the back, worried that it wouldn't work, and just bend the edges. Nothing happened, with all three sighing. "Too good to be true; might only allow ammunition to leave, with nothing going in as a protective measure." Just as they were going to give up, the scroll edge disappeared, with the gem changing color to green.

"It… wait wait wait, maybe it somehow detects us being nearby?... the earpieces we wear! It… uh… might tell the empress where we are right now…" Skuld exclaimed, pointing to her left ear with a little excitement before concern fell upon her face. Selene knew where they were at all times if that was true, probably even knew how healthy they were. The empress knew where all of her tools were, all of her people.

 _Like Odin._

"Or, maybe Selene knows we're trying to send something and unlocked the entrance point. It's probably a missive she thinks we're sending," Bryn said, giving another explanation as she tapped her lower lip and looked at the damaged ceiling.

"Whatever, it works. Let's get everything we can inside."

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Huh, wonder what they're trying to send. Oh well…" the empress muttered out to herself and yawned while Eve poked at a small toy while wearing pajamas. Her mother had a printer craft all sorts of trinkets and playthings for the girl, wondering which ones she seemed most interested in. Unfortunately, it was going to take quite a few days, weeks, or months even before a pattern would start to appear on what she preferred. Predictive analysis wasn't going to work, with Dahlia even observing the princess's behavior and relaying anything she noticed to the dev.

The initial report was that Princess Eve Jadzia Cordell was slowly becoming a regular child, with her first responses being more akin to a robot. Nikola, Robert, Turnie, and Orlo all agreed to coin the symptom name "Soul Shock," a form of losing one's sense of self after being in a long period of limbo, then coming back to the land of the living. Over the past hours, the child was now asking questions about everything, rattling them off in any room she was brought to. There were at least a dozen times already that Dahlia had to pause and look at her creator, wondering if it was right to answer some of the queries. A few were considered acceptable, two involved anatomy which the empress didn't quite feel she should learn just yet.

As Selene stood in the doorway watching the girl sit and draw, her tutor right next to her to help with anything else that came to mind, Will came up next to the red-haired woman and watched as well. "You have experience with children, you're a natural."

"I looked through so many e-reads that I could tell you exactly what to do and what not to do depending on their age," she replied quietly while her eyes were pinned to the princess. The chief of staff glanced at her.

"I… take it you don't like talking about why you have so much knowledge in this regard." The empress was silent for a few seconds and closed her eyes the entire time. While being curt before was a normal defensive measure she tended to do each time she was asked, it shouldn't hurt to talk with those who were technically very close to her.

"I… don't really like talking about it, but because of medical reasons back on Earth, I… couldn't have children. Regardless of advances in medical science, new diseases and syndromes still crop up from time to time. Cormillion's syndrome was one of them." Will wasn't going to press any further, though she continued with a voice almost a whisper. "The event was… a blow for me. Apparently very rare, makes it impossible to carry, surgery had no effect. Also, the fact that the relationship I was in became very strained didn't help matters, ended any chances after; I never wanted to try again, never tried adopting. Now… this… I wasn't exactly expecting this…"

"You were expecting a teenager."

"Or a grown woman, someone I could slowly ease into a brand new life, help her on her way as a… as a… I honestly don't know what, whatever she wanted to be. My plan wasn't exactly well thought out, I'll admit. That was a bit stupid of me, but now…"

"She is your flesh and blood, and technically a player. You didn't even have to go through the pains of labor, potty training, diaper changes –"

" – And yet, I would have embraced all of that in a heartbeat." Selene exhaled and shook her head. "She's a surprise, a welcome one I'll admit, but a definite wake up call. It's making me think about what I'm doing these days beyond just… living or building an empire." There was silence between them as the automaton kept his hands behind his back as he nodded. A small smirk played onto her lips as she saw Eve smile, then yawn. "I'm going to have to childproof the castle…"

"Cameron and Briane are already hard at work doing just that, Jeeves and Adesha are currently planning a birthday party if it is alright with you, ma'am."

 _Of course! She's technically born today!_

"That sounds perfect. Hmm… well, I guess I'll skip the tournament, and we can have it happen then."

"Perhaps you can bring her to the event? Let her enjoy the –" Will shut up as she raised her eyebrow.

"It's mostly adventurer's fighting, with some team combat. I'd… like her to not see that just yet, especially within such a short time. Better to spend time enjoying her education and giving me a chance to look after her, as a mother should." Eve picked up the picture she drew of Luna, who had stayed near her ever since playing outside. The dev lightly clapped her hands in applause at the drawing, little more than a square body with some stick legs and some triangle ears; large blobs of white which were supposed to be snow falling down were blotched along the top, along with multiple figures, one of which was wearing pink clothes that was more than likely the princess. "Good job, sweetheart." The grandfather clock nearby chimed just as a yawn escaped the white-haired six-year old's mouth again. "Time for bed."

"Okay." With that said, Eve was helped into bed by her mother, not yet customized for the girl. While the bedroom was still somewhat sparse in terms of what a child would like, with no real color or amenities beyond the pile of toys quickly created and given to her, it was going to soon be improved with a high priority remodel being headed by Juliet herself.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Gåte - Gjendines Bånsull)**_

Dahlia softly sang a lullaby, which made the empress do a double-take with keen interest. The maid _was_ reading everything and anything in the library, learning whatever she could about the world to become a good instructor if new recruits somehow were vetted in the future by Selene. The blue-haired woman didn't glance over anything that could be committed to memory, easily reading through two folk song tomes that had been picked up. "Good night, Eve."

"Good night, mommy."

The lullaby did the trick, with Eve falling asleep. As the "adults" left the room, slowly closing the door behind them, Will stood looking at his creator as if to ask a question.

"What's up?"

"Ma'am, may I remind you of something now?" he asked softly. She glanced over at the maid who simply stood there bowed with her hands clasped together.

"Alright."

"Turnie gave you a clean bill of health during your check-up. That means what you suffered from is gone." Selene averted her gaze for a moment and nodded slowly, mulling over how to respond as she licked her lips and rubbed them together.

"I know this; however, the chances of me ever getting into a relationship again, at least one that I feel would provide that opportunity are slim to none. This is not to mention the fact that I have… I have…" she stopped for a small pause, almost as if letting it sink it for herself, "A daughter already. I have a daughter. I can't believe it just yet." She broke into a smile, her eyes watering a little.

"I will do my utmost to educate her, your majesty. You can trust her with me," Dahlia said, already creating an adaptive schedule for the princess.

The three of them walked down the hallway towards the empress's quarters as the dev gestured and spoke, a little hop in her step. "I want her to have an interactive education, not just behind a desk. Hell, for the next few months, I'm going to be directly involved anyways, so we might as well get field trips added in often. Oof… going to need playdates too… and somehow figure out how to get her the chance to make friends… maybe a day once in a while to visit the academy? Meet other students? Visit Tal Salunbal and meet Tariq?"

"That sounds like an excellent addition, empress. I'll implement those requirements immediately." The blue-haired maid bowed carefully and took her leave as Will just watched her go.

"I'll let you get some sleep, ma'am. Tomorrow I believe it was to have a meeting held with the guilds if I'm not mistaken; you'll want to be well-rested and prepared for that. Then there is the dinner with Mayor Liyana."

"Thank you. Oh, Will… I'm fine. It does strike a nerve to explain it, but it's not as if I get flashbacks or anything; I didn't go through what other women did. Besides… I don't have it anymore, it seems. I guess… I guess I just didn't like telling anyone there was something wrong with me."

Will's eyebrows raised high for a moment in astonishment. "Ma'am… nothing is wrong with you. Not one single thing. We are all in agreement on that." The dev smirked at hearing that.

"If I was perfect, I wouldn't be on the physical plane. As I used to hear from a friend of mine as I will not take credit for this, 'everyone has bugs. The question shouldn't always be can you fix them, but can you turn some of them into features?'" She switched her view down to the ground and smirked. "While that doesn't exactly work with the syndrome I had, you learn to make it not define you."

"Who said that?" the metal man asked. "It's a good line."

"Suchi Kazegawa, after three kids and… I think his second wife? Well, whatever, I didn't say he was a saint or anything. The point is, no one is perfect."

"And yet we strive to become it. Maybe one day. Sleep well, ma'am."

"Good night Will. See you in the morning." With that, the doors were slowly closed as the chief of staff waved as he retreated down the hallway and towards the CIC nestled deep inside the palace.


	37. Ch 36 Relaxation

_**(Recommended Song List for chapter: Tut Tut Child – Dance To It, Daft Punk – The Game Has Changed, Zayde Wølf – Live Life, Monoman – Meditation)**_

 _ **Early Morning, 26th, December**_

Selene woke up suddenly and looked around, with the reason why she just came out of a deep slumber a mystery. Something felt odd, something she had never experienced before. As she got out of bed and put on her slippers, the doors to her master chambers slowly opened to allow her to leave, with the wolves wondering what was wrong. The empress walked down the hallway and stopped at the end with her pack in tow, right in front of Eve's bedroom.

 _Why am I here right now? I just get this gut feeling something is about to happen, I just don't know yet…_

Suddenly, there was screaming coming from inside, baffled heavily by the soundproofing in each room. The dev stormed in to find it pitch dark, with nothing around that could be the cause of the princess wailing… in her sleep. The young girl's eyes were closed, with what looked like tears building up. Her mother quickly sat down on the bed and gently woke her up, seeing that it was a nightmare. "Easy, easy. It's ok, it was just a bad dream, it's alright now…" she cooed as Eve woke up and clutched to her immediately. Dahlia and the other maids came immediately, along with two honor guards checking the whole room for anything that might cause night terrors externally. Security throughout the castle went on semi-high alert, tracking whatever could be within a ten-mile radius. All of this… because of a child's crying from a bad dream. There was no guarantee it wasn't some magic somewhere being used; they couldn't take any chances.

"I don't like the dark… it's scary… I don't want to be in it anymore…" Eve cried with her head on her mother's chest, her back being rubbed. Within seconds, the empress's rear felt soaked, noting immediately that the six-year-old had wet the bed.

 _Poor thing._

"It's alright, it's going to be ok… shhh… don't worry, it was just a nightmare…" the dev gently told her as she lifted her daughter out of the bed while the maids quickly got to work cleaning. A quick **[Scrub]** spell and the sheets were devoid of any urine, including on both the empress's and her daughter's pajamas. The woman looked around and noted that there were no night lights added to the sockets on the walls, no special illumination features installed into the area for a warm glow in the middle of the night beyond the night sky through the windows… that showed a cloudy overcast. Before she could check her inventory to craft some new lights, Jeeves was already plugging two in along with a glowing unicorn light that rotated, showing all sorts of cute magical creatures on the ceiling. "There, is that ok?"

Eve shook her head and sniffled, then looked up at her mother, tears still at the corner of her eyes. "You want to sleep in my room tonight?" Selene asked. The six-year-old nodded immediately. "Alright, I guess there's going to be a change of plans." With that, the empress carefully carried the child to her own chambers, thanking the servants for their quick responsiveness, while also checking in with Nikola and Robert through an open coms channel involving a rather nagging suspicion in the back of her mind. "Nikola, are we sure there are no memories that have come through?"

"Are we referring to player abilities or her previous life?" Robert replied.

"Actually… neither honestly."

"What are you thinking, empress?" Nikola chimed in.

"My daughter just had a nightmare involving the dark. She hates it in fact; I'm wondering if maybe it… well, maybe if…" the auburn-haired woman stopped communicating over her coms as she tried to create a cohesive sentence to relay what she was thinking, while also bringing Eve to her bed. The wolves moved a little out of the way to accommodate the new arrival, with Luna doing the opposite, lying close to the white-haired child and almost blending in, making the girl look bald.

"You're wondering if there is a residual effect from the soulstone." The matter of fact response from Nikola hit the nail on the head.

"Yes."

There was a sigh from the other side that the empress heard. That was not a good sign until explained. "It… may be possible… that she has an intense fear of not necessarily the darkness, but more being alone in the said dark area. However… we still do not know what happens to souls contained in something other than a body. No data suggests they can be traumatized necessarily, though many religious texts both on Earth and this world have told of torment. After running tests on the journals, the date in which the previous vessel expired was over four hundred years ago."

 _Please don't talk about her old life like that… she wasn't just a vessel…_

"So, it's possible she has trauma?" Selene questioned, looking down at Eve as she made sure her daughter was comfortable, the doors being closed by Adesha to let them sleep again. The lights were dimmed down enough to at least allow the empress to try and get a little rest without being annoyed.

Given that she normally woke up and started her day now at 4 am, there were only two hours left to get some shut-eye. That was only if she could extricate herself from the child's grip around her chest, with the massive white wolf acting as an extra pillow protecting both. Ash slept closest to Eve's back, yet still provided ample space to stretch out, while Blue stayed where he always did at the foot of the bed watching everything. The dev gently brushed her daughter's bangs back as she watched the girl slowly fall back to sleep, the antenna hair still standing at attention.

"Possible, yes. A psychological evaluation would be needed to ascertain –"

"Damn it! I was worried about that…" Selene snapped as she interrupted Nikola's explanation.

"There was always the risk of something, empress; count your blessings that she is physically healthy, with no abnormalities. She has no diseases, no syndromes, her genetics are perfectly fine, every organ is working as intended. The mind is… well, we already expected her to have _some_ difficulties given reincarnation and not having any memory of growing up. I believe either your Bronze Team member Orlo would be able to assist with that, or mayhap provide a team of psychologists and psychiatrists. However, we believe that –"

"I knew it, I should get them built immediately to –"

" –HOWEVER, empress, we believe that jumping to conclusions may hamper her psychological growth, not to mention… she may just be afraid of the dark. Children tend to be that way." Nikola was quick to regain control of the conversation and calm his creator.

The dev sighed and settled down. They were right, her first night being a mother, and she was overreacting to a nightmare. There was no evidence to say that Eve had residual effects from the stone. The mind was able to play tricks on many levels, especially during REM.

 _They're right, they're right… it was just a bad dream for her… first night jitters worrying about my kid. I shouldn't be one of those overprotective mothers needing hundreds of doctors telling me that she has an equal number of mental disorders, then it turns out everything was blown out of proportion._

"Alright. I… agree. Sorry… I'm just… I'm worried about her health, for obvious reasons."

"We understand, but we can assure you, there are no physical complications. Bar an in-depth explanation of her dream, with specific facts while tracking her brain waves… it's just being afraid of the dark." On the other side, Nikola was checking through data next to his compatriot at a desk, filtering through the reincarnation process.

Selene took a deep breath as Eve slowly drifted off while holding onto her mother. "Right."

"Good. Now, we do have some reports to provide if you are interested in some new breakthroughs we've made after you left," Nikola replied.

"Some of them could revolutionize how to create cities; we would not even have them attached to the ground anymore, floating through the sky. We know you said a proof of concept might not be useful right now, but maybe turning Paldos into a project to show the people what they could work towards, say, if they prove they have the will to gain a higher education? It would leave plenty of habitat for –" Robert started to explain.

"I'll read the reports once I have at least another hour of rest, thank you. I did say before that it would be odd to move citizens into high tech cities when they barely understand arithmetic or read and write properly. I… may… reconsider, once I know they are at least at elementary levels. If you can work on universal Hypno training to speed the process up, or create some incredible brain enhancer tower that quickly beams all that information to their heads, that could sway me."

"Even with that program in the works, it will still take a good year to educate the people on the basics. Still, much faster than going through grades K – 5, let alone stage two training for 6th – 8th middle school. I believe the experiment was with hypnotic sleep therapy, not the tower. That thing just doesn't function correctly."

"Blows the brains up for the rats?"

"More like causes insomnia. Not every project we conceive works as intended. However, one other breakthrough, in particular, could explain a very limited defense against faith siphoning; it only lasts 24 hours, but it could allow not just protection against Fides Vorare, also known as Faith Eaters. We are getting somewhere in that department, slowly but surely."

The empress smirked at hearing that. They were brilliant and capable in many ways, but some ideas just didn't pan out, at least with current technology. "Understood. The defense against faith siphoning sounds interesting. Tell me later after another hour… hopefully."

"Very well, empress. Sleep well," Nikola added with a nonchalant tone. The com line ended right after as the dev leaned her head back to get into a better position, her arm crooked while holding Eve. Her Hud showed her clock, a rather annoying feature at the moment that every human could attest has aggravated them in one form or another. She was going to do her best to get some shut-eye, up until her daughter was awake again; hopefully, it was due to being hungry for breakfast instead of another night terror.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Tut Tut Child – Dance To It)**_

Ainz, disguised as Momon, walked slowly through the rocky terrain to the east of his kingdom with both swords held in hand. Narberal Gamma was a short distance from him, finishing up with three straggler wizards that were almost pitiful in capability compared to her incredible power. Within a few seconds, each was killed by a separate spell, a different element used per body; the first was incinerated, the second frozen solid, and then shattered to pieces; the third was melted into goo by acid. These were not the only enemies to fight; a good two hundred foes were in the area, with an extra contingent of shadowy creatures summoned to aid them. This group calling themselves the _Silent Cabal_ was still quite vocal when being cut down. The sign language they used to cast spells without alerting others didn't stop them from screaming in death.

 _I haven't had a good chance to just gain some coin for some time. This quest doesn't mean much to me beyond the fact they are killing citizens of my kingdom to send a message… my property. I don't like it when someone does that. Momon's duty is to stop those who try and defy Ainz, which fits what I'm doing right now, just fine._

Momon's second sword tilted and shot forward, impaling through a shadow knight and cutting upward; with a two-step dance forward and shift of his weight, that same sword came back down on another head while spiraling left, splitting two humanoid enemies in half with one swing of his first blade. He had gotten used to performing now as a warrior, with very few able to even keep up with his skills provided by **[Perfect Warrior]**. Given that most combatants that ever tried to attack him in this form so far were weak, that wasn't saying much. One tried to catch his gauntlet, in which he dropped his second sword and caught it with the other, impaling the knight and spinning around while arcing the second blade upwards to deftly catch it again due to the help of gravity. The whole thing looked choreographed.

"An excellent strike, Momon," Narberal commented as she cast **[Napalm]** that five enemies were stupid enough to use as the flank point to charge at her; her spell list was increasing slowly with the help of some training and some equipment provided by her master. There was almost nothing they could do against either of them as Momon cleaved the legs out from under three foes in his way, coming in with a jump and slamming his swords down through another two, dividing their body mass in half… vertically. Both of them were walking forces of nature, a team of adventurers that shouldn't exist… they technically didn't, at least on paper. The company of magical foes was being cleaned through quickly, Momon a ball of spinning blades and Narberal a moving wall of spells that the wizards just couldn't match.

"They cannot possibly stand before my might!" He shouted out, striking an awesome pose with both swords out and one leg pulled up as if mid-dance, lightning happening to strike in the far distance right behind him at that very moment. It made him look as if he was about to pull another multi-target attack that would devastate another chunk of the rebel wizard's now dwindling forces, creating an intimidating visage of an unstoppable hero of dark justice.

 _It was so cool! I mean, I don't think I've ever been able to get the footwork down well enough to do something like that before, I've been working so hard on making such an impressive entrance into a battle! Now, if I can just practice a little more without being watched and get a few more intimidating poses ready… wait a minute… NO! No no no, I remember trying to do this before! I am not going to fall back into those horrible days of performing like a… stupid… Chunibyo… seeing Pandora's Actor make all those moves for the past few days might have had an effect… I need to wash this away somehow… I'm not going to use those horrible lines again!_

He hadn't realized that two swordsmen were jumping at his back, roaring as they tried to fall onto him and pin his body to the ground. They never got the chance, as Narberal acting as Nabe yanked them back into a pre-built spike pit with a simple pull spell. Ainz quickly got his wits about him and charged forward, dicing through dozens of rogue wizards and their minions before the last few ran like cowards. Nabe leapt into the air and cast **[Flight]** , moving from one target to the next as a floating wisp of death. Unfortunately for the Cabalists, spare undead soldiers were waiting for them as they tried crossing the river nearby while running in terror, popping up from the water and not needing to breathe. "Momon-sama… er…"

"It is alright, Narberal, none of them have survived to hear us speak now. We will leave a marker here for the bodies to be retrieved. We'll need to collect proof for the payment to be provided." It seemed so simple for Ainz to say that. Another night out dealing with a quest provided by the explorer's guild, away from the hubbub of his kingdom for just a few hours. The night sky was surprisingly clear, with stars twinkling high above. Though emotions were difficult if nigh impossible for him to feel, the view should have been enjoyable to the caster cloaked in a warrior's armor. The land was at peace beyond the battle that had just taken place, quiet and still.

"As you wish, Ainz-sama."

 _This is how it felt back then… old memories of when I was with… my guildmates… just running around doing things and gathering materials. I'm not allowed to feel that depression anymore of not finding even one here in the new world…_

The overlord stood there for a moment, lost in thought as he looked up at the stars, with his guardian informing him about the next part of the quest while he remained silent. All explorers were now outside of his borders, finding new lands and selling the information or interesting tools found. They rarely traveled far, though they always seemed to stay away for long periods to get as much as they could to bring back for payment. The caster, disguised as a warrior, lamented on his choice to make them no longer hunt monsters, even when there were still small incursions every once in a while from some imbecilic leader trying to gain a reputation.

"I understand. We'll move on to find the empty hideout, then bring everything back so that the other explorer groups can see just what they need to do to earn my… my…" Ainz shut up immediately as he saw a glow over the hill in the far distance… that turned into a long line of soft illumination. He knew he was just barely outside of the Sorcerer Kingdom and had to only teleport away to remove themselves from any threat, but this piqued his interest. Hardly ever did he see anyone travel in the night, let alone an entire convoy. He slowly crouched and steadily jogged over to the ramped mound of earth between him and the light. As they both peeked over the top, multiple boulders in the way, his eyes landed on something he wished he hadn't.

 _ **(Recommended Song: Daft Punk – The Game Has Changed)**_

"An army Ainz-sama… we should alert the tomb, prepare for another –"

"No. They are not heading towards my kingdom…" he interrupted, watching the massive lines march forward. There were hundreds of thousands, just over a million, heading onward towards an as yet unknown destination. Siege weapons were trailing behind, with archers in the middle. None of them looked to be poorly equipped, the same gear and weapons for each soldier off to make war, all of it high quality… most of it divine mass-produced. Every man or woman in the ranks had the same symbol from the north, the same enemy he had been fighting intermittently… along with everyone else. This world wasn't so easy to take over as Demiurge, and the rest of the guardians had at first planned once they received vital information about what lay outside the maps they had. How this single ruler of Europe could amass such armies so trivially, sending them off to conquer one kingdom after another or be held back for months on end only to send even more, was… troubling.

 _Five… six… seven… eight… nine… one million heading down to fight… whom? Please don't be us, please don't be us…_

"It seems they are attacking BrawlerSage's Kingdom… at least they are not trying to break our right borderline…" Narberal whispered, watching the direction they were headed. The man she had just named, the rule of a nearby nation… Ainz was sure had to be a player. No one else would choose to be called that. There was even another nation further south owned by a Bustamove, which was most likely a play on bust a move; others were not so easy to figure out if they were similar to him, and acted out their character extremely well. None of them seemed to know the name of who was sending these armies, though, only knowing _of_ them. It was a universal acceptance that whoever was leading these forces was not friendly in the slightest.

 _Some were a breath of fresh air to speak to, even if they looked at me in disgust… at least they didn't immediately attack, unlike in Yggdrasil…_

"Hmmm… that does not bode well for them then…" Ainz replied to her, watching with what concern he could muster, given his emotional block. He knew what that meant. These were not just some low-end army that he had wiped away with his magic, charged towards and broken with his undead troops that were all but unstoppable by most, excluding the elves and their nature summons. This was a very well trained fighting force… he already had experience with defending against them the first time, and the second, and the third…

He had used **[Create Fortress]** many times while expanding his borders and had worked hard to defend his kingdom, expending critical mana for summoning spells to protect those forts. Though they were strong fortifications, some eventually did fall to incursion from the north and east. Ainz learned very quickly to adapt his defenses against sieges, eventually having crypts and cemeteries dug up in secret to supply more troops as cannon-fodder, with new projects in the works to replenish his forces. The Sorcerer Kingdom was fairing far better than most due in no small part to his guardians leading counters and gaining the upper hand with new research bearing fruit; just the ability to have gunpowder, even if inaccurate, has made firing lines invaluable to hold off swordsmen.

However, this overarching enemy from the European front was hammering against everyone, for reasons unknown. There were only so many spells he could cast every day before being whittled down, and he couldn't be everywhere at once using super tier casts. This was why they were scrambling to expand the kingdom to other continents, gaining new recruits and resources to not only make a name for themselves but also to get the edge they needed. It was working for the most part, with many other nations giving grim respect to Ainz… even if they didn't like him or some of the actions his guardians took to gain control. The ends justified the means in many cases, given just how hostile the world really was without someone keeping order, regardless of if it was being provided by the undead.

"Perhaps Cocytus can intercept at the mountains with the 92nd army, keep them occupied until –"

"There is no reason to weaken our other lines for one that does not wish to communicate in the first place. Taking my forces out of position would be a waste of valuable resources I will not waste on another nation without proper reward given. It is more important to return with what we have."

Narberal, despite believing humans were absolute filth and beneath her in every way, still worried about the effect it would have on their eastern flank. A very serious enemy was tromping through the lands nearby, not directly coming for them… yet. That could very well change right after unless their numbers are diminished enough. Ainz couldn't quite figure out where this conquerer to the north was getting his, or her, recruits or military gear. There just couldn't be that much of a population up there of humans after not just the Sorcerer Kingdom, but also others, broke their lines constantly with incredible ingenuity and tactics. This at least told them that while well equipped, they weren't tactical geniuses… just smart and damned telepathic with near hive-mind capability. However… there were the champions that came once in a while, equal to his strongest guardians. Albedo had a run-in with one before, and while it was a harsh battle, she came out on top. Then, of course… it was one on one.

Many traps set up just didn't work, with a few military blunders even attributed to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Ainz had to, on a few occasions, calm down Cocytus and the others when they were all too willing to execute themselves for failing to defend his nation, even if the small chunks of land lost were either eventually retaken or became worthless with a ring of defenses surrounding it. Also, having so many divine tier pieces of equipment just didn't seem possible. They must have had the ability to manufacture it, even if Ainz's troops couldn't collect any of it to understand the concept. The corpses evaporated after being slain, all weapons and armor disappearing before being examined. Someone was producing this, with ways he couldn't figure out just yet.

"As you wish, supreme one," Narberal replied, touching her hand on her chest and closing her eyes while bowing.

"Do not be alarmed, I have a plan for every occasion. There is no need to address such a pitiful military."

 _I'm lying, I'm lying, I'm lying, I'm lying, I'm lying! Holy shit, this is not good if they decide to turn right and come for us… they were the only ones to understand how to stop_ _ **[Fallen Down]**_ _. I've never seen anyone cancel the effect. Not one single player should be able to do that. It might have been a concerted effort by many to weaken the spell, but it also might not…_

"Of course. I never doubted for a second that you can cast aside such an enemy before the might of your presence. Please, forgive me."

"There was no slight here, Narberal. Let us take our leave."

 _He's going to lose his kingdom to that force. Though I feel nothing, even I know that this will have an impact on the controlling powers here. There's going to be a convention for many to speak on how to address them again, I can tell. Whether I will be allowed to join is another matter… at least it always ends with not just words, but actions taken to combat such a foe…_

His vision rose as he saw barely a point of movement in the far distance, near the top of a mountain range that split the valley they were in off from a nation further away… one that he had worked with recently. There, crouched on an outcropping, was the elven woman watching the army as well, with her eyes suddenly locking onto his form. She seemed to stare right through his helmet, sensing that he was someone that was just playing around and wasn't actually an adventurer. She slowly stood up, not breaking eye contact; she knew what was happening as well, and did nothing to stop it. This would lead to another kingdom falling to the enemy in the north, one that both of them just couldn't find a way to counter for long.

The only thing they could do was defend as best they can and sometimes work together along with others to hold the line. Reckless expansion in the past had alerted the man who controlled all of Europe to both of their locations, as well as everyone else further to the south and to the far east. To Ainz, it almost felt like a medieval world war. The problem was… the allies here didn't know if they were winning or losing.

At least Ainz was able to take home one big achievement compared to other nations. The Sorcerer Kingdom, as well as the Silver Spire Kingdom that the elven druid watching from afar ruled over, were able to barely hold their own by themselves. Two others also could perform in the same way. Others were not so lucky, and that could eventually spell the end of them once they were completely surrounded. A message was sent by Demiurge while he watched, almost lulled by the lights moving past in the distance. Demiurge appeared from nowhere nearby, more than likely teleporting a good distance and walking to his master's position. Ainz couldn't cast anything while he was wearing his noble visage. "There is a problem," he said quietly to his subordinate while the demon stopped and bowed.

"I agree, Ainz-sama. This does not bode well for those who are to our eastern flank. Still, this could provide an opportunity to gain something while both of them are fighting. However, that plan may have to wait, unfortunately. There is another issue I bring to your attention. Mare and Aura have both reported there was indeed a fleet sent from the north towards the far off continent that you have sent Yuri Alpha and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta to survey. They, too, are not the only ones sending ships."

Ainz turned away and walked back down towards the corpses, having his skeletons pick them up after checking for the respective trophies to bring back as proof. "Then many have noticed that teleportation does not work in that area of the world. We need to harness that. Hmm…" the warrior said as he took his helmet off, showing his skull of a head as he cupped his chin for a moment. "Gather another fleet, this one much larger."

"We are having difficulties with keeping up production, though I'm sure we can –"

"Send the fleet from the newly conquered kingdom in the southwest; their ships may not be as well designed for battle, but they can come up right behind those I have already sent in a line."

Demiurge looked up, giving a small guffaw. "That… that's brilliant, Ainz-sama!"

"Is it?" the supreme one answered.

 _I'm hoping to get each ship to have a lich on board to create fake copies around each, make one vessel look as if they are a fleet. That should cause our enemies to pause in their actions if they suddenly notice hundreds of ships ready to fight. We can use that to blockade any other fleets from reinforcing the scout flotillas._

"Yes, it is! Oh, you can use each ship in a supply chain, with the end vessel finally sailing quickly to the shores and dropping off troops; the chain will act as teleportation waypoints! Brilliant!"

 _What. I swear that it didn't occur to me. How would that even work? We'd have to measure how far we could teleport! That could take… uh… too long! Our enemies and even sometimes allies would notice, wouldn't they? From a distance, it might be possible… no way, no one could be that stupid, right?_

"The ending point would have to have nothing but mana engines installed," Narberal commented, suddenly realizing she was speaking out of turn and went silent.

"Which is why there would be a second chain to support it and replace equipment. This would require fewer forces needed, allowing us to focus more on what is happening elsewhere while sending what is required to assist our scouts. Incredible," Demiurge informed.

"Ah… yes… that is… exactly what I had envisioned… start with the planning immediately," Ainz responded.

 _Crap. I have no idea if that plan will work. Uh… damn it. Please don't let this be a blunder._

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Dragolas walked through the hall of the wizard's academy and up a spiral staircase, carrying two tomes under his arm as he tried to stay quiet while many slept in their chambers. He, and the headmaster, were both very dutiful now, as they were given a new lease on life by the empress. Their research was constantly bearing fruit, with many new acolytes taught how to help the people as opposed to working for the nobles. The funding provided was incredible, seeming to be nigh bottomless. Whatever artifacts they sought out, traders and merchants could be easily contracted to act as research caravans, moving throughout the continent or even seas to find long lost treasures. While most were fascinating, almost every one of them, bar the dangerous ones, were allowed to be kept in the academy. This was completely different from how Artinia dealt with them, as nobles would be given choice pickings from any new magical items that appeared.

Interestingly, the empress didn't seem to care about most of it, compared to the old king. He didn't know if this was because she had far stronger… or just didn't need them at all. While not ever daring to oppose her, given everything they now had and the freedom to work towards impressive magical research, there was a theory now building up amongst the highest ranked wizards there. It involved the religion surrounding the woman that was their ruler, that she was, in fact, a goddess made flesh coming down to right wrongs from all the corruption Artinia had brought. Unlike the main volume of worshipers in The Church of the Clockwork Empress, most of the wizards or apprentices in the academy had an advanced education, reaching as high in mathematics as trigonometry and fluent in many languages despite the universal translation. Now, with the addition of calculus, they were broadening their horizons, mixing science with Tier magic, or even with runecraft, to make the empire stronger than ever.

As the man walked up the spiral stone steps towards the library, his eyes fell on a dimly lit table encircled by bookshelves with only one opening. Standing nearby and leaning over a table was a person that belonged in the empress's inner circle, an amulet draped around his neck telling anyone who talked to him not to mess with the caster. Gabriel looked up from the book he was reading and smirked. "Sorry to bother you so late, I didn't think that others would be night owls," Dragolas told him.

"It's alright, I'm just visiting to look at some of the research. It looks like your name is on quite a few of these books. Variable Cost Tier Magic. This is interesting."

"Is that all you came here for? Just to check on us? It seems that would be a waste of your time, given even I have heard of your skill, Gabriel Turkano."

The purple-haired man stood up and offered his hand to shake. "I didn't think my name really carried that far in any direction out here. You are Dragolas?" he asked.

"Of Morsaelden. I'm the assistant headmaster. A pleasure." He shook hands with the envoy of the empress as they both sat down at the table, the quiet of the library so soothing with one magical lantern brightening their corner of the large circular room. "I didn't come up with that alone. There were… many… that offered up their time and put in much effort for that research to come to light. So few are alive today to see it…"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Having spells that could be dialed down or up depending on the concentration of the caster would help when mana is sparse or abundant. The effect could be –"

"Could be impressive for those traveling through villages and towns without a local wizard guild, I know. It never was worth the king's time to have this training done, never… worth the funds as it were. He wanted skilled wizards to go to war, not use their magic to help build up a strong kingdom." Dragolas put out his hand in the air, waiting for something as his fingers grasped outwards. It took a minute, but a pint of some fizzy drink floated over to him, slightly purple with a hint of green. It looked somewhat similar to the carbonated liquid that the empress had at one time sipped, once called 'soda.'

"Is uh… that carbonated?" Gabriel asked, glancing down at the mug.

"You want some? Where are my manners." Another mug eventually made its way to the man, with the dimensional magic caster watching it float just above the table for a moment then drop quickly with a thump. The liquid inside swirled and rocked around inside, nearly spilling out from the impact, causing both men to become startled as it very nearly toppled onto both of their books with them shooting their hands out to stop it wide-eyed. "Gig-gwah! A-Apologies, the spell expects you to reach out and grab it before it lands. It's not exactly created for finesse to be used; we might need to work on fine-tuning it for future research. At least it allows the item to go around corners and find its way to the caster... it just doesn't open doors."

Gabriel laughed at that. "It's alright, I'm not exactly used to some of the new spells the academy had created. I… well, I've learned a different way of casting after all."

"I have heard of this… you were imbued with the same magic that her majesty uses. I'll admit… it is quite powerful," Dragolas replied, taking a sip of the drink. The flavor was little more than multiple special fruit juices mixed together and watered down with a recuperative tea, but he liked it all the same. It was the closest thing anyone had gotten to speeding up the regeneration of mana. They still didn't know about the invention of mana potions, or the fact the empress had thousands of them stored away.

"Yet difficult to comprehend. So few it seems can ever grasp its capabilities."

"How did you manage to learn to control it?" The assistant director of magical sciences rubbed his chin, waiting for a response.

"Very carefully, with a lot of mistakes in my youth. Some… were very big mistakes I would not want to repeat."

"Hmm, well, you've learned from experience, I would hope."

"More than you know." They both sat quietly for a moment as they sipped their drinks, the lantern never swaying in its illumination of the surroundings. Both men were just going to accept another magical peer beside them and simply read. At one point, the second in command at the academy looked at what Gabriel was checking on, old research involving a magical ID footprint. "You won't get much from that tome."

"Mmhm, it seems you stopped delving into it. This is my reason for coming here really, the capability to have an imprint of the user onto their spells, to track down rogue wizards…"

"It could revolutionize catching magical criminals, I know. We didn't get far, having to divert to other avenues for the king… also, the cost in mana from many acolytes was too much," Dragolas replied.

"Too many spells for the experiments would be taxing on the students involved. If this could get anywhere, though… the effect would be incredible." Gabriel sat back and mused on the idea; no spell caster could do anything without the police knowing about the actions, knowing who caused a fire or assassinated an official. Spell forensics alongside the sciences. "What would it take to get back to this?"

"Well, first off… funding. Most of what we've been given has been for educating new students and providing for the faculties; the remainder has gone into artifact research. While it has been more than ample, we'd need more than what is given right now to continue."

The purple-haired caster rubbed his short goatee, wondering if he had enough sway with the empress to ask for an extension of the funds. "I'll see what I can do, she's very understanding when it comes to ways of protecting the empire. Next would be a large volume of mana, correct?"

Dragolas sighed and nodded, flipping a page from his own book. "The problem is that straining concentration for the acolytes over and over could cause health issues. Many decided to abandon the research simply because of this, casting the same spells over and over just to see if we could determine who was doing what. While it made them quite proficient in that particular type of magic… it got boring fast."

Gabriel looked up at the ceiling in contemplation, wondering if the empress could somehow fix that. She had shown on many occasions that there was technology that could overpower even the strongest magic, and her grasp of dimensional magic was, to the say the least, well beyond his. He was still learning what he could from the tomes his master had left him; the young man wondered if there might be a chance to have a study session with her as a tutor. Her way of thinking baffled him to no end; his comprehension of dimensional magic was nothing compared to hers, let alone her near omniscience right now.

"I'll see if her majesty has an answer to that." The discussion on those projects ended with two notes written down by the purple-haired young man, jotting in a few words on a pad of paper. They both resumed the calming silence between them, reading their respective books.

"May I ask you a question?" Dragolas queried.

"Depends on the question. I may not have the answer."

The older spell caster put his tome down and crossed his legs, then propped up his chin, gazing at Gabriel curiously. "Do you believe she is a goddess?" he asked, gesturing out towards the window with one hand and squinting slightly.

Gabriel looked up from the page he was on, smirking a little. "What I believe and what she is are two things that may or may not coincide. All I know is… what I've seen… no human, no demi-human or heteromorph or, well, anyone mortal… they can't do what she's done. At least… I'm fairly sure they can't. Even the tales of the Evil Deities, the Six Great Gods, or Eight Greed Kings that have traveled overseas… none of them compare to what I've seen."

"A respectable answer." That was all that was said for that night, both men continuing with their reading next to the lantern, knowing that they should be in bed.

 _ **8 am, 26th, December**_

Hrist and her sisters finished stuffing the last of the books into the transference gem attached to the auto turret, doing one last sweep of the area to make sure they didn't miss anything. The shelves seemed so empty without all of that knowledge, everything that had been gathered during the time the pantheon had been a powerful force in all the realms. The furniture in the library was all still intact due to the wards, though even those were now fading away. The chairs were left without anyone to sit in them, waiting to eventually rot and fall apart, along with the rest of the temple.

The raven-haired woman didn't think she was very sentimental when it came to material possessions, bar her plushie collection. This, however, hit a nerve that she didn't know how to address, a feeling of sadness that she had only felt twice before in the past; both times, it was losing something, the gods themselves during Ragnarok, and the rest of the Valkyrja. Now, excluding the tomes stuffed away somewhere that the empress could touch them, the battle maidens were losing another connection to their history. Skuld had remarked that it was similar to the feeling of humans moving from one house to another, leaving all the memories they had behind. While they had never been to the temple until their trip, the twang of regret Hrist had now almost hurt.

She ran her gloved finger slowly along a shelf as she walked by, then another, until she reached one that creaked. Brynhildr was packing their things while Skuld helped look for anything they were missing. As they both walked by a stone wall, Hrist stopped as she could see out of the corner of her eye, something wedged in a small opening near the edge. She tried to push her fingers in, attempting to get whatever was stuck inside. What fell out was not some hidden book, but a lever that dropped on the ground.

"Does that connect to anything here? I haven't seen any spots that could be installed into to unlock some hidden -whoa! Hang on!" Skuld said as she immediately tried to stop her sister from breaking the wall down with a quick kick. She wasn't fast enough, as the six-foot four-inch warrior rammed her foot through the stone then pulled back out, bending over and peering inside. There was a pedestal hidden within, though nothing could be seen on top. "Great, whatever was there might be damaged or destroyed." What they weren't expecting was the ruckus to cause another hidey-hole to let go of its contents above them, a simple leather-bound journal. As the brunette picked it up and unwound the small strap, she immediately put it down on a nearby table as if it had burned her. The symbol on the first page was that of the eye. This belonged to Odin at one point, though why he had something made of such poor material was beyond them.

"We shouldn't read that…" the brunette muttered out, standing a few feet away, worried that some divine punishment would be meted out unto her. Hrist looked at her then back at the journal, took a deep breath, and read from it. Most of what was written seemed to be gibberish, talk of painting the sky to allow the races of mortals to live amongst the stars. Each day seemed short and almost inconsequential, with no real rhyme or reason about them; there was mention of Thor, Loki, Ragnarok, his wife, as well as Asgard and Valhalla. One tiny bit of information gleaned from one page involved a tome that 'held the names of all Valkyrja, past, present, future.'

"That might have been meant for the eyes of the fates…" Hrist whispered out, now realizing with a shock that the remainder of books were all stored… somewhere. They would have to ask the empress to get their hands on it once they returned… nicely. There was no guarantee she would agree. "Our mistake for shoving all of them into the gem so quickly…"

"Damn it… so our names are in the tome as well? That's… that's incredible…" Skuld remarked, pushing up her bangs and blowing air out of her mouth. "There has to be more than just our names; no bound pile of papers was ever owned by the fates. To have anything written by them held immense power."

"We don't know if it was actually owned by any of them; we'll just have to wait and see once we get back." Hrist continued to read through the remainder of pages, doing her best to interpret what was scribbled down. Eventually, she gave up and closed the journal. It might have been written in code, to stop anyone but other gods from understanding his meaning every day. "Enough… we'll have time to read through more than this later. Let's check the rest of the library before we leave, one last time for anything else hidden."

Both sisters inspected every crevice, every nook for other hidden locations to stash written knowledge. Unfortunately, there was nothing left; with one final look back from the entranceway, all three of them said their goodbyes to a once-proud temple, crumbling slowly and forgotten to history. Storing all of their gear on the backs of their Pegasus, they left quickly in search of the amazon tribe that was somewhere out there on the island. If time allowed, they'd figure out the reason behind the attacks; if not, raising the entire tribe to the last woman would be a simple task for the likes of three bringers of the slain. First, they needed to drop off any spare equipment at the frigate waiting for them.

 _ **Four Hours Later**_

"Would you look at that…" Brynhildr commented as all three walked out of the trees and vines into the open ground of a small city-based around a mixture of Byzantine and Mayan architecture. There were hundreds of amazons standing and staring at them, with absolutely none of them attacking on sight. They just watched, concern etched on their faces. Almost all of them somehow knew of the strength that even one Valkyrja could bring to a battlefield, let alone three. Skuld by herself would have been considered a cataclysmic event falling upon the city; with the trio, the island would be devastated.

"None of them are running," Skuld mentioned as they looked around, completely armored and carrying their weapons.

"None of them are taking a defensive stance either. Looks like we might have been correct in thinking the ones that assaulted us the other day were teenagers," Bryn replied. Not all of the amazons had weapons; many had fishing spears, pottery, skinning knives, even a mortar and pestle. There were only a few men seen anywhere.

 _I had nearly forgotten; Skuld and Bryn might not remember it either. Amazons have a high female offspring birthrate. Which means… new blood is sometimes stolen from others who cannot defend themselves well enough. Their lifestyle does not sit well with me._

Warriors came running up to stand in formation, blocking their path. All three in their feathered helmets and heavy armor stopped immediately, with Bryn moving her left arm back a little, ready to drop her shield from her back and into position. "Hold! Make a path!" was shouted from behind, with an older woman walking carefully towards them as the guards split down the middle. Salt and pepper hair was pulled back in a dreadlock ponytail, a large scar running over her left eye and curling down to her chin. Multiple amulets were adorning her chest, also covered by a multi-layered leather bra. It was clear that another scar, running from her neck down through the bra and to her navel, was not for decoration; the fur pants she wore may have also hidden many more sealed up wounds that were etched along her legs. She had seen battle before, much of it in fact, and always came back. Her silver-grey eyes locked onto Hrist's green, the battle maiden staring almost through her. "Valkyrja. Bringers of the slain. You honor us by arriving."

"Was the previous encounter with your kind a message? If so, it was poorly thought out. Had we not decided to go easy on your younglings, they'd be in a shallow grave, or left to be eaten by crows," Hrist responded. The older woman sighed and shook her head.

"Impulsive as ever… that was not our doing. Please, follow me. I must apologize for what has happened, I had not sent those weak-minded children to scout out the temple, instead of having a party stay further away. We knew of someone entering as soon as you approached the library; the wards have a telltale shimmer and song that travels far. The daughter of a rival of mine decided to go anyways, took control of the scouting party. The rest… you already know."

Skuld scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Children. I take it she was trying to prove her strength in battle? Attempting to try her hand against one of us was very, very foolish." They continued walking towards a ziggurat, passing through a district with many women, and even a few brutish looking men, moving about. Despite the myths that some had about Amazons, they were not man-haters, at least most tribes anyway. Even Hrist knew of stories involving warrior-women as secret lovers to powerful heroes.

"She has not the brains to surpass me; it is why my younger son will be taking on the mantle of leadership, something that is not a regular occurrence in our society as you may know." The woman stopped, her guards leaving her side and standing at their posts near the bottom steps. "I have realized now that I failed to introduce myself to three battle maidens. I do not know if you even know my name just yet."

 _We… well, despite what many might claim, we don't have the names of all warriors… that was left to the fates and Odin to shout out when they arrived in Valhalla…_

"Tell it, all the same; it is still practice for when you meet others," Skuld interjected, looking up at her sisters for agreement.

"I am Alsara, Chieftess of the Amazons, and some barbarians, of the Red Scarves Tribe." She flipped around and smashed her fist against her chest, just over her heart, staring each of them in the eye without turning away. It was a sign of respect towards another woman who fought in countless bloody battles. "Now that we have seen who it was that entered that holy ground, may I ask… have you come to claim your spoils?"

All three sisters seemed confused at the notion. "What is it that you think we have come here for?" Bryn queried.

"Why, Einherjar, of course. Many have done what they can to prove themselves, crossing the waters in hopes of bringing back tales of their prowess or buried in the mausoleum. All so that one day, they will be noticed, brought back to the god's and goddess's sides." Brynhildr opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Skuld was also silent. They didn't know what to say. Alsara looked at each of their faces. "You… have not come here to do this, it seems…"

"Our reasons are our own, though it is acknowledged by a higher power," Hrist responded for the group. Both her sisters looked at her, wondering what she was thinking.

"Freyja?" the chieftess asked.

"No. Ragnarok has befallen them. We serve one who is growing, building a new future." That response let the fox into the hen house, with the chieftess now curious. Skuld sucked air through her teeth, annoyed that her sister had just blurted that out. Lying and dancing around a question wasn't yet mastered by the general. While she had now learned how to speak to those outside of the empress's inner circle, there were some things that she sometimes said that should have been kept secret.

"A god? One that survived?" Alsara questioned.

The raven-haired woman couldn't answer, her mouth opening and nothing but a barely audible squeak popped out.

 _Choose. Others believe the same._

"Yes. You would do well to mind her." Alsara laughed with her hands on her hips.

"Take a look around you, Valkyrja. Yes, we respect you, we follow the path, but we will not sway to another unless they are already one we know. What we have here is because of what was taught before, honed into us for countless centuries. Why would we decide to suddenly choose to follow another deity that may alter our balance?"

"Because the ones you follow now are dead," Skuld remarked.

"Gods cannot die," Alsara scoffed. She brought her hand up to her forehead and averted her gaze, feeling there was tension growing between all of them. While Valkyrja were powerful creatures, Amazons and barbarians did not bow to anyone unless there was a rite of leadership. Their stubbornness sometimes got them in trouble, while other times, it was admired.

"They are certainly not coming back, no matter how much it is wished," Bryn remarked. Those words somehow felt as if they were sucked back into her throat, stuck there for a moment as she swallowed hard. It still wasn't easy admitting that.

"So you decide to follow another? Where is your faith? Fallen to the wayside?" Alsara questioned.

"Do not test us, Amazon. Our faith is stronger than anything you mere mortals could hope to achieve, bound to Odin as his choosers of the slain; we know more of what transpires beyond this realm than your little mind could possibly imagine," Hrist growled out through gritted teeth and white-knuckled fists trembling. Alsara held her position, not once taking a step back in the face of an annoyed Valkyrja.

"Then why did you not die by his side? Why do you serve another if your faith is so strong? If they are truly dead, then why were you not lying beside them?" the chieftess asked, raising an eyebrow. Guards nearby turned their heads, wondering the same thing. All three battle maidens were silent as the woman walked around them in a circle. "If you were not there to fall during Ragnarok, then… cowards. You ran." Hrist stomped towards her, a few inches away from her face; the fifty-year-old stared into her eyes, unflinching. Amazons were just as tall as the battle maidens, with one guard, in particular, reaching Brynhildr's height. "Tell me otherwise, then, if it is wrong. Tell us of the truth, and I will correct myself."

"I do not know why he does what he does, but an order by his mouth is one we follow without question. Odin sent us away, many of us. What we do now is just. Our sisters are… that is not for you to know." Alsara studied the frustration in Hrist's eyes, the fuming anger of being called a coward. The raven-haired woman was at least able to hold off from telling everyone how few Valkyrja there were now.

"Maybe he thought you would not make a difference. Perhaps he believed there was other need of you, somewhere else." At first, the battle maiden was about to impale her hand straight through the chieftess's abdomen due to the first sentence; however, the anger faded quickly with the second. This woman somehow got the gist of what had happened, piecing together what needed to be said. The leader turned around and headed towards her small chair, barely considered a throne. It was not meant to be sat in for very long, an Amazon was expected to constantly be active or considered incapable of pulling her own weight. "That need… is not here. If you are not requiring Einherjar, then there are no expectations of my tribe. Unless you wish to wait for the next day of bloodshed on the shores of our neighbors, which won't be for another week, or watch a trial of combat invited by anyone wishing to rule the tribe in my place… your time would be better spent elsewhere, Valkyrja. There is no need to waste your effort sitting around. Swift travels, glory in battle."

Alsara did not intend to be insulting, her voice not wavering once, no smile seen on her face in maliciousness. "The trial by combat… who would attempt it?" Skuld seemed curious. The chieftess tilted her head for a moment and gazed at her with curiosity.

"Valkyrja are not allowed to enter, that is for certain. It is simply not allowed, laws handed down since the beginning. Many mortals have tried to defeat me, many have failed. One day, someone will succeed, and I am getting on with my years. It is not to the death if that is what you are wondering; it is simply to cause the other to yield."

"Outsiders are not allowed?" Bryn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I never said that; that would discount any effort from those who decided to join the tribe, adding their blood to make us stronger. Your kind cannot participate, the rule was passed down for generations. No one would follow your command. Your lives would extend well beyond ours, potentially stagnating any change for the tribe." Alsara leaned against a small pedestal to her right, as the chair she was sitting on had no back support.

"That information had value. We will take our leave," the brunette battle maiden replied, looking at the other two. Her two sisters followed Skuld down the steps of the ziggurat and towards the edge of the city, the civilians watching them leave… with no one in tow. A few were tanning hides or farming, providing for the community instead of running off to war.

"So we're just going to ignore that they did, in fact, attack us?" Bryn asked.

"You heard her; impulsive teenagers thinking they are invincible, started a fight with someone much stronger, against the wishes of an elder. Amazons don't exactly like having weak or the inept in their tribes. Nature is fierce when it comes to sorting out the mentally challenged and infirm from those who can stand to protect their city. I'd like to know who it is that they've been skirmishing with, though," Skuld replied.

"Should I believe they will be more… open to conversation?" Hrist added in.

"She has a tribe to run, with others vying for a chance to knock her off the pedestal. You saw how Alsara stood up to us, unphased by our strength. She's been in multiple positions where there might not have been a way out, yet always survived. I'm a little worried about what happens after she steps down. Not only will it be difficult for her son to take her place due to the stigma, but an increased likelihood of someone challenging him for the title." The brunette stopped for a moment and rubbed her chin a little. "That could mean too much volatility for the tribe; it could give the empress a chance to… wait… she's not Valkyrja."

All three of them looked at each other, realizing what could then happen. They opened a request to talk with Selene, wondering why it took a few minutes for the woman to respond; there had been a few audible clicks heard over their earpieces, as if being transferred multiple times through filter points, up through the chain of command and through her cabinet. "Hello?" the dev answered on the other side.

"Selene?" Skuld asked.

"Well, who else would it be? You have a priority channel, after all. What do you need? Is there trouble?"

"Not exactly. We… we've explored the temple completely and taken all the books out of the library. They should be in… well, the place you have for all storage that the automatons use."

"Wait… you what? Ohhhhh… don't tell me… so that's what you sent through…" the empress groaned out, checking her inventory immediately. There was a massive list of undocumented tomes and other reading material available… all thankfully not translated, stuck in a separate tab that didn't enforce that feature. "That's… please don't tell me any of that was magical…"

"… Maybe. Why?"

There was a sound of the dev groaning again, then a sigh of relief. "Ok, good, so… where you just stashed all of this didn't automatically translate everything there into my language, English… glad it didn't get put into that other tab, or half of this would be gibberish right now…"

The three sisters looked worried. Sometimes the meaning of a magical ritual was lost in translation. It wasn't that the spells stopped working; it simply meant that some languages didn't have certain words to convert to. This made copies of the books just as valuable and untouched, with whole libraries being emptied from a shop on occasion and focused on by auto professors sitting around in the castle reading and writing new updated versions of the tomes. "Did we do something wrong?" Hrist asked her.

"No, well, not really. Don't worry about it, it just caught me by surprise. Wow, there are a lot of them, aren't there… I thought what you were sending was just a missive or a map or something… nevermind. So everything is fine? You're heading home?"

"We… may. Is it possible to continue with the extra days we said we would be gone?"

Selene sounded curious at the end of the com channel. "You… want to stay there even though the temple was explored? Uh… okay, I mean, the trip was planned for another week, I think."

"We actually left the temple." Hrist quickly explained the event with the amazon teenagers, the finding of the Red Scarves, the old city, and potentially for allies. There was a hard cut off from the empress as soon as they mentioned 'neighbors.'

"They aren't sending a raid party to the west, are they?" Selene queried quickly.

"Yes?" Bryn responded for the trio. There was silence for a moment on the other side.

"Morlan is heading there right now, he has friends on that island. I checked through some more up to date Artinian maps in the White Palace; it turns out I own it… sort of. The people there don't exactly like being under the old rule. Luckily, I'm now in charge."

"You… know about it? Wait, should we intervene if they're going to attack the empire?" Hrist asked slowly, dumbfounded at how the empress knew what was going on before they even explained the situation.

"I've got surveillance already there, along with patrol boats hidden. I haven't been warned of any imminent attack yet, so I guess they don't have the fleet of… whatever they use (longboats or something?)… to get across the water right now. Even so, any aggressive actions will be swiftly dealt with. It'll be like paddling into a meat grinder if they don't surrender," Selene replied, adding in a question to herself mid-sentence.

"Amazons do not surrender," Brynhildr huffed out.

"They're loss of life then."

"How would you like to end the chance for them to even strike at those villages, and gain a powerful force?" Bryn asked her. Setting the amazons under the rule of the empress made sense. Even a small group of them, while not as powerful as the monks in Tal Salunbal, were still quite a bit more dangerous than even the minotaurs.

"…Later. As much as that might be an interesting concept, that might create a bit of a political dichotomy between the people on the western island and these amazons you're referring to. Suddenly showing that I have their enemy within my borders isn't going to go over well; people jump to conclusions fast, becoming stubborn to resist any acceptance of my rule. That could lead to needless deaths for no reason other than they hate each other. Sheesh, I haven't even talked to the Kaersians yet… still need to go see if the heads of the Seong Neow Republic are willing to break bread, but that will be in the spring it looks like. Things are going so fast I almost lose track of time; I expected all of this to take a lot longer. Anyways, you can stay if you really want to, but the culture of Kaer Danel is a little more to your liking, I'm pretty sure."

"Perhaps you could try and stop them nonlethally?" Skuld requested.

"Maybe, no guarantees on that. Interning them in a POW camp nearby is an option. We'll see, I've got a few other events happening within the next week obviously, can't be everywhere at once."

 _That we have seen. That could change._

Hrist's thought process of just where and when Selene could appear with her magic, technology, and special powers she couldn't quite understand might allow events like that. Odin and the other Norse gods had, on occasion, performed such feats.

"What did you mean about the culture of Kaer Danel being a little more to our liking?" Bryn asked, looking between both of her sisters as if hoping they were questioning the same thing. The Valkyrja listened intently, very curious as to why the western island would pique their interest. What they soon found out shocked them. It was all but guaranteed that they would visit those people very soon, meeting up with Morlan on his trip. The Kaersians were incredibly similar… to Vikings.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Morlan left the ship that carried him to Kaer Danel, stepping onto the long dock from the transport ship that the empress let them use. There was no reason to have them ride on a warship, or it might worry the locals. The young warrior slowly made his way up multiple small flights of stairs, passing many fishermen along the way as they watched him. It had been some time since he visited this village, Selfungr. Even though it was to the south of the main continent, there was frost covering most of the plants, with steam and smoke seen from the longhouses arrayed evenly near each other in the distance. Quite a few buildings had large struts sticking out of the water to prop them up, expanding the village's area of control without cutting down the nearby forest that enclosed half of the eastern border.

The sound of hammers clanging against metal and wood chopping told of the past before Artinia tried to take over. Elsei had remarked on the ship that the dock wasn't torn down in defiance this time, even with no fleets arriving to make them pay homage and allow port entry. Animals in pens bayed and clucked as the two-man team passed through two streets, coming up to a house that was owned by the local carpenter. Morlan stopped in front of the home and looked around, remembering the first time he had arrived here. It was to subjugate the people, but instead, he befriended a fair amount. That barely allowed them to stay alive; even though the Kaersians could easily defend against a ground incursion, the cannons on the Artinian battleships would have reduced the village to rubble from the safety of the harbor.

Unfortunately, there was no one around at the moment; both headed towards where they knew the owner had to be at this time of the day, the tavern. As they headed towards the front door, they stumbled back a little as a man was kicked out and flopped on the floor. He was not the person they were looking for, but the man who walked out and unzipped his pants to relieve himself on the drunk that couldn't get up. A friend of the drunk tried to hit him over the head with a mug, which he dodged easily and let him roll over his lifted knee, right on top of his colleague in the dirt; the man looked up from the two on the ground at Elsei and Morlan and smiled.

"You still mucking about with that whore of yours?" he said as he belched. Both of them grimaced as he slowly walked towards them with no shirt on, a ragged towel on his shoulder half-covering a blue tattoo intricately added to the left side of his face and running down to his hip, disappearing into his trousers. His haircut was a short mohawk, looking more like a light brown scrub brush glued to his scalp; a somewhat pointed brown beard hung with braids interwoven with red and blue beads on the sides of his mouth. The man was all muscle, no fat to be seen, with plenty of scars covering his chest and arms, two on his right cheek and near his right ear that was missing a small piece of the earlobe. He had twelve earrings in an asymmetrical placement along the tops, leather wrap gloves, and dirty brown fur boots. Two of his fingers on his left hand, the thumb and pointer, had small bandages from daily work and shaping wood.

"I'd reciprocate the name to your wife, Boltar," Elsei responded.

"You again," Morlan grumbled out, noting the slight smirk appearing on Boltar's face.

"Yes, me again. Glad you remember the arse-kicking you got last time."

"I remember you getting thrown through the air and being hoisted up by your pants on a tree branch. Still a little tender down there?" Morlan growled out. Both men just stared at each other, a glare in their eyes, before suddenly… they both broke into laughter. Boltar stomped towards the man, and both embraced in a bear hug before the Kaersian turned and looked at Elsei.

"I wasn't the one who gave you that arse-kicking, and we dealt out ten times as much to the arse-lickers. If I remember correctly, I got hoisted by my britches by that explosion, launching me through the air, not thrown by any living creature. I was a little tender after that… ah, Elsei, don't take it too badly with the slander, I –" she socked him lightly on the jaw, making him turn his head for a moment as he shut up. As he rubbed his mouth, a chuckle left his lips. "Good, that means you didn't take it to heart. I was afraid I'd hurt your elfie feelings." He clapped her on the shoulder as a small smirk curled on her face, the awkward welcome now over. They gently hugged as the Kaersian chuckled. "Haven't seen either of you for a long time; don't tell me you're here to do the bidding of the fucking king again?" Boltar asked as he turned and rummaged through a pile of bags to the side of the tavern, the owner asleep nearby. Inside were all manner of tools and equipment for him to use in carpentry. Once he fished out what he needed and put it on the small loop belt he was wearing, he looked up and waited for a response while hefting the sack over his shoulder.

"Artinia is gone, Boltar. It's been conquered. The king is dead." There was a scoff from the man as he licked a canine, looking around as if he had just heard a joke and was wondering if anyone was laughing. He walked by them and headed back towards the house they just visited.

"The best news I've heard in forever. Come to lay low from whoever did the conquering?"

"We work for the new empress, Selene. Can… we head in? To speak in private obviously," Morlan told him, glancing around to see other pairs of eyes on them from afar. Boltar blinked for a moment as he looked at the ground, finally nodding as he opened the front door and patted his old friend on the shoulder. The home was sparse, though well put together. The beds were on the upper floor, ladders reaching them along with storage. The outhouse was just through the back door, ventilation cut above the height of the roof to make sure no smells came wafting back in.

"So, the king… what… finally married, got stabbed in the back by this empress?" Boltar questioned as he sat down on a small stool and leaned against a wobbling table.

"Boltar, you have no idea. Her empire took on an army of demons rampaging across Artinia that the king unleashed." Morlan explained what was happening on the mainland, informing him about just how much it had changed in such a short time. The Kaersian raised his eyebrows in disbelief, blinking for a moment as all of it sunk in while letting out a low whistle in response.

"Huh, so does this mean she'll leave us alone? We never wanted to be a part of some kingdom, let alone an empire."

"You'll change your tune fairly quickly once I've had a chance to let her know she does rule Kaer Danel." Boltar stood up and looked Morlan straight in the eye. The warrior knew that was a touchy subject.

"We're just trying to live, Morlan. We never wanted to be part of something bigger, especially a kingdom that didn't want to let us follow our own religion. Hell, they even tried to kill those who –"

"She has Valkyrja as her generals." That shut Boltar up right quick as his eyes widened. The man blinked and sized the warrior up, thinking he was lying, then glanced at Elsei as if asking her if he was telling the truth.

"Hrist, Brynhildr, Skuld. I don't know the details of why there are only three, that seems to be a hidden story that they will not share" Elsei replied to his look. The carpenter just kept blinking at both of them, his hands on his hips. All of this information, everything that had happened, was within a few months. He could still remember the last time he had to pay taxes, something that should be going to the old chief of the village to keep everything working. Now it usually went to him instead. Now he was being told there were bringers of the slain walking around and accepting this empress's commands.

"She's willing to allow anyone to worship freely, as long as it doesn't interfere with the daily lives of others or cause harm to the empire," Morlan informed him. "Come on, Boltar, why else would we show up?"

Boltar started to waggle a finger at him with his mouth pursed. "No, I know what you are thinking –"

"Boltar –"

"No! Morlan! I just had a child! A son! I'm not leaving! Especially with those bitches out there assaulting us every other month! They need every able body out there when that time comes, you've seen what happened!" The noble warrior did know what happened, he was there years ago, fighting alongside his friend. Amazons were fearsome foes to go against; however, Kaersians were just as deadly. Women were not allowed to have children unless they had slain three of their enemies. That had let Morlan know just how strong Boltar's wife was when protecting their village, now that they had a son.

"And I'm sure she'll have ships keeping them from coming back if I just talk to her majesty! Boltar, think. You could be richly rewarded for following royalty that _isn't_ the king. She's very reasonable, and I need more to back me up."

"Why? Why do you need more? It's always been just you and Elsei in the past; why not get someone from the mainland?" Boltar asked, clearly annoyed. This was his home, he'd lived there all his life; now, he was being asked to leave it by an old friend to serve an empress he'd never met, who very well could be just another corrupt noble using them.

"Because she's letting me choose who will be in my teams, and most mainlanders can't even hold a candle to you or Lornali, let alone the others."

Boltar averted his gaze and slowly shook his head, figuring out the words to say as he licked his lips. "What can she even offer? I'm not about to swear fealty to someone I've never met and hasn't done anything for us yet, Mor! You know us; our oath is our very blood put on the table. We will never put it up for trade unless we're damn sure it's worth it, same as if we need to spill it for the protection of our loved ones. What can she offer? Don't tell me just keeping the loincloths away from us, there's got to be something more."

Morlan sighed and walked over to the only window of the longhouse, looking outside. "I'll call her right now."

"What? You have one of those communication stones or some – the hell?!" the carpenter was astonished as the warrior pulled from his ear a device that had multiple small lights on it glowing.

"Empress Selene? Are you there?" No response came just yet. "She… might be busy at the moment…" Morlan looked sheepish as Boltar crossed his arms and looked at him as if he went nuts. "I'm serious! She's an empress for crying out loud!"

"What do you need, Morlan?" Will answered on the other side. It threw the warrior completely off as he didn't realize there would be a filter now while he was off continent.

"I… was hoping her majesty was available to speak…"

Boltar shifted in his seat and leaned back against the wall, looking at the small tool in his friend's hand. "Ha."

"The empress is currently quite busy, is there an issue with your trip?" the chief of staff questioned.

"I'm… trying to get an old friend to join the agency I'm supposed to head and… he needs a… what was it that Ethan had called it… a signing on package."

There was a long pause on the other side. "What does he want?"

"I want safety for Selfungr, not just battleships sailing about in the waters. Also, a decent wage and no fucking taxes! We're sick of taxes!" Boltar shouted out towards the device.

"… Is that all?" Will replied. The man was taken aback by the response, his mouth curled up in a catty grin.

"Alright, alright; I want a sack of gold for my family to get, I want a bigger house with everything the rich cocksuckers from the mainland have, oh, and I want the same armor that Morlan has."

"… Is that all?" That seemed to make him grind his teeth together. Boltar remained silent for a moment, wondering if he should be asking for a castle.

"Oh shut it Boltar, half of that isn't going to be given anyways," Morlan snapped.

"I gotta see how far your new empress will go to win me."

"We can provide adequate payment as salary; Selfungr needs to have a meeting with a sent governor to negotiate the needs of the people; no taxes for an agent is possible, but not likely for the village due to the funds needed to be used in the maintenance of the infrastructure. An allowance can be given to your family every month. If you wish for a house, you'll have to move to the mainland. We can provide affordable housing that is better than what you have now. As far as armor goes, any equipment is on a case by case basis. That is up to the empress to decide," Will informed him.

Boltar scoffed and sat down, leaning back against a large pillow made of straw. "Some empress."

"Failure to take the offer will result in replacement from other recruits scouted by the intelligence division. We've already found nineteen candidates that may interest you, Morlan, once you come back," Will said through coms. The warrior had a shit-eating grin on his face as he gazed at his friend, with the carpenter gawking at the communication device. He was willing to admit he was wrong in finding able-bodied agents for what he needed. Rumors of up and coming heroes were slow to travel in Artinia; the empire, on the other hand, had a nationwide mail service and young magicians on paid internships running missives everywhere. It still took a few days, but it was so much faster than before.

"What… what the… fucking hell… Odin's flaming beard, alright… what's it like on the fairyland?" his friend replied, stumbling through the words as he rubbed his neck.

"An information package will be sent to the transport, you can pick it up there. Is this all you needed, Morlan?" Will explained.

"Yes, Will, uh… thank you."

"Safe travels." The line ended. Morlan just looked at Boltar, a half-smirk on his mouth and a raised eyebrow.

"You can't be serious… I haven't taken the offer yet. That was all just… just… I was testing the waters, that's all."

"Uhuh." Morlan crossed his arms and cocked his head, unimpressed with his friend's response. Boltar was annoyed he was being overshadowed by new recruits that his friend hadn't even interviewed yet. The kids needed the older generation to show them how it was done.

"I haven't met your empress! Why would I just walk in?"

"Because you know your wife and child would be taken care of, this village will be taken care of. You do realize she does own this island, right? It is a part of the Clockwork Empire now. They actually watch out for their citizens," the young warrior told him. Boltar rubbed his beard and looked away, clearly fidgeting and slightly rocking in the chair as if he was coming up with a decision. "Look, are you really that afraid to –"

Boltar got up and pointed at him, which made Morlan put his hands up in surrender. "I'm not afraid, never have been. You know me. I'm just worried… about swearing an oath to some far off ruler who –" he hesitated as he noticed Elsei tracking his words, wondering if he would use a stereotype on the empress, "– who may not care about what goes on out here."

"You want to visit?" Morlan questioned, crossing his arms. "There's a ball in about a week that is supposed to have – oh, don't give me that look, I know what you're thinking. Yes, there will be quite a bit of the aristocracy there, but the titles are just that now, titles. They have no authority over anything anymore. Look, just come for the party, relax and hopefully I can have a meeting with the empress about you. Then, you can ask whatever questions you still have."

"Why do you want me so badly on this team, Mor? I just asked for so much, and chances are, those 'candidates' are all too willing to do what they can to prove themselves for less."

"Because _I've_ already seen what you can do, Boltar. You don't have to prove yourself." The Kaersian licked his lips and slowly nodded, accepting that response just as the warrior put his hand on the carpenter's shoulder. His preferred weapons were two hand axes perfectly balanced, handed down to him through generations; they looked like large woodcutting axes but were actually as light as a feather. They were most assuredly magical in creation, coming back to his hands even if thrown with just a gesture. While it was peaceful, he would work the wood; when it was wartime, he would work on his foe's flesh and necks. His tracking skills nearly rivaled Elsei's, with his nose being especially sensitive to compete against the elf's long ears. His gut feelings, when he shared them, also tended to be right.

"Fine… I'll come to this damned party, and I'll be on my best behavior, but if they start anything… you know the outcome."

"Good. You won't be disappointed. I'm glad to have you on the team. Now, I need to go find Lornali."

 _ **Three Days Later, 29th, December**_

Gabriel came back to the castle, tired and a little hungry from all of his studying. He had a pretty long laundry list of things to ask the empress, whether she could spare some more funding for the wizard's academy or point them in the right direction. What he saw was the help moving about and getting everything set up for a big party, one that he wondered was about. Donovan and Melsia put on their coats at the door and walked right by him, giving the man a nod in acknowledgment and a smile. "Welcome back. I take it your trip to the academy showed a lot of what Artinia was doing in the magical department?" Donovan asked.

"It… did… hey, uh… what's… what's going on? It looks like everyone is getting ready for some dignitaries coming. Is there a king arriving at some point or…?" Gabriel replied, raising his eyebrow and looking through an open door.

"The princess is having her birthday today," Melsia informed him with a catty grin on her face.

"Oh, the princess… w-wait, what?! Princess?!" the mage exclaimed as he gawked at both of them. No child was living here when he left. Somehow, the empress just conjured a daughter from nowhere. "Wait… adopted?"

"They are related by flesh and blood, so no. She even shares facial features with her mother, though she seems to have white hair," Donovan told him, scratching at the side of his mustache as he put on his hat.

"Eve is absolutely adorable, really she is," Melsia told him with a giant smile. "Reminds me of our daughter when she was younger."

"But… if she's… she… her majesty has to be a… I mean, there's no other answer then…"

"I'm not going to start confirming that without a response from her. We mere… humans… doubtfully could understand any choice she makes these days" Donovan chuckled out, grabbing his gilded cane. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to see about getting a gift for the child."

"I'm positive she'll enjoy what we talked about, Donovan," his wife said as she gently touched his chest. "We'll be back for the party."

"Yeah… bye…" Gabriel gave them a half-wave as they departed, a very dumbfounded look on his face as he blinked for a minute, trying to understand what was going on. He made his way to the kitchen to try and get a quick bite to eat, not even using the dining room as he wanted to get to his office in time to not only drop off an artifact to study but also to try and conjure up a gift now that he knew what was happening in a few hours. Adesha was standing near a stove, cooking up a storm. To the far left, sitting in the corner, was a seven-layer white cake designed as a magical forest, complete with sugar unicorns grazing and swans in the small lake; there were even doves held up by an incantation. Several smaller cakes were also made as backups, with Jeeves checking over the measurements.

Gabriel, still half asleep and not quite having royal etiquette, didn't exactly realize the cake couldn't be touched just yet and started walking towards it for a slice. "Please don't touch the cake; that is for the princess once the party starts," Adesha told him calmly as she continued cooking, not once looking up from the stove. The confusion on his face for a moment told everything: which cake was for her? It looked like some of them were experiments to see which one the princess would like the most. His eyes landed on a few simpler ones, with the main attraction looking more like just something to put in the middle of the table for scenery.

He took a tentative step forward again… and received a frying pan impaled in the wall right in front of his nose, bypassing the armor that was installed as the shields were not activated, no threats detected nearby. He had no idea how strong the metal was that made up the plating, just that the speed Adesha had most likely thrown the pan must have been incredible; there was no shockwave from her movement though, as his eyes blinked back to her, still cooking and disinterested in his location… or so he thought. All cooking equipment was accounted for in front of the maid, which didn't make sense. The pan had to come from somewhere."Last warning."

"Right, sorry, I'll uh… wait till the party… can I… can I grab something from the… I have no idea what that thing is…" Gabriel pointed at the metal boxes attached to the wall keeping most foods refrigerated. He still didn't know that what was inside were usually backup meals ready for on the go trips, either there to be eaten while the empress was flying or thrown in the incredible converter systems to be altered into other materials. Nothing was wasted at the higher levels of The Clockwork Empire it seemed, with leftovers nonexistent inside the castle. The walk-in freezers and refrigerators were just there to carry a few spare ingredients in the event of actual dignitaries arriving without the empress being there.

"I'll have a maid make you a sandwich, Mr. Turkano. However, please mind the time; the party will be happening at 3 pm sharp. There will be a full buffet available if you intend to show up," Jeeves said as he rapidly cut through salami and arrayed crackers. The butler's movement was almost faster than Gabriel's eyes could follow, turning meats and cheeses into appetizers in as little as a few seconds, all the time still looking at him with green optics. It looked like there was enough food to feed an army being prepared… all of this for one little girl. Just how much of a supply of food did the empress have, to easily be so wasteful without a care?

 _ **(Recommended Song: Zayde Wølf – Live Life)**_

 **Meanwhile** , Selene had spent the last two days with her daughter and Dahlia, going on two field trips for an incredibly varied education. The child had a chance to go to the aquarium and zoo, with a planned visit to the high elven forest to the east. Each time, pictures were being taken by the empress, as if she was a tourist with Eve smiling in most of them; it was in hopes of building up a picture portfolio for the princess to look back on. As far as her mother could tell, her daughter was happy. Queen Ynshael was already preparing for their visit, with her daughter and son, Mladris and Ralyf, both surprisingly accommodating after being able to visit the ocean on their vacation to see dolphins.

The six-year old's belated birthday was still being taken care of by the maids back at the castle, with a massive cake along with dishes they were sure she'd like. In the aquarium, Eve especially enjoyed learning about all of the sea creatures, touching the mantas and starfish, and making a fish face each time she got near a new exhibit. Luckily, the grand opening hadn't yet happened, with the empress getting a chance to show her around without closing it up for the special day.

"The bright-colored ones change! Look!" Eve exclaimed as she pointed to one school of fish swarming and spinning, shooting through the transplanted coral and altering their scale patterns to mimic the surroundings where they could. Her tutor was always at her side, explaining the reasons behind why they were shimmering and refracting light near the top of the water. For that moment, the little girl didn't seem to care at first; she just wanted to watch the fish move as she leaned against the railing, separating her from the glass. Eventually, she heard something interesting and tuned in immediately. Dahlia was a natural at getting her to listen, using keywords to pry the child away from whatever she was distracted by.

"Which ones are your favorite?" Selene asked her daughter. The child thought for a moment as she tried to remember each exhibit.

"The… the glowing ones. They make their own light."

"Ah, those… we have more of them back at the castle."

"We do?! Where?" Eve asked, a soft, airy squeak of a voice escaping her lips. She was all smiles with sparkles in her eyes, learning that her favorite animals so far were at home. Luna had immediately taken a liking to her, sharing the same color in hair as her fur. It also helped that the little girl gave the huge wolf plenty of attention for the past few days, to the envy of Ash and Blue.

"Yup. There's a cave that leads to an underground cavern. I'm pretty sure we aren't mining in there anymore, turning the place into protected habitation. I'll show you later, it's really very peaceful. Other fish live in the lake nearby too; once winter passes, there's this big friendly one that comes along and swims nearby you."

"Really? Okay!" the girl said while jumping up and down. Her mother beamed at her as the child scurried around through a darker part of the aquarium, acting as a pinball bouncing between windows to look at whatever was living inside. At the moment, there were only mostly basic fish with some recovering dolphins and whales waiting to eventually be let back into the oceans; one orca, in particular, had a newly transplanted fin and going through rehabilitation, watching her through the glass and rolling playfully through the water to her delight. A few exotic creatures were kept on display as well, such as the remains of a giant squid and a Lion's Mane Jellyfish attached with fake tendrils. There were skeletons from other aquatic animals, with a few sea monsters hidden away for the time being. This was to warn anyone visiting that the oceans weren't all friendly waters; they had very real ways of killing most who were unprepared.

At one exhibit, a seal swam towards the window and bonked its head against it, almost turning into a pancake with how much fat was on its body as it bounced off. It made Eve break out laughing as it swam away, watching her with curiosity. Dahlia explained what the creature was and why it came over to see them, which caused the little girl to get closer to the window in fascination while she learned. There were quite a few scars on its back and side, on a few occasions getting into a scuffle with some predators out in the ocean and escaping. Sea otters sat around in a habitat squeaking when they realized it was feeding time, with the ladies watching them eat and swim for close to an hour; at one point, Eve was allowed to give them a treat. It was cuteness overload for the empress.

Selene just watched her daughter get to explore, even poking at one bubble holding seahorses inside, enjoying the beginning of the day. There was no desk to sit behind, for the time being, no math courses or history lessons. There would be at least one field trip every week, eventually turning into every other week, then every three weeks. While there was a little mathematics on the helibot taking them to the aquarium, it was mostly addition and subtraction so that she knew how large some creatures were. It was already planned to have her learn both the imperial system as well as metric soon. Just from initial observation from her tutor, Eve was exceptionally smart, soaking up knowledge like a sponge.

At one point, two dolphins were swimming around that made Eve copy them, her mother joining in along with the battle maid, wiggling back and forth without a care in the world of how embarrassing the scene looked. No one was around to lay eyes on them anyways, only the auto assistants maintaining the area. Both members of the royal family ate a small lunch brought with them, though the food court was built to allow general recipes that most citizens would know. "Ready to go, munchkin?"

"Can't we stay for a little longer?" Eve whined, hoping to get her mother to agree.

"Well, we've seen most of the exhibits. If you don't want to celebrate your birthday, we could stay here and –"

"Birthday?" the princess asked. She looked confused, wondering what that was.

"Yup. You were born on that day. It's very special. Technically, it's a little belated, but next year it'll be on the 25th of December, okay?"

"What's 'belated' mean?"

"Uh, delayed, not happening when it should have. Next time your birthday will be earlier."

"I… don't remember last year's birthday," her daughter replied, looking a little disheartened as if something was missing. Her eyes dropped as she tried to focus, with nothing coming to mind, just a blank spot in her life. That look was very similar to someone with Alzheimer's, searching for something in their own head that was out of reach… or just not there. Those words seemed to hit like a brick for the empress for a moment, a heartfelt twang that needed to go away. She brushed back a stray lock of white hair over her daughter's left ear and gave her a pat.

"You were too young, don't worry. Come on, kiddo, let's get you home to enjoy your party. Did you learn a lot today?" Selene said, reassuring her and bringing the child out of her confused state.

 _There would be no memories, they didn't exist until three days ago…_ she _didn't exist until three days ago. Poor thing, I'm going to fix that by making sure there are thousands of good memories to wash away all of that blank space._

"Yeah. I got to see dolphins and starfish and a whale too! I wanna see the fishies at the castle!" Eve exclaimed.

The dev hugged the child to her left hip and gently ran her fingers through her hair. "Good. New exhibits will be built eventually, so there will be return visits. I'll show the underground pools to you later."

"Okay." The helibot spun up its engines as they left through a side door, heading towards the rooftop pad.

"Ma'am, sorry to disturb you when you're with your daughter. Morlan called," Will informed the empress through coms. She now realized it was better to use her cabinet as a filter for more important conversations, with governors regularly speaking with Queen Ynshael and King Weren.

"Oh? Did he find the colleagues he wanted to work with?" she asked.

"In a way. There was a signing package that needed to be addressed, and he's still not convinced." The dev made a sighing sound in the channel, learning how to not show the same emotion visibly as she felt while talking silently through her **{Communication Is Key}** ability.

"Is there a dossier?"

"Grey is building one on Boltar, the man Morlan wishes to bring into his agency. You… still haven't thought of a name for it, have you?"

"Working on it." The dev watched as Eve sat down in her seat and had her belt attached by Dahlia, the girl staring out the window as soft piano music played in the background. The princess waved goodbye to the auto workers outside, which responded with their own wave. They were automatically verifying the child as the next of kin to their creator.

"Ma'am, there has been an internal discussion through your administration. We were wondering if we could ask you a question?" she heard her chief of staff say.

The transport lifted off and headed back to the castle as a book was read on basic spelling, complete with pictures of cute animals. A side company was opened by Delfie alongside her newspaper for printing books, both for children and adults, to help with education in schools and academies. The woman was effectively printing money now, with everyone now understanding the incredible effect of being able to read and write. The empress felt they would be amazed once they got the chance to use an extranet system.

"What's the question?"

"…" There was a pause on the other side, almost as if Will was gathering the courage. This seemed to tell her it was a big discussion. "Many people believe you are a goddess, yet you continue to ignore filling that role and have stated you will never call yourself one. You continue to respond like a human ruler in front of dignitaries. The question we had was… why not embrace the position of a deity in their eyes? The benefits would be major, with everyone fearing your wrath or standing in your way."

Selene took a deep breath and leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling of the transport. "I don't know if I'm actually on par with a deity for one thing. Elesia, at least when I met her, felt… strong, yes, but disconnected. I'm still me, at least I think I am. Why? Why are you all asking this? We had this discussion. I made my choice."

"Nikola and Robert would like to have a word with you involving your strength. Hrist, by their simulations, is more than likely capable of taking _down_ Elesia or even this Solon, the brother of Xaxara. You defeated her… technically. Three Valkyrja are very much capable of defeating a god, with stories told of Hrist beating Thor in duels. You lead them. While we don't know the circumstances of why the deity at the abbey was so weak, with faith energy not quite understood yet, there is the universal opinion that you are… on par or better."

Selene smirked and rubbed her daughter's shoulder next to her, Eve looking up and smiling at her as she got to sing her ABCs. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it takes more than brute strength."

"That was only the first reason. You created us. We number thirteen million and growing now; most are drone units for combat or construction, but you now have advanced cores alongside many personalities such as myself. Frankly, that's creating a new race in many ways."

"Mechanical life? I… okay, yes, I guess..."

"The closest being analogous to us seem to be warforged from pen and paper games. However, I'm fairly certain our strength and capability is… much higher than that race. Back to the question and answers. You have built an empire that technically does not require the citizens inside of it. Would you not consider that a realm? A domain?"

"I didn't make the continent or the planet. We're also currently sharing it with other nations, _and_ we had to go to war with the main kingdom that had control of the dirt we walked on."

"You're technology tier is still not past Late Intersolar. Perhaps that is a feature with more advancements?"

"Possibly. What, you think I should make my own planet eventually? Why not a Dyson Sphere? Hell, just make a new sun while I'm at it. By the way, that was sarcasm."

"I noticed. Next, you have a child that you did not have to go into labor for. Ma'am, what we're trying to explain is… maybe you should accept that designation."

"I'm mortal, Will."

"That could change quickly, ma'am. A simple process in many ways."

Selene let out a dry chuckle, shaking her head a little. Telomere repair and gene therapy was a thing, after all. Genetic enhancement for Morlan was one of the plans to further his training. Cybernetic augmentation could be done on her body as well, or even nanite swarms to create her form. Loading her mind up to a server was also a very real possibility, ignoring the handicaps of the flesh. The main concern… was Eve. Her daughter was getting used to her mother being there without those enhancements; a mechanical arm could distance her from the girl. Being a disembodied voice could utterly crush her. The child had seen her both with makeup on and without; she was noticing that when she didn't wear any, it meant she'd spend the day with her daughter and not meeting with one of her subjects.

"That… may come into play later, just not now. We'll keep it on the back burner for another time, once Eve is grown up. It's not like we couldn't reverse the aging process…"

"Understood. Ah, it looks like you're almost here. I'll let you enjoy the party. Just think about what we've brought up, alright? That is all we are asking."

"I know that. Your concerns are being listened to; thank you, Will. On the same note, you are coming to the party, right?"

"You… want us there?"

"You are all coming to the ball, correct? Come to her birthday party too. She should see who the good guys and girls are in the empire. Ah, Morlan and Elsei are still back at Kaer Danel, aren't they?" The empress needed her daughter to know who she could turn to if her mother wasn't around. There had to be a feeling of safety for the princess no matter where she went; the understanding that if her eyes fell on an automaton anywhere, that it would do everything it could to assist the child was crucial.

"They are. Well, we'll collect and be at the dining hall shortly. Our support for your daughter will be there, ma'am."

"Eat some cake."

"Bad for my digestion."

"You don't have a digestive system," she replied, noting the micro incinerators they had for stomachs. It could be used to destroy small weapons or even hazardous materials to safeguard an area.

"Caught me. Alright… it isn't pink, is it?"

"The color doesn't change the flavor. Besides, I'm pretty sure all of them are white or chocolate. You don't like pink?"

"Doesn't go with my suit." The coms line ended with the empress having a grin on her face, and her eyes closed. Her band of misfits were showing signs of amusing quirkiness. She didn't know what she'd do without them.

 _ **Four Hours Later**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Monoman – Meditation)**_

The dev carried her daughter to one of the many living rooms while she lay slumped against her mother's shoulder fast asleep, unable to show off the child's newly improved bedroom now altered completely for a young girl to stay in. Juliet had the wallpaper added with a fairytale landscape, glowing stars on the ceiling with some dangling, and running lights on the walls to provide ambient illumination. The carpet was torn out with a new high pile added for softness; a toy chest and desk were thrown into the corner, with a balcony that had protective magic added on the border edge. If the princess ever decided to try and climb over the railing, and fell, a slow fall effect would immediately activate and carry her to the front doors, where security would escort her back inside. This was to prevent both her injury… as well as teenage rebellion in the future. They were planning well ahead of her first year.

A secondary closet was added with random outfits to be hung up, ready to be used in any make-believe game she thought up, along with props and small hologram emitters that could be programmed with assorted creatures. If she wanted to LARP, nothing was stopping her, especially with the playground being added into the backyard with a small fort. It was like having a portable holodeck from star trek, excluding the environment.

"Do you need help, your majesty?" Dahlia asked.

"No, no, I've got this. That was a lot of sugar she ingested, caused burnout. Eh, it was her big day, she can pig out on cake once in a while." The dev had made sure there were plenty of presents for her to open, one of which was a music box shaped like a small palace. Depending on which nob was wound, a different song would play along with the movement from small figures inside.

"Should she have a bath before bed?"

"Mmm, a little later, don't want to wake her up." Eve just had her head pushed into the crook of her mother's arm as Selene sat down on a couch, the six-year-old receiving a gentle kiss on her forehead as newly recorded guitar music was played at low volume in the background. That was barely enough to softly wake her up.

"Mommy?"

"Hey, sorry that woke you. You were tuckered out. Did you enjoy your party?"

"Uhuh."

"Still feel like sleeping?" The child nodded and yawned. "Ok, you just go back to sleep."

"Okay." Selene brushed some hair from the girl's face and gave her another kiss on her forehead as she expected to settle in for another couple of hours. "Mommy? I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." The lights were softly dimmed down, a fireplace crackling away in the far wall. They had tried to have her sleep in her own bed the last two days, and each time she had the same nightmare involving darkness and being alone, wet the bed, and had to stay with her mother to calm down. Luna padded in and flopped in front of them, her fur covering the empress's feet; in response, she got some scritches with the dev's toes through her socks.

Gala slipped in and noticed the princess closing her eyes once again. "She only seems to sleep soundly when you are nearby. Hopefully, what Juliet added in will help," the mechanical woman said gently, receiving a nod in response as a holographic datapad was pulled out to show off the dress designs being offered up for the empress to wear to the ball. Gala looked almost Indian in her design, with darker metal skin and long black wiry hair in a large braid hanging over her shoulder. Her form was an intricate rune-covered green lehenga dress with a lighter green choli over her shoulders; her midriff was showing, with flourished runic etching running down her metal abdomen. A red light sat in the middle of her forehead, glowing along with her green optics.

"Yeah, it makes getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom a struggle, but still… an absolute angel right now. She had enough food to make dinner pointless too. I might have to dial down her sugar intake for the next few days, just like Gazi does for Tariq."

The secretary of state quietly sat down next to her creator and just watched the child for a moment on the other side, breathing softly."Alright, so this is the dress that was made by Jeeves, it's the generic form right here," she told the dev. The design was somewhat extravagant, with gold and silver covering most of her body. There was very little that could be seen of her skin wearing that, bar the hands and head. Jeeve's would continue to create most of the clothing along with the auto maids, while Gala would, once in a while, craft something for special occasions when she wasn't dealing with other nations. "The next one is a piece I wasn't expecting you to wear in front of those people. It's set up like a cocktail dress for a night out on the town."

With a swipe of her fingers, the holoprojection pad flipped to a two-piece showing midriff, and her shoulders, all held up simply by her bust in a 3D model with a thin cloth, almost painted on in look. There would definitely be some tape involved to keep things from ever falling out or off. The movement of the cloth was supposed to be like liquid metal flowing and ebbing on her skin. While it still left enough for the imagination, Selene frowned. "Uh… no thanks. I'm not interested in showing a lot of my body."

"Afraid they wouldn't like it?"

"I'm afraid it might give the wrong impression, actually."

"That's what I thought. Now, the third design is a bit more simple, more business, and less show." Gala swiped to a figure that had features that screamed steampunk, with thin gears rotating inside the fabric running in a line down the sleeves, completely visible to anyone. The color had changed from gold and silver to marbled bronze and green. A matching shoulder cloak was added that clasped on her chest, with a pocket watch attached with a chain on her left hip. The skirt was replaced with dress pants and black heels. While not flashy, the whole thing was created with comfort in mind… as well as authority. "It's not going to win any awards, but then again, I didn't make it for that."

"It works, it gets the point across that I'm there to watch the party. Honestly, I'm fine with business suits and blouses in front of the ex nobles. Ugh, I need to stop calling them that… the… t-the rich and well to do… eh, aristocracy fits."

"Alright. This will be what you wear, but don't expect it to draw eyes from the men or women."

"Not interested in them anyway." With a few minor adjustments, particularly in the cloak so that the clasp was easier to open with two locks instead of five, Selene was run through the alterations to the initial design, with how her hair would be done up, whether to wear gloves or not and if she would put her tiara on. There was the potential for a monocle, but it was considered a bit too intimidating as if she would be scrutinizing everyone. A knock on the door was heard, receiving an acknowledgment to enter.

Will opened the door, a concerned look on his face. "Ma'am, we have some news for you."

"What happened?" she asked.

"First off, the tournament in Aureos has ended."

"Who won?"

"In the solo trials, many up and coming adventurers; in the team combat, a select few groups… because we are sure the whole thing was rigged."

"Hmm, did the Orc Destroyers sign up for the team trials?"

"At the last minute, yes. However, they didn't even place in third."

The dev seemed confused a little. "Did they not figure they would be paired against a higher rank party?" she questioned.

"There was information reported by Morlan before he left for his trip to Kaer Danel that he was partially training the team. Ranger Dina, in particular, had doubts as to her reasons behind signing up for the tournament."

"Ok, so, she found out firsthand that there are better fighters out there. It happens."

"The adventurer's guild, receptionist Tilly specifically, provided the rules of combat for the tournament. The Orc Destroyers were gold ranked, which meant they were not allowed to fight any teams beyond platinum. Oddly enough, they held their own, but were ignored for third place due to a minor altercation with the brother of an Adamantite ranked adventurer, even if they were best in rank."

The empress exhaled loudly and looked up at the ceiling, then immediately down to her daughter, still asleep. "Let me guess, unprofessional actions?"

"Possibly. No police were involved, though it seemed clear the aristocracy were looking for fresh meat, and they were not viable."

"That must be a blow to the ego. Well, at least they weren't hurt. I guess now they can finally settle down and get back to quests, raise up the ranks?"

"No ma'am, that's not the case. Morlan submitted a report about his interaction with the group. One, named Pops, is going to retire somehow. He's been saving up for some time, hoping to eventually have enough for a small cottage."

Selene noted the retirement fund set aside for those who fought alongside the soldiers in Silvinholm, answering the call of duty to defend the people. "Well, I wouldn't say it would be a small cottage given the amount provided by us. He'll be able to live a comfortable life. Huh, that will hamper the team, given he was the tank."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Except it won't. They appear to have a paladin by the name of Piper now joining the party."

Selene didn't answer, mulling over the response in her head. "Huh, I was hoping to somehow coerce Dina into leaving that life and go enter the academy. Eh, the option is still there, she'll get that out of her system eventually. A paladin, huh? Interesting."

"They'll have to perform some tricky quests to speed up the process of raising Piper up to a comfortable rank, given she is a copper plate at the moment."

Selene scoffed. "That will slow them down. Eh, if she's already proved herself, why not… then again, I don't know why anyone wants to become an adventurer anymore."

"You believe the adventurer job should be removed?"

"Not right now. The thing is, they are still a useful, very mobile, force that can quickly move around and bolster police forces right now without having my government intervene. They can also act outside the empire without us accepting the blame, or even acknowledging it ever happened. I just see far too many options available now for everyone to go."

"That would give us more leeway in acting towards other nations without actually doing anything."

The dev nodded at him. "I expect the position of adventurer to be phased out within the next decade or turned into something new, like gladiators in nonlethal combat for sports events; the same goes for the mercenaries. It'd go alongside regular sports, at least if we can somehow manage to introduce some of them into society like football or baseball. Can't do it just yet and cause twenty percent of the population to become unemployed with no other skills, which also includes the ex Artinian soldiers. They'd have to be on government aid until they could learn a new trade; meanwhile, police would be strained without backup that we'd have to suddenly provide more of, breaking my policy of keeping auto soldiers out of view most of the time."

"We do have the funds to do so."

"Oh, I know that; technically, the entire bill to have everyone in the empire just go straight to class and not even work is minuscule. The problem is coverage for every occupation that involves keeping them fed and taken care of, which would ultimately fall on us. That's more intervention than I'd like at the moment, what with us footing the bill for everything. I'm hoping the adults can keep working while going through classes; elementary school educations would get them corporate positions with the infrastructure they had before, and we're already offering college-level degrees free of charge. There's no reason for anyone to not have a job right now and still have some time to learn when there are so many avenues to alter their lifestyle. Dina could easily become something else better suited than proficient with a bow; the only reason I haven't outright stopped her is… is…"

"Not a friend, huh?" Will remarked, a slight smirk rising on his metal lips.

The empress rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine, I do have some affinity for her, but it's something to do with feeling sorry for the kid, not actually being buddy-buddy."

"A surrogate mother, perhaps?"

Selene eyed Will with an annoyed look. "I have a daughter already, thank you. I don't need a second, older, rebellious one."

"Then, an older sister instead."

"Enough with the psyche questions, you aren't very good at being a shrink; leave that to Orlo or Gala. My point is, given that crime is kept to an all-time low, there shouldn't be a reason for them to get the chance to read a book in the background while on break, eventually putting the sword or bow away for good. Even while escorting caravans and checking in with patrolling security drones, they have the option to sit in a wagon and read, getting ready to pass certification exams. That'd at least get them in the door for a better job, allowing more time to sit back and submit coursework from a long-distance via the postage. Anyways, any other situations I need to be aware of?"

"Yes, ma'am. With the expansion of the satellite network, we've been able to watch over roughly 50% of the world now. Three reconnaissance fleets were detected on a course for the southern shores of the continent."

"Not merchants?"

"Take a look." He handed her a holo pad to watch the footage provided while Gala finished her alterations on the suit. Something about having the equipment in hand instead of fed to her Hud made it a little easier to talk with someone right next to her. Three fleets coming from different directions were heading towards the continent, along with what looked like a bump of ships slowly starting to uncoil and building up from South America. "I take it your next question will be ETA?"

"You know me too well."

"A little after the ball, two days to be exact. If our calculations are correct, and they always are, that pod of vessels to the southwest could eventually expand out in a supply chain in a month."

"At least they won't ruin the festivities," Gala quipped.

"And you're sure they're aiming for the southern border of the republic?" the dev replied.

"At different trajectories, yes. None of them seem to be aligned, at least on initial analysis. This is of interest, however," Will zoomed in on the middle fleet, comprised of three corvette type ships, two frigates, and one battleship. The design looked like it was made by the undead, the aesthetics seemed as if pulled from someone's idea for a lich lord crossing the ocean, royalty. Impressively, they were the fastest of the three fleets, with mana engines being used to reach about on par with a steamliner. The second fleet, coming from Europe, seemed a bit more menacing, with red and black coloring and heavy armor plating. It was quite a bit slower than the other two fleets, the ETA registered was a week after the others arrived. The problem was… it looked far more capable of causing war and attempting to conquer.

"What about the third one? It looks like a mishmash of designs," Selene questioned, zooming in via satellite view.

"Ah, that's the oddity here, surprisingly. Human, elven, dwarven, and what looks to be… perhaps an aquatic race's aesthetics; that could mean they have sub-surface escorts. It's a coalition of some sort that is heading out, though it would arrive a few days after the undead."

 _The mortally challenged seem to have some upgrades in maritime tech, colonial maybe? No, Renaissance more likely. Whoever is in charge has been trying to improve beyond what others have, probably advancing his or her kingdom. Wait, why am I being impressed by the undead? They're probably the quickest to be hostile here…_

"Suddenly, our corner of the world became quite popular… do we know where they came from? Origin ports?" the empress questioned, glancing for a moment up at her chief of staff with her eyebrows raised a little.

The small screen expanded out in a holographic display before them, hovering in the air like a three-dimensional painting, predicting the starting locations in neon marks and lines. One was the Middle East for the undead, the second from what appeared to be Germany, just behind Denmark at Kiel. The coalition fleet seemed to have collected at one port before heading out just at the northeastern tip of the African continent, their origin kingdoms were unknown just yet. "It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that they are all coming at the same time," Will advised.

"Any merchant fleets nearby that they're trying to shadow, maybe escaped from that direction? Any warnings from Grey about exotic magical artifacts showing up on the market?"

"That would be zero. All trade vessels are in dock, waiting out the winter. The cold is not friendly on open Atlantic waters in a season that is quite punishing, especially if they can't always afford wizards to cast constant spells to keep everything warm and restrict icebergs. This may also be the same for the fleets coming towards us, though given the build-up, that seems doubtful. There are no artifacts on the market that the wizard academy hasn't collected or in the ARC, at least powerful enough to warrant this response."

 _That means they're going to spot our naval ships immediately if they get close. Magic that removes bad weather may be in their bag of tricks. Anything we have is going to be considered combat capable just by getting eyes on… which they technically are…_

"Dominic should have all patrol ships stay clear or in stealth as much as possible with long-range surveillance, potentially with subs or planes. We don't know why they're coming here, but they aren't heading directly towards my empire. Could be attempting communication with the Seong Neow Republic… that nation is starting to look quite interesting to investigate now…"

"Thinking of renewing your trip there to speak with the leaders?"

"Yep, all six of them. I was going to schedule it in the spring, but now… hmm, we'll see."

"I'll have an ambassador get them ready ahead of time for a more in-depth meeting," Gala interjected, finishing up with the suit and prepping a diplomatic team. "If they do their job well, that should at least open some doors and not step on any toes. If not, then at least we'll know where outsiders stand in their eyes, allowing us to focus on other nations to talk to and not waste time."

Will nodded in agreement, cupping his bearded chin with his left hand. "It must make it interesting with five shoguns controlling different parts of the republic. There is an emperor of sorts, though he carries a ceremonial role, and –"

The empress cut him off quietly with one hand to stop him. "I've already read those reports, that is why I said six. I never did fully understand the old Japanese government all that well, which I'm sure this is based on somehow, though I did read up about some of their emperors and the shogunates; then, of course, U.S. history had some weird politics too. Pretty much all civilizations have had governments that confuse everyone else that didn't live there. When you stay in one place with such and such resources, with a religion dictating how to act or holding some of the power over the land, leadership tends to be… complicated… or unusual… to those looking in. Hmmm…"

"Ma'am?"

Selene sat there in deep thought as magnification showed two figures on the deck of the undead battleship. Her Hud scanner didn't get names, but it did show two things that piqued her interest. Those were the ID nameplates of NPCs for a guild… and the guild placard, unnamed as well. While the names didn't mean much at all to her as Yggdrasil was just a contract and another pip on her resume, the fact that her scanner gave the placeholders meant plenty already.

 _How the hell did NPCs transport here? I thought only players could be thrown onto this dirtball… wow, if they really are walking around or traveling, do they have personalities? Lives? The bigger question I should be asking myself is: are they even friendly? Sitting on undead ships, one of them has a karma level of -100, arachnoid… the other is a Dullahan with a karma level of +150 from the orbital scans. There's a bit of a balancing act going on there; someone thought that through, maybe for keeping the other restricted?_

"Do you want those two collected at some point?" Will questioned.

The empress blew air out of her mouth, mulling the answer over. "No. Don't communicate, don't get near them. I'd like it if they never found out about the empire actually. Get a report to me by tomorrow morning on if the Hidden Empire Project is ready to become a reality. We've already got the space elevator cloaked so far, with no one able to see military bases unless we want them to. Granted, most of them are built underground, but still…"

"We should have a quiet diversion plan in place in the event they get near our borders then."

"I agree, decoys and false points of interest should be ready to place if they get too nosy, nudge them in a different direction. I want intel before anything further happens, and I want to see the owner of those NPCs before any interaction. They might be negotiating trade with the animal folk, but… something tells me otherwise. They're blocked from long-range communication via magic?"

"Yes, ECM systems were designed for both technological communication and magical from the start. It might be a good idea to allow some messages to go through until we're sure they've seen us. Grey should be able to come up with quite a few wild goose chases to keep them occupied if they decide to 'see the sights across the lands' as it were, get them to stay in the south; he at one point told me of a 'white rabbit' protocol to enact to discourage the curious. I'll check with sci div and have the report ready by tomorrow on advancements, should give you something to read with your coffee while you take care of the princess. You know, they might be traveling by sea due to no teleportation capability here. Might have dodged a bullet with our tech."

"Or caught it in the mouth by restricting travel via magic, forcing them to use physical transports; for all we know, they're wondering why they can't get here via other means. We'll just have to wait and see. Alright… the others, on the other hand… are those level 100s on the European fleet?" she asked as the dev checked on the armored warships again. There was a difference in how they were moving compared to the other two, with a synchronized parade line instead of real naval vessels surrounding their flagship. That required a large amount of coordination with little gain other than looking good, especially when they were still heading towards their destination. The high tier soldiers she was referring to were also in peculiar positions, arrayed in a line, shoulder to shoulder on the deck… almost like furniture or chess pieces rather than people. There was no sign of an officer they would normally be escorting in such a formation.

"There are three on the alliance fleet as well, at least high level interspersed; one elf, one human, one very old dwarf. All three are below 60. Analysis suggests they may be descendants of an Earth transfer rather than players themselves."

Selene raised an eyebrow at that. "I didn't see a player notice pop up, just an unknown; that tells me, given we haven't met yet, that they are natives. Could be ambassadors, though I'm pretty sure that thought process can be shot down immediately given what we're seeing, or just explorers like Christopher Columbus."

"You do realize that he was traveling for riches and spices, not to meet a new civilization, right?"

The dev rolled her eyes. "Yes, I remember at least some of my world history, thank you. He treated natives as objects, not living beings. The same goes for the Spanish conquistadors. That… does bring up some concerning facts if two of those fleets look like they have humans on board… then again, the overlord fleet are… well… I'm not getting my hopes up that they wouldn't be against the living."

"Thinking of interfering if they show hostility towards the Seong Neow Republic?" Will questioned, raising a metal eyebrow in curiosity.

"Their government is fairly isolation focused nationalists, while common folk are all too eager to expand and mingle with others. The merchants are proof of that. This means us intervening is all too dependent on them playing nice, or us just cleaning up the mess after and laying claim to the land. Did you hear that they, the merchants I mean, are asking for softer coins to meltdown so that they can recast the metal without the clockwork symbol? Too afraid to have it circulate in their nation supposedly, a penalty of death or something."

"I have read that report. The request went to the mayor of Aureos, which then brought it up to Duncan. He obviously had no answer, even acted insulted on behalf of you." The dev facepalmed. She was about to say something in annoyance about the semi advisor, with a question offered up on whether to fire him or not, only for Will to continue. "He did mean well with his response and has been studying diligently the laws. He's also been keeping the aristocracy at bay from trying to speak with you. Damaging a symbol of the empire is illegal; it can give counterfeiters a chance to launder money in other countries, removing funds from the people's hands that we have to replace. That's why most coins in our nation are now alloys instead of pure gold or silver, soon to become paper currency, and eventually… digital credits."

"And also why we would like everyone to use banks and start using paper currency in the future. At least we control the financial institutions with an iron fist, compared to Earth. Hedge funds are completely impossible here." The dev remembered just how not just twice, but three times since living in the U.S. that a fund collapsed a much-loved company that was doing well. She considered them evil.

"Given that we started the banks in the first place, that seems doubtful anything like that would appear. Now, where was I… ah yes, moving forward, we have sent an invite to Sultan Gazi and his son Tariq for the winter ball. Even Aldemir is offered a chance to come."

The empress smirked. She already knew Aldemir would ask how she created what he now used, what he followed. There were going to be so many questions on why she decided to not use woad mastery herself."Good, they can be guests of honor. They'll get the chance to see the empire not as a neighbor, but hopefully, a friend outside their borders. Are they already sending that dust?"

"Yes, and we are sending the requested runestones for their hot air balloons. We have also sent invites to the mayors of each town and city. This will have an enormous impact when the aristocracy sees that they have power only over their companies, not over the government. Next on the report is something minor, quite so actually. Wrox has been verified as planning a break away from the Kohar Confederacy assault on Caerel City in the next month."

The empress looked up at the ceiling and smirked. "He's going to attack our borders, isn't he? Great, that's going to scare the other chieftains."

"We've done what we can to settle things with those tribes. What he does is entirely on his head now, there's no negotiating anymore," Gala told her as she closed the app for the dress.

"What happens… happens," Selene remarked. "Next?"

Will crossed his legs and put a hand on his mechanical knee. "An interesting note circulating around right now beyond that bonehead ready to start a war is that the Church of the Clockwork Empress is spreading a false story of how you came to be."

The auburn-haired woman leaned back a little and slightly adjusted her arm. Her daughter didn't notice. "Great… I need to figure out a counter to what they're saying."

The chief of staff cocked his head a little. "Like your origin?"

Selene dropped her head, chin pressed against her chest with her hands on her hips as she exhaled. "Yeah…"

"Ma'am… it may be a good idea to either have a cover story written for you to follow… or…" Will hesitated, remembering the response from last time, "we've already had this discussion, so I'll just end it by saying you should start getting good at lying or accepting some things as truth when anyone asks about your life… if you decide to share any information about it, that is. They're trying to fill in gaps in their faith. That's difficult to do when their head priest is making things up as he goes."

Selene looked at him for a long second before averting her gaze, nodding finally in agreement and stifling a laugh. That was what they were doing from the beginning anyway, why should it change now? There would have to be an explanation as to where she came from, her past, and what she does now, which was intentionally designed to be vague. "Was there anything else?"

"Sadly, yes. Our laws did not quite account for the loop found in attempting to create a monopoly in a sector of the economy."

"Fuck… er… I mean…" the woman looked down at her daughter, her little eyes not opening once.

"She's still asleep," Gala reported softly.

The dev sighed in relief and nodded, swapping to a com channel to speak. "Who is doing it?"

"The very same aristocrats you are meeting with during the ball. While we made it illegal to attempt hostile takeovers and luring another corporation into selling out for a lopsided merger or acquisition, they've found a way to somehow continue by buying up any unrelated companies that sell key resources for research or advancement of their product, locking anyone else out of the respective market. This causes their competitor to go through only them involuntarily, eventually finding that they can no longer support themselves without raw materials or with those overpriced contracts and get bought up when at their weakest. The other rich and wealthy are not going this route, intending to try and follow your laws; this has allowed them to build up comfortably at a slow pace, without having to worry about backhanded actions being taken."

"What? How the heck do they have those kinds of funds… oh, the liquidations! Probably their little bunkers had a pile of gold hidden away as well. Oh, damn it… you'd think they've had this kind of stuff happen before…" Selene's view of the top .01% was quite low right now. Most of the movers and shakers were fine, adapting to her rule _and_ making a profit right now. The select few causing disturbances were the ones she hadn't had executed after the demon war.

"Indeed." The chief of staff watched his creator facepalm with her right hand, shaking her head slowly. They had done what they could to set laws, regulations, and policies to keep things like this from happening, but nothing was perfect. There were always going to be people who would think outside the box to get ahead without working like everyone else. This was what the constant recommendations from the citizens sent to the governors were for, to update the laws regularly to protect against these things, to protect against those who would step on others to get ahead quickly.

The empress rolled her eyes. "I'll work with Donovan on getting a new law in place to put an end to that once I review any information from our governors, monopolies tend to stifle advancement and hold back the future. If it works, maybe we can use incentives to push them towards never attempting such a thing again. I swear, I didn't let them get lynched with their antics after the war, and this has emboldened them…"

"… … Do you want to –" Will shut up over the channel as she looked up at him with one wide eye popping out of her fingers, surprised he'd offer that option up; he visibly jumped for a split second as he put his hands up in surrender. That should be a last resort, one where she knew there was just no working with them. They were greedy, yes, and willing to do whatever it took to earn a little more precious coin that they couldn't take to their graves. That didn't always necessarily mean they needed to die just because of their drive to become even wealthier; the silver lining right now was that they had shown a fault in her laws, which they would now address. That at least told her that her government was doing its job and catching whatever could negatively impact the economy. In essence, these corrupt aristocrats were unknowing guinea pigs banging their heads against a wall while they were being observed. There was going to be more stress for them trying to weasel around the laws than Donovan gleefully helping his empress patch the holes in less than a day.

"Alright, send the report tomorrow, and I'll review it. I'll… figure out something with Morlan's father, Eve can stick with Dahlia in the library for the day and go on a reading spree. Um, get something prepared for the Orc Destroyers as a participation reward. Although we didn't sponsor the tournament and the whole thing was rigged, at least they can get something for their effort. Common quality tier could be an upgrade for a few pieces of gear that have been falling apart." Her inventory was opened with a flick of her eye, a few full suits of common quality equipment crafted within a few seconds. Uncommon was crafted right after, along with professional. She had not given much thought to their gear after the abbey crisis.

"Very well. Have a good rest of the night, ma'am. Oh, one last thing, there should be a census report recently taken. You should take a look at the races now living. A vampire apparently has decided to somehow immigrate and is working as a receptionist in Silvinholm." Selene gawked at him, opening the census report immediately. Will stood up and gave her a slight nod, his optics swapping over to the sleeping princess for a moment. How a vampire decided to live amongst humans and elves, with some half-orcs, was anyone's guess. There were quite a few other races that were definite minorities slowly sifting in as well, some considered evil by stereotype and just trying to survive like everyone else. Snow slowly started to fall outside the windows as he left, with Gala following behind to finish the work on the dress.

That was when Morlan, Elsei, and the Valkyrja finally came home, walking through the hallways and reaching the living room. "Hey, guys. How was your trip?" All of them had their eyes on the little girl holding onto Selene. None of them knew how to respond as Eve woke up, curious as to what was causing noise and looking back at them with her blue eyes. The resemblance was there. The group just wondered what the explanation was going to be.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Put out the fire! Quickly!" a guard shouted to others at the royal palace, two figures slipping away during the chaos towards the north. The distraction had worked, with no one noticing the hoods or movement.

"Was this really necessary?" the second figure asked in a feminine voice as they jumped just over a pipe and continued onward, following her charge and her three tails.

"It was the only way to run away, and those assassins gave the perfect opportunity! What, did you expect us to go through the front door? They'd never let me pass without a full escort!" the smaller figure replied back, zipping to a corner and staying pressed against the wall as more guards ran to help. Once they were gone, the two partners dove under a small breach in the wall that was protecting the city from outside monsters. They were finally free.

"Your highness, why? There's no reason to –"

The smaller figure stopped for a moment and looked up at the clear night sky, removing her hood for a moment and breathed deep, her hime haircut of platinum blonde with white highlights shifting with the removal of her cover, two fox ears popping up and wiggling slightly. The guardian to her back removed her hood to reveal blood-red hair pulled tightly back in a small bun held together with chopsticks, a single black lock hanging over her forehead and pointing towards an eyepatch. Her left wolf ear was missing a section gouged out from the back, two gold earrings dangling below it. They were closer to humans in form than an animal, what the Artinians called catgirls as if all of them were related to felines. Their kind were considered 'high birth' in their language, being anthropomorphic as compared to zoomorphic like many others living as commoners in the nation. The cast system was something else that the princess wanted to get away from. There were too many friends she had made that she could no longer be near anymore due to her father and the shogunate.

The princess looked around carefully, sensing movement around the corner of the walls. "We have to continue, I'm not sticking around in this damned country to be married off. Every one of those bastards thinks they can just have me sit pretty on a pillow due to my ancestry, a trophy wife. I'm not here to be a prize for them to grant their wishes. My mother would have never stood for them pressuring my father if she was still alive…"

"Your highness, where are we to go? We have limited funds that will not last forever!" Her escort responded.

"I've heard rumors of some merchants returning from the north; supposedly, the empire there has vanquished the kingdom of Artinia. It's just a rumor, but even then, we can still head towards the forest at the edge of our lands and slip away. Thankfully, the guards have not punished those caravans."

"Princess Miyuki, that is a good three day's travel. You aren't up for that kind of adventure."

"I'll manage. I have to. The alternative… if I stay here, I might as well slit my own throat. Help me get there, Luko. Please. We can catch a ride from one of the convoys, slip past the patrols." The young teenager's golden-green eyes locked onto the royal protector's, pleading for her to stick with her for this. The only thing the warrior could do was sigh and nod, then immediately start growling, pull her katana, and charge straight towards the princess. It startled Miyuki, believing her bodyguard and friend was going to betray her; that was quickly found out to be false as she cut down two assassins still skulking in the weeds, noticing them before they could pounce.

"We need to leave now!" Luko shouted as three others jumped from the nearby tree to the ground, heading towards them. The wolf woman's bag of tricks was filled for this endeavor, with a flash bomb used to blind them for the assault she unleashed. Once they were dealt with by Luko involving swift strikes that seemed as fast as lightning, the princess's bodyguard grabbed her hand and ran. Their destination was away from their home, straight into a land far from familiar to the north… right into the middle of the Clockwork Empire. Luckily, the city guard was all too busy searching for more assassins inside the walls than outside to notice the flash of light in the distance.

Luko stopped running with her charge and let her rest, looking over both of their bodies as the princess sat. "We're going to need new clothes and ways to somehow change your hair color; There's got to be a way to somehow hide your tails as well, we'll need to find one who is knowledgeable in the ways of magic for that. Come on." While their reasoning to leave seemed odd, their choice was now made. What they didn't understand was the trouble they were about to create for those they would eventually meet.


	38. Ch 37 Winter Ball

**((Author's Note: So, yeah, this is really late in coming in. Things have changed in the past months, I'm sure we can all agree on that. Coursework moved entirely to online for me, so double my homework, which slowed down creating this. On top of that, I had technical difficulties, which are resolved. I didn't mean for it to take forever, it isn't forgotten, I just had to adapt.))**

 **((Recommended Songs for this Chapter: Epic Score – Vengeance, Two Steps From Hell – Eria, Jordy Chandra – Coffee Evening, Mozart – Serenade No. 13 in G Major, K. 525, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" Allegro))**

 _ **30th, December**_

"Hurry it up." Luko watched with a rice bag under her arm as Miyuki struggled to lift another into the carriage. They had managed to gain passage north while helping the caravan load supplies and products to sell. For the most part, they were the hired hands to pay their way. The remaining coin they had would be needed to feed them once they got through the borders of their neighboring empire. It wasn't much, enough for a couple of weeks at best. They'd be stopping in a few towns along the way, tending the oxen while the merchant hocked his wares. It was the only way to get out of their country quietly without anyone really noticing, at least until they had disappeared into the crowds of another nation.

"Why am I lifting the bigger stuff?" the princess snapped as she tried to push another bag of rice over the back hatch. The thirteen-year-old had never needed to perform menial labor before. Her hands were struggling to keep whatever was picked up from flopping out onto the ground.

"You think that's big? I've been lifting the barrels, princess." The wolf woman sighed in annoyance and pushed at the corner of the bag, which threw the kitsune off-kilter, nearly making her trip on her own two feet. The package sunk past the door as the teenager regained her balance.

"Why are you so frustrated with me?" Miyuki questioned her. "You knew what would happen if I didn't leave."

"What I know right now is that I'm an outcast that would be tried for treason. I cannot go back to my family, with what little of them are still alive; I cannot step foot in my home without an order for my death. This is all because you wanted not to be married. I am branded."

The princess didn't realize the position she had put her bodyguard in, her friend. Luko just stood there with her hands on her hips, staring at her with one eye. The teenager averted her gaze, understanding now what she had just sacrificed. "I'm sorry…"

There was a huff that came from the swordswoman; she turned around, looking at the hills in the north. "It's not like I didn't have a choice in all of this… let's get the last of the supplies in, then let the caravan leader know we're ready." That response seemed to lighten the mood, letting the girl know that the royal protector had understood the risks and accepted the responsibility of continuing her duty to look after her. Their garb had changed somewhat, with a generic kimono and cloak for Miyuki followed by ordinary lamellar armor on top of linen. As long as no one pulled the hood back for either, the duo could slip by.

Once finished with packing, the two ladies climbed in and traveled on towards whatever destination they thought was in this new land that could provide a better life. Miyuki wasn't quite old enough to know the challenges she needed to face as an adult, though she was smarter than others her age. She understood that they would need to find jobs to continue fending for themselves; her hope was that there would be an open position for a bouncer at a tavern, with the princess able to hide out as a waitress or apothecary. Once they earned enough, they could try and buy a small shop where she could craft all sorts of alchemical mixtures to help the people, blending into society. Her dream was to be a musician, playing one of the seven zither instruments that the republic was known for. The alternative to this plan, unfortunately, was to use her tails for a small miracle.

Despite what many thought, her bloodline allowed slow growth of the extra appendages on her coccyx. With those furry parts of her body that usually helped with her balance, she could, in most cases, cast spells no one else could. Her casting capability would get stronger as she got older, eventually being able to use rituals and incantations that would be what many believed a god would use… though that was, for the most part, hyperbole. There was one caveat that the shoguns didn't understand, attempting to marry her to their sons in hopes of receiving unbridled power. The tails would halt growth for a decade if a spell of any magnitude that required her tails was cast. If too many were fired off, she'd never realize her true potential until she was a feeble old lady, incapable of ever staying young. Those greedy bastards would seal her fate for their own use.

Those 'gifts' got more powerful the more of these appendages that have grown, with stories of ancestors with as many as nine to cause incredible effects on the world. What most of the fables lost to time, sadly, was that these gifts granted were only so powerful. While there could be widespread destruction offered up against one's enemies, or incredible alteration of time or space in a location, there was no guarantee it would be equal to a cataclysmic event that spanned an entire continent, let alone a planet. With only three tails, she was mostly relegated to illusions, bright lights, charm and limited mind control on weak willed people.

For a request of riches and wealth, even with a sizeable number of tails in play, the range of the gold that would appear could only go as far as the eye could see for its maximum. These restrictions had been forgotten, with many expecting unparalleled reality warping. The question was always as such: to cast an incantation only she knew and halt the growth, taking ten years of her life before they would slowly start again, or to continue hardship while she got stronger, forever staying in her prime as fairy tales would tell of?

Once she had grown all nine tails entirely, there would be no issues. The only thing that ever seemed to counter them, at any point, was something that showed high resistance to divine powers. There were beings out there that were rare but could be found that could ignore the effects of the spells. How they could do such a thing was never explained in any of the stories. She did remember reading two things about these beings, though; an ancient tome told of people called 'players,' with another an extra-dimensional being. One could assume that the latter was a god, unable to be toyed with by her supposed miracles cast. Unfortunately, the tomes she had read were always quite vague or partially water damaged, to make as many people turn the pages and be excited by these incredible adventures. They paid for a dream to sit back and wallow in for a time until they reached the end of that book. The word 'player' had no information on what to look for, just calling them as such. It also could have been a mistranslation.

There were artifacts in the world that could also restrict her alterations to the world, disregarding what she chose and merely acting as if nothing had happened. There was a small rumor of a faraway human kingdom having a few of these, one of which looked like a qipao dress. These items with worth beyond anything a nation could offer as a reward could, in fact, bypass the effects of her tails. An ancient alchemist, long dead, had theorized that her kind were living, breathing versions of these artifacts, or extensions of gods themselves acting as messengers. Of course, he also tended to eat things that were near poisonous to receive visions and was very idiosyncratic. He also stood on his head often, the blood flow most likely causing issues with his brain.

A bump rocked the carriage, then another, and another. "We should get some sleep while we can; I have a feeling they'll ask me to take watch when we stop for part of the night," Luko quietly told her.

"So… why should I rest? I'm not tired," Miyuki questioned her. The bodyguard sighed again in annoyance.

"Because you might be put on watch at some point as well. It's a rotating shift that might get picked at random. You keep your eyes open for two to four hours, and they better stay open, or bandits could attack… potentially worse." The fact that they would put a young teenager on watch meant there weren't very many escorts for this caravan. Luko had already realized that the reason behind so few guards to protect the carriages was supposedly the empire to the north was well defended; once past a certain point in the trip, they could rest without a care due to the army to the north. Getting there was the problem. The alternative was the caravan was stingy on paying for a hired sword. Luko was betting on the former.

"Worse? You don't think those assassins are… I mean, they couldn't be following us. We were careful, weren't we?" the princess asked, now worried about the situation. The royal guards didn't know where they were, but if those who wanted her father and her death were still skulking around and trying to find them, then they were in trouble. Their best bet was to just get lost in the civilization to the north.

"You didn't see the pairs of eyes watching us while we left, the suspicion in their gaze. A little coin here and there to grease their palms, then the group that was invading the Jade Palace would have a general idea of our direction. Luckily, we have a head start and wheels, and I took care to buy a few things to help us to elude trackers. That may not last long, depending on which direction this caravan goes later." Luko stared directly into Miyuki's golden-green orbs, forcing the teenager to look away. Even with only half the vision, the bodyguard's steel gaze always made her back down. The protector had far more worldly experience than she did; it was the reason there was only one eye, a story she didn't share.

"Alright…" the next in the royal line replied, settling in on the sack of rice, waiting for the convoy of carriages to eventually stop for the night.

 _ **2nd, January**_

Hrist sparred with Brynhildr in the gym, the walls specially hardened and reinforced to protect against any damage they could cause. The shields were activated, allowing them unparalleled movement as they bounced around and tried to get the upper hand against each other. If they really let loose, there would be a structural strain on the material, not quite high-end space-age metals just yet. The castle already needed a full upgrade, despite having so many advances in technology already. That was a test to the real strength of a Valkyrja that not even the hyper-advanced design of the gym was able to withstand the damage… yet. "You're loosening up your defenses!" Bryn laughed out as she dove and attacked, being twisted with a counter by her sister.

"Or maybe I let you see that opening!" the raven-haired woman responded, slamming the seven-foot-tall shield maiden into the ground with her hand pinned to her back. There was a massive thump heard from the impact, with the floor radiating an energy pulse outward to maintain integrity as it spread the force evenly, looking like a blue hexagonal lattice akin to a beehive. The blonde tapped the ground three times to be let go and was helped up as they both huffed and took a breath.

"Your response to the empress's daughter was… odd when we came back," Bryn told her as they both walked over to pick up their towels and get a bottle of water.

"Was it?" Hrist replied, not meeting her sister's gaze.

"What are you thinking? She explained that Eve was secretly hidden away long ago to protect her, just now having a chance to bring her back home."

"I know, I just… it feels like a bit of a lie. Something isn't right with that story."

Her taller sister grumbled something under her breath and rolled her eyes. "Hrist, why would she lie to us? Besides, her daughter is adorable. Are you unhappy she lives in the castle?"

The battle maiden cocked her head back in shock as she met eyes with Brynhildr. "What? Of course not! I'm quite happy Selene has a daughter! It's great that she's got someone to come home to every time from some meeting in another nation. I just – this isn't a normal introduction."

"You don't trust Selene? We're friends now."

"I trust her implicitly, you know that. I just feel like we weren't told the truth due to… to…"

Brynhildr was silent as they stood there, almost staring at a blank wall together. It gave credence to the auburn-haired woman not being human. They both believed the princess wasn't born of natural means.

"She's protecting her daughter. Wouldn't you keep something a secret if it could somehow harm a child of your own?" the taller sister asked quietly. Hrist didn't answer, just staring at the wall for another minute as she sipped from the straw on her bottle, the paint altering and shifting like a watercolor mural in constant flow.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

Selene kept running on her treadmill, getting a workout while she could. She'd wake up at 4 am in the morning, like always, exercising while being limited by a new development created by herself, a spell to increase metabolism, and a restrictor effect in her character sheet disabling her bonus strength and speed attributes. Each time the combination was used, the dev would burn double the number of calories, which there seemed to be no immunity towards that she could gain. She was using it five times, multiplying the burn by 32 so that she only needed to have a harsh workout once a week. The setup was uncomfortable, to say the least, but all of it was made to speed the process up. Any defense attributes were left untouched, keeping any attempted assassinations from flying in from long range.

Once the workout was complete, all of the gear was taken off, a very awkward armored suit to inhibit rather than protect. The checkmark in her sheet couldn't be activated unless three things were put into effect: that no threats were detected by **[Detect Hostiles]** spell cast within a 25-mile radius, that an alarm was activated to disable the ability after so many minutes in case she forgot, and a calorie tally system activated in her Hud to reactivate all stats once she reached her goal. The dev stopped the machine and slowed down, her ponytail no longer bouncing behind her as she grabbed a towel and headed out, pressing the pop-up button on the chest and allowing the suit to collapse on the ground, wearing yoga pants and a tank top underneath. Her breathing went from strained to calm as everything in her Hud reverted to the increase of 500 points across the board, with a new line showing what her muscle strength was without the added bonuses. There was so much news in the past few days that she had to pour through, very little of it being minor.

The first notice was that the Churches were in an underground war, one which seemed a little lopsided. From what she could get intel on, the Church of the Clockwork Empress has been doing everything it could to bring more followers its way, in some cases poaching from other religions. This has caused the Church of the Golden Faith to attempt assassinations on critical leaders in retaliation. Few, if any of them, have succeeded, with any of the archbishops resurrected without much issue by their priests. The attacks haven't been reciprocated either. The view was that the followers had to hold fast until their goddess intervened. They were sticking to their tenets loyally, not once straying to fight back. It was both impressive and, at the same time, incredibly stupid for them to not defend themselves; instead, they put forth their efforts to help those who were having their money strained from their lives like water from a sponge by the Golden Faith.

The empress's actions to counter this were swift. Those who put the contracts out for the assassinations were caught and placed in prison faster than the police could even get warrants for arrests. The paid killers were eliminated quickly, with security teams sent in to capture them; the idea was floated by the dev on what to do with the prisoners, a new plan suggested by her ARC scientists of using those who couldn't be rehabilitated in a new creation called a Limbo Vat. The nervous system was forcibly removed from the body and emplaced in the machine, sustaining the mind in a virtual reality simulation. Data would be taken on what their actions were inside, and just as the criminals would reach their goals, the world would be reset, and they'd start from scratch, with new laws and restrictions in place to keep them from doing any harm. It rarely stopped them, with new ingenious ways of performing a murder, theft or attempting world domination. Still, it helped with new training protocols for police to catch future evildoers and understand how to keep the peace more efficiently. There wasn't a need to throw away the capability to protect the empire in new and interesting ways. The alternative, at least when the empress became angered, was permanent death.

There were tier spells well above what the people knew that could restrict resurrection without cleansing it first, a curse upon the body, such as **[True Death]**. Dimensional magic had many forms of it, one of which was even for machines to keep them from being repaired. Very few of them could be cleansed without effort, one of which was to get a gamemaster to alter the data for the object or character. They were rare by far for players to use, only because it opened them up to a potential ban inquiry, and many were removed outright from Arcanic's Wizardry. The alternatives were always some quest by a player to gather resources just to bring back their main into the game. Anyone who was found griefing another in this regard had their accounts suspended for three months if not banned outright. Given subscriptions were connected to a biosignature due to the dive systems, it was near impossible to fake a new account to continue griefing.

Selene had found out how to cleanse the effect with a few tests on one civilian drone training dummy. The developers themselves had put in a hideous amount of other ways to remove the debuff from a body or object… players were just stupid and oblivious. Some of these were tutorial quests, which many didn't remember at all. There were so many whiners and complainers about how hard or easy some games became that there were constant patches to remove spells or abilities from many MMORPGs, all due to the player's not watching the signs. Luckily, the empress remembered most of them for dimensional magic.

The entire event had caused the money-hungry followers of the Golden Faith to go underground within the last twelve hours, a silent war they were attempting with little regard to public safety. Unfortunately, they didn't have much of a leg to stand on or sympathy, expected to eventually fade away as their faith dissolved into nothing. Discord was all but assured now with those worshipers until that happened, many of which were now hiding in plain sight, waiting for a chance to overthrow the government. They considered Selene a false goddess, but also Elesia and Gigsen clay deities as well. The only thing they believed in were gems and coin, piled high which bought their way into heaven upon their deaths. Their hypocritical views were so twisted from reality.

What she received was a grand ovation from hundreds who got an eyeful of the event, with word getting out that the Golden Faith could not do what they wished anymore. The laws were being upheld. Let others worship freely, even if that worship somehow changes, bar any harmful faith that required live sacrifices or pain to come to a person or animal. Men and women had equal rights, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. Children were not to work, excluding work experience for a school course that provided protection management, which also helped the child reach a career. Animal cruelty was not allowed. A rumor was started with evidence that the empress's irises had a golden halo around them, glowing faintly inward as she became frustrated with the oblivious worshipers of the almighty coin… not gods. Both eyes eventually turned into just the left one, growing brighter… and blue. She never got a chance to see what that looked like, as by the time she reached a mirror, it was gone. Hrist had commented that it reminded her of someone, except that the dev still had both eyes, and the iris glowing was the opposite.

The second issue that appeared was a standoff with none other than the leviathan that caused the Great Battle of Sweet Water Harbor. It took an enormous amount of effort by Zaza and Nara to stop the 7th naval fleet from engaging the ocean-dwelling dragon, with a hostile entourage riled up around him by the aggression field preparing to attack. The fleet ready to engage had a brand-new battleship and carrier in the middle to fight back against large creatures, with small submarine fighters to win the engagement. They were eventually able to make him remember who he was and get some treatment offered up by the empire. It would take some time for his mind to go back to the way it was before late-stage dementia, but there was medical technology to ease him back to a functioning if old, dragon. Surprisingly, he disabled the field he was emitting, immediately having the small underwater army disperse back to their daily lives. His original reason for being near Sweet Water was finding something he dropped, not to bring a fight to their shores.

To Zaza's dismay, the effects were substantial in his life. The leviathan couldn't remember where he lived, most of his memories were a jumble, and the only two names he seemed to keep at the forefront of his mind were Zaza and a long-lost mate. The story behind the meeting of the younger wyrm and the massive underwater creature wasn't brought up. However, there were hints of knowing those in her lineage, possibly treating the gold wyrm as a grandchild. Until his mind was his own, he was a guest at the Dragon Aerie under constant watch by security. For the most part, "Galithos" was calm and somewhat friendly, if highly forgetful. There were times when he spoke in tongues, not realizing that the rest of the dragons couldn't even understand what he was saying. It wasn't another language being translated, he just mixed up his words. This was supposed to eventually go away in the next year or so. Until then, he would always ask when breakfast would be served… in the evening.

The third issue, which seemed to be the most urgent, was her security being tipped off by the police in multiple cities that there were casks with crude magic imbued on the casings and invisibility enchanting on the space they were placed. They were filled with what appeared to be mind control liquid that would vaporize once the containment seals were punctured, a crude chemical bomb as it were. The mist would flow out and be inhaled by the surrounding population, turning them all into pliant living zombies that would acknowledge the first person who laid claim to them.

Unfortunately, they couldn't figure out who was creating the canisters. The advantage the empire had right now was the auto soldiers disabling each cache, and prepping aerosol dispersion medication and counter spells to remove the mind control if one detonated. There were no fingerprints, no DNA samples. Whoever was the culprit would be considered domestic terrorists and have all rights removed immediately, potentially shot on sight. What these people didn't understand, though, was the fact that the troops were getting faster and faster at finding them, using predictive analytics to locate each hideout and perform raids. Triangulation of the supply routes to deliver these chemical weapons was almost instant within a couple days, except the wagons carrying the casks were unmanned. They hadn't found anyone inside the buildings, and the ownership of each warehouse was different each time, with no knowledge by the owners of the barrel shipments. Whether that was because of not being informed or someone breaking in just to place these caches was unknown.

A fourth and final issue that made the empress express sympathy for them was the dwarves. They had sped up the creation of the golem due to multiple noble houses collapsing, a few of them loyal to the prince. The estimated completion date would be just after the ball. She hoped it would unify everyone without causing further trouble, showing the mountain dwellers just what they really were capable of. If not, and given the fact she now had over 30% of their population living within her borders as refugees, they could fall. This dwarven society seemed different from what Sultan Gazi had given her in history books, as other kingdoms across the seas were in far better shape. One, in particular, controlled multiple mountain ranges and was the primary defense against multiple other nations squabbling with each other, acting as the grown-ups between everyone else.

These events, along with the side notice that adventurers were trespassing in Tal Salunbal restricted areas without warning, had whittled down the empress's patience quite a bit. However, she never snapped at anyone in her inner circle, with Orlo acting as her shrink to get things off her chest. Gazi and his son would arrive a little earlier than expected before the winter ball to hash out details of controlling the movements of the independent explorers and monster hunters, as well as work out the transportation of medical supplies and pesticide sprays for a new disease infecting food growing near the undead city to the far north. In exchange, he had hinted that they may receive an early supply of the new steam engines Tal Salunbal now could make, albeit in an extremely small volume. They just did not have the infrastructure to make more than a dozen in a year, maybe two dozen. Those would be given to companies proving they took care of their employees as an incentive to progress.

"Ma'am, we detected a lowering of your heart rate, are you finished with your workout?" was heard over the intercom by Will. Plans were already set for both Selene and her daughter to stay for two nights on the _Majesty's Grace_ during the ball, not really wanting to be in the White Palace for too long. Even with them cleansing the place from top to bottom, excluding the dungeon that Xaxara was still chained up inside, something about the building felt… uncomfortable. The only way that would go away was to have the place torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.

Juliet didn't exactly have time for at least another two weeks to take on the project, working hard with her teams to start new infrastructure throughout the empire as the 2nd royal home wasn't a big deal anyway. There were tunnels now dug through most of the mountain ranges to get from one city to the next via train or carriage, with some rumors floating around that the empress would help the people receive the new hot air balloons that Tal Salunbal was now testing openly. Installation of the teleportation pads for government transportation between major cities was already completed, rapidly moving entire armies to main staging areas.

On top of that, there were concepts drawn up for new city designs, complete with a much more modern infrastructure and green lifestyle. The goal was to make internal transportation relatively easy for all manners of travel, with teleportation or air balloon for long-distance movement, while also not affecting the environment. This would allow citizens to expand more in one area instead of taking up extra land by starting a new village somewhere in the boonies, requiring a new mayor and security in the area. Once the towns and cities became a decent size, they'd expand upwards versus outward. The idea of farms placed _inside_ the boundaries of cities for fresh produce sold at nearby stores would become the next big thing.

"Yes, I'm done for the day. What's the skinny? What needs to be fixed? It better not be something I did," she asked as she put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. "I hope it isn't something I did…" she mumbled to herself, having a low sense of confidence with their alterations to laws and regulations recently. The next list of chores to keep up with, even as the ruler of the Clockwork Empire, was now going to be laid on her shoulders for the day. The dev was now learning that nothing was going to be perfect, even what she put in place. Some systems or policies needed to be tweaked almost weekly due to the education of the people in the empire. Some things just didn't work yet; others were too strict and needed to be rebalanced. It was somewhat like doing game testing, checking what needed to be nerfed or buffed. The Clockwork Empire was in beta, perhaps even in alpha.

"We just wanted to inform you that your colleague, Ranger Dina, has been taking the failure of the tournament hard. Recordings of her responses via ornithopter have revealed she feels guilty for her actions against another team, disqualifying them before they could be in the next combat trial. Practice has been extensive to keep her busy."

The dev blew air out of her mouth and closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. "That kid can't take being knocked down all that well… alright. How's her team?"

"Currently, all healthy. The warrior Pops, real name Philian Altor, has officially retired, heading back to Silvinholm to look into buying a home. Apparently, he's figured out that he doesn't need a reward from the tournament with the social security funds provided as well as the Silvinholm defense stipend. Dylan and Marv are both staying in the adventurer barracks, working on their team skills with the Paladin Piper, along with planning to complete a long-term quest near Paldos City; however, it appears that Dylan may be coerced into joining the police force in Aureos. Marv, real name Marvin De Estelon, has been offered a chance to rejoin the Wizard Academy. Piper is being requested to assist more with their faith in the church, now that the Golden Faith appear to have become suspiciously absent. Did you want a report on the secondary support crew, specifically the priest Ezra?"

"No, I already know what he's doing after the church event. That boy sure has some balls on him, standing up to a high priest and his lackeys without any backup just to defend someone who isn't of his faith… if that wasn't a confidence booster or shitting a brick, maybe both, I don't know what is. He grew up in the span of a few minutes – at least until his legs gave out when police and security arrived." The woman touched the wall, having it turn on with a built-in holographic viewscreen popping up with an aerial isometric view of Aureos; it quickly zoomed in with light-up wireframes surrounding hidden assets throughout each district. Androids were staying put where needed, ready to answer the call from their creator or one of her administration, with automatons available for military backup when less finesse was required. The screen landed on a group planning something in the guild barracks. "Have someone shadow their team, make sure they don't get into trouble."

"You aren't afraid she might push herself too far to make up for the failure?" Will asked.

"I'd like to say she has a good head on her shoulders, at least with the little time we worked together. Still, with one shadow watching them while they finish whatever this quest is, it should give her a chance to get out of the slump she put herself in. I figured the gift of the common tier armor we sent would cheer them up. There aren't any other teams trying to compete with them are there?"

"Hmm, define competition. An Adamantite rank party is training a brother and his platinum cohorts; I believe, were they knowledgeable of experience points, that this would be considered 'power leveling.' They'll be heading out to perform another contract in the area, something about an underground crime ring reported working out of the ruins of Paldos. They can't do anything near real civilization, so they set up shop in places they _think_ we won't search."

Selene huffed. "Should just bulldoze that place right now, I thought Bryn did a number on the buildings already, guess there are some areas still habitable. Ugh… will their team's paths cross? Also, is this the same group that the altercation happened with?"

"It is ma'am. Let's see… the quest for the Orc Destroyers was to escort a trio of priests to determine if a mansion can be cleansed of a 'malicious' presence in tomorrow morning; the main issue was that spirits have apparently taken residence inside and guard the antiquities against being taken out, with a wealthy aristocrat donating quite a sum for the help in regaining family heirlooms and lost history. Mmm, there won't just be two teams either in the area, more like six; most of what they're doing is minor, at least from what we can see. A report of a dire Corby nest was sent in, considered very low threat priority. Dina's team will be clearing it as a secondary objective for extra coin at the edge of our borders."

"I would figure they'd be heading outside our borders, not having to continue doing stuff in any province. That tells me we haven't secured everything just yet," the dev questioned. Most of the territory was sterilized, with next to no chance of undead somehow appearing beyond a necromancer at work or unhappy family members refusing to let go. What did crop up were the unholy monster creations that the last of the demons on the continent would try to get crapped out of a spawner rift. It only took a few security teams to clean up a forest or mine; the problem was they still didn't have a way to close the rifts beyond collapsing the tunnels, or building encasement bunkers around the source surrounded with auto-turrets and minefields.

"Afraid they can't handle themselves?"

"I'd like to keep them from picking a fight with each other. The discourse between adventurers is a great way of later having a city block set on fire and panic due to a violent rivalry in the streets. The last thing the cities need are feuds that damage public property, which I'm sure the adventurers can cause."

"Do you want Dominic to send troops to the area? I believe the 92nd security can provide a few teams. What am I saying? They can probably just go as an entire division," Will asked, smacking his forehead lightly with the palm of his hand on the other side of the com line. There was a very dull metal sound from the impact, his own shields, and plating not keeping his palm away.

The empress cupped her chin for a moment, thinking carefully. There were so many soldiers, both security and military, that there wasn't much of a reason to _not_ send them. "Of course. I want every quest inside our borders cleared. The only direction adventurers have is to go outside the empire. Have payments given out for all groups, we need a restriction on anything inside the nation as it will cause them to stumble into restricted military zones. I don't need one of them stepping on an active spider mine. The Corby nest… eh, low threat, let the Orc Destroyers deal with it this one time." Selene brought her hand up in a facepalm and just shook her head, continuing with a groan. "I swear, I don't know why I keep looking in on that party so much. Is there anything special recorded about Dina? Like, she isn't human or something, a magical girl, or whatever?"

"Nothing we've detected really, a blood test previously documented might reveal some… hmm… interesting… this slipped by doctor review…" Will went silent as the empress brought up a registry of births for all citizens. Most didn't have any sort of paperwork, so it had to be recreated from the ground up with a lineage or gene chart. A surprisingly large number of civilians didn't even know how old they were, just trying to remember how many moons had gone by. Dental records and medical checkups eventually rectified that. What they both were looking at was a peculiar gene sequence noted, something Gabriel had as well. "That… can't be a coincidence."

"I wonder what it's connected to? Gabriel and Dina aren't related, are they?" she asked.

"Negative, there is no relation. This is rare, though it doesn't put them at risk of any disease. We should send this to the ARC for review, they'll want to analyze the data for a full lineage mapping. Morlan has it too… and… Elsei? It could be…"

"What are you thinking?" she questioned him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing too promising, just a theory of my own looking at this. What if that sequence tells someone they are related to a player?" he replied.

Selene stood near the digitized wall and dropped her hands back onto her hips, cocking her head back and furrowing her eyebrows. "That… could explain why I noticed Dina in the guildhall back in Silvinholm instead of walking away… but her level is… well, I mean it _was_ five or six if I remember correctly. Do descendants of players share the same level, or get half of their attributes? That's a whole research branch we need to work out. Hmm, something to think about. We don't have enough intel on children of players given we haven't even had the chance to talk to one that is alive, let alone understand who is related to them here."

"Agreed. It was just a theory, after all, make of it what you will," the chief of staff told her nonchalantly.

"I know. I'll keep that in mind with her, though."

"Understood ma'am. Oh, you've read the new research and construction report, correct?"

"I have. They figured out how to keep new rifts from being created. Well, that's a step in the right direction." The dev rolled her shoulders and cocked her head to the side, feeling a knot in her neck. Her pre-workout exercises weren't extensive enough, it seemed. The report itself was mainly improvements to what she was already getting from tech tiers, fine-tuning them alongside regular R&D to understand the world they were on. Miniaturization, energy efficiency, material usage, reliability, adjustments were being made with a slew of designs and altered schematics. While they already understood how to make a railgun, there were new ways of making it smaller, more powerful, with less waste or heat. One was a single shot creation made of a mixture of wood with iron filings brushed through the barrel and an array of potato batteries. Usage was not advised due to the high chance of the holder being killed at the same time as the target.

Tier magic was now officially nullified with the highest quality resistance film applied to armor. Newer designs of automatons and androids were now being updated, including the more massive mechs and special military units still dormant under the Clockwork Castle. There was a new research facility opened in where Southern California would be on their continent, built entirely for experiments with diseases, gene splicing, and medical in mind. Everything inside would eventually be moved upstairs to a space colony once they were able to build one far enough away from the planet for safety reasons. The space elevator was almost complete, the official start date would be when the winter ball happened, barely at midnight.

"Indeed. This would bring up something else that you might find interesting. Now that we can 'vaccinate the land' so to speak, there have been sightings of demons that are actively attempting to integrate as immigrants into society."

Selene seemed surprised, blinking rapidly as this new information was told to her. "What, wait, how – h-hang on, you're saying… what kinds of demons? I know there are multiple types, obviously. Why weren't they shot on sight?"

"Succubi and incubi, a few imps. No devils it seems, though our research into whether they truly could alter their ways has been fruitless. The reason they weren't killed immediately is that they willingly surrendered. It appears there are outliers in all races that don't act the same way as their brethren. Even without being different, I believe there have been many stories in all written universes that have told of love, or survival, becoming the main reason a creature that normally would be considered evil to alter their ways or seek redemption. They were tested in their responses with **[Truth From Lies]**."

"That… that can't be possible… are they killing anyone or pulling little twisted plans to destroy the empire?"

"The succubi and their male counterparts are usually opening brothels, with the requirement of no soul siphoning allowed; also, they are restricted from causing the patrons leaving to be completely exhausted, or it will cause health issues. Then we come knocking and close down their shops. It's the equivalent of a bar cutting someone off who has had enough. This, in turn, requires large amounts of mana to be crystallized for sustenance to replace souls; in essence, it is acting as an alternative food source… they are voracious eaters if it is not the primary diet they normally subsist on. It also seems to be a wealth of intel due to pillow talk. We might be able to use that."

 _Hiring a succubus lady of the evening to send heads ups on little plans in their cities? Hmm… keep them tracked while also getting things that could slip through the cracks… no, send that intel to Morlan and his fledgling agency._

A thought crossed the dev's mind as she tried to figure out what they'd even eat beyond souls or human flesh. It stood to reason that there would be exotic resources out there that were particular to otherly realm creatures to ingest or absorb. She suddenly snapped her fingers at remembering what someone else was currently using in their mountain fortress. "Holy shit! Mana steel! Can they eat that?!"

"Apparently we, and others, have been creating a supply of fine delicacies for them to buy, provided we put any of it on the market. There is a 'flavor' that is dependent on the vessel that once housed the mana, with potions being potential major sellers with added ingredients. They don't actually eat the material, more of a drain from the item as it becomes inert or damaged; this would warp the metal and make it require a recasting without the imbuement. Even regular foodstuffs have a minuscule amount of mana in it, becoming immediately rotten once siphoned from, though it is highly doubtful they'd buy poor quality edibles that humans would ingest. This brings up the question 'will they absorb the essence from a mana generator used to produce mana steel, or will it be considered bland in flavor?'"

 _The bigger question is, 'if they did siphon from a generator, would they blow up?' Those things are designed for supply in mass manufacturing and farming, not for individual usage. It' be like drinking from a fire hose._

Selene looked up at the ceiling and just blinked, dumbfounded by the prospect. Succubi and incubi, imps, no devils though… they were living in her empire, not harming anyone. It was insane, but there was so much misconstrued in tabletop games about what was allowed and what wasn't. "Their alignment is lawful evil or lower, though. I mean, how are they not trying to subvert anything or cause corruption? If they change alignment, doesn't that make them dissolve or something? I thought the… wait, that was D&D lore that was vague from the beginning… what the hell am I thinking, new world… are they trying to throw old antics out the window? Or do we just not understand the concept of an infernal creature?"

"Alignment we've figured doesn't actually exist here, karma does. We've been using it to discern how a person reacts to most situations, showing in our optics and your Hud akin to their hidden demeanor. A paladin of lawful good could be a giant prick and yet still trying to do the 'right thing.' For the demons, we're unsure how they are managing; however, what we can say is that beyond some annoyance with mortals being at times quite incompetent when they interact with them, i.e., 'stupid sheeple,' they've been rather civil in most regards and following the laws, especially the imps who want to… become lawyers for the judicial system. There is no fact provided that states they cease to be what they are if they decide to become productive members of society instead of the essence of evil. Be advised, this isn't all of them. Quite the contrary, only a tiny fraction of the suspected population that is still running wild, roughly 1% or less, have decided to put down their weapons or claws and started new lives here. You may see, at best, a couple hundred sprinkled throughout the empire of over 13 million, less even. The chances of many even meeting one are slim."

The dev just couldn't believe what she was hearing. A succubus brothel would probably be a very popular place for the working man to visit in a city. Given that prostitution was legal, along with some limited recreational drugs and nonlethal combat sports, there were probably plenty of areas for the infernal races to find a job, more than likely starting new companies with their capabilities. She just couldn't believe that they weren't evil; the fact was there was no hard lock on that rule here. What was allowed and what wasn't had generally been up to Dungeon Masters to decide in their various game campaigns, regardless of if it was D&D or otherwise. "I'd like for them to be kept an eye on, please. Not until they've had a probationary period of – I'd say a few years at least – I think the mortally challenged can ignore the wait time. Are there any other races that suddenly decided to integrate out of nowhere that I haven't been made aware of? I know about the vampire."

"Should they be working towards their green cards? Grey and Felix have the necessary assets to track what they're doing ma'am. As for that last question, the new census report is out due to this."

The empress was wide-eyed. There were Oni that were working as chefs, gnomes opening up repair shops, even a few insectoids with professions as prospectors. The census report continued with rare finds just trying to live. A family of animal folk decided to permanently immigrate up from the Seong Neow Republic, sneaking away to start new lives. They were an extremely small minority compared to humans and even elves. Still, they were there, sifting through Clockwork society and working the 9 – 5… or overnight, for vampires and the succubi. How any of that came to be, she couldn't figure, given that she believed the insectoids should have been looking for a hive to incorporate into or starting their own. The vampire had to be drinking blood from something living. At least she knew they could provide the required nourishment from the trees. That made her wonder if a new market for exotic foods would start to build up, selling crystallized mana or other specialty foods for their dietary needs.

 _What's next? Undead accountants? Goblin bankers? Orc rock stars? That last one might become a thing if we found a tribe that didn't want to be man-eaters. "Hey Grog, how are the orc kids?" "They're doing fine, Bob, going to see the doctor about your bones?" I… I just… my brain… I never expected this! Elves, sure, dwarves, fine, gnomes… yeah, whatever. Vampires, demons, and… what is this… A FUCKING MEDUSA?! HOW IS SHE NOT PETRIFYING PEOPLE?! CAN SHE CONTROL IT?!_

There was a long list of experience and qualifications each had in their quazi-resumes, some of it gruesome, other parts not so much. Details were explained carefully as to their capability and understanding of what was required of them to fit into society. The medusa could, in fact, control her petrification, which defied everything Selene thought was possible. The snake hair was probably going to terrify people still until they got used to it. She _also_ had a sister who did not have the snakes, causing confusion as to how their anatomy worked; the medusa even knew of one that had flames for hair.

The vampiress had an eidetic memory as well as a profound understanding of cardiology… for obvious reasons. That made her wonder if anyone would go to see a vampire doctor, provided she was well fed. For all Selene knew, the woman could easily pick out heart conditions on the fly, just like a good mechanic for a car. The files on the new immigrants all had their alignment register something in between chaotic neutral all the way up to lawful good. One imp was lawful evil, but his view of how to act seemed much higher. In his belief, greed was helpful only when those who needed his assistance were indebted to him, so he would donate funds gained and time to the community in hopes that the town or city he lived in would owe him. It shouldn't have been possible, at least she thought that was the case. Karma ratings were all over the place, even for the ones who were trying to be somewhat decent.

 _Something changed them after being stuck here, cut off from their plane. I would assume if found out, the outliers would be killed for being too weak in a place other than here. Must play havoc with their mental faculties, unless most of them are 'young' by their standards._

"Where did they come from? Is there an origin for most of them, like mountain ranges we haven't fully mapped or villages we missed?"

"A healthy chunk of them are from mountain ranges or the small regions of the Underdark that we've added into the empire. Most of them are curious about how our nation is developing and improving, providing better living conditions to the ones they had. Regardless of any race, one could surmise that quality of livelihood outweighs racial loyalty, and in many cases, overcomes old hatreds. If they prosper by living next to humans day in and day out, without fear of racism or classism that would go unpunished, and proper nutrition without having to do battle for it, then why should they stay hidden away plotting an attack that will ultimately fail? They must be thinking if they can't beat us, join us."

"The problem with that is the humans have proven that they are very much capable of being racist assholes even if the other side is willing to cooperate. Very intolerant, imbecilic assholes. A few outliers aren't going to change that," Selene mumbled out.

 _Earth is proof of that. There were just humans there, and just because of the color of your skin, you were considered lower on the totem pole. No wonder species everywhere pick fights with each other._

"We're allowing them to join, correct? Ma'am?" Will asked.

Selene just facepalmed and shook her head. It was an opportunity to prove humans, and other races can live side by side without any issues; even outsiders were accepted, literal outsider races, if only just a few rare like-minded individuals. If she turned them away, it would just prove that race had too much control over who could be friends with whom. The dragons were an excellent example to this, along with some stories she had read for research that told of lawful good demons, evil angels, and even some undead that just wanted to be left alone. There didn't need to be one alignment stuck for each race, it was just what they tended towards, not what they needed to be always. Besides, she knew that alignment could change depending on how one acted. "Yeah… assuming they don't start anything, yes, they can join. The empire is turning into a bizarre melting pot."

 _Less D &D and more Shadowrun. I can't believe I remember that tabletop even after all those iterations it's gone through over a century and a half. I think it's up to what, 56th edition?_

"Understood ma'am. There are over one hundred requests from some of these new faces to even join the academy."

"Oooh, Skuld is going to deal with that, not me. I'm not touching that with a ten-meter pole," she responded, throwing her hands in the air. She blew air out of her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment. As long they didn't start anything and were productive citizens, there wouldn't be a problem. "Anything else?"

"I had a question, two questions, in fact. The first involves the ex-nobles. You aren't looking forward to this ball, are you?"

"I'm not. I've read up on what they're doing. The younger up and comers are enjoying the empire and working hard to follow the laws. Sadly, they aren't the main chunk I need to deal with. A few of the older generation are genuinely decent people, but they're few and far between. The rest are… well, let's just say I could do without them being here."

"We could eliminate them for you quietly, ma'am."

"I know, I'm just trying to keep from ending lives without some proper reasons. Killing someone just because they annoy me isn't the proper response, it means I can't control myself. If they've gone too far, eh. Then it turns into either death to just get rid of the problem or Limbo Vats for ARC. Frankly, we haven't seen them do anything that would cause me to choose either sentence. Our judges haven't had any of the aristocracy, at least the families themselves and not their children, get into a situation that requires they be sent to jail."

Will raised an eyebrow. "You are actually considering the Limbo Vats they've created? Is this the same empress that created me?"

The dev smirked. "Hah hah, funny. Yes, I'm interested in the usage of those. For the violent hardened criminals, they already are sent over for Nikola and Robert to test on. They can't be rehabilitated anyway, too stuck in their thinking or aggressive tendencies. Why waste their minds in death these days with those around. It makes execution all but pointless now beyond not taking prisoners in a war. Of course, it technically does lock them in a personal hell… fair game honestly with what they've done to others. I'm seeing the usage as a way to learn to counter those crimes before they are committed. Why waste perfectly good brains we can model training off of?"

"I'm impressed."

Selene pursed her lips and waggled a finger at the screen. "Don't think I've changed completely. I just understand now that there are necessary evils I need to partake in to keep the place going and the lights on. I don't consider the people just toys to play with, that's why I haven't just outright blown the aristocracy to pieces and forced all of them to be loyal or die. You know, I remember Orlo once quoting Machiavelli to me, about it being better to be feared than loved if you can't have both."

"Do you believe so, ma'am?"

"I'm getting an idea of what he was telling me. I can't just be nice and friendly, handing out money for sponsorships or helping everyone with their problems. Sometimes I'm going to need to kick people around to drag the empire into the next era. I'm just still a little hesitant with doing that just yet, at least inside my borders. There's a set of stairs I'm going to need to walk up soon just to get things going, I just don't know what. I would like to have both love and fear if possible, the best of both worlds. That might not work out, but I'll try all the same."

The empress's chief of staff received a small paper report sent in, the thing written up by Mayor Alfred from Silvinholm. It had passed through the hands of the auto governor of the province, giving a heads up of the repair of all trade routes and the economy now coming back. It also informed him that most of the mayors from neighboring provinces were going to be traveling with him to Aureos to stand with the empress if she gives a speech. "That brings up the next question."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Involving the next era… have you had a chance to speak with Grey about a plan he's concocted with Nikola and Robert? I caught the short end, cut them off, and told them to bring everything up personally with you during the ball. It's… well, it could revolutionize how to get everything running quickly into rapid advances."

The dev furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I can't say honestly, as I didn't listen to the entire explanation. I wanted to hear it alongside you so that I didn't spoil anything. It's just an idea they have."

"If it is about how to move into the future, the education level of the people isn't up to par yet. By the last report, only 20% of the population has an elementary education right now, with less than half that any higher. It's expected to grow by double within a year, slowly tapering off. Within a decade, the entire population will have at least an elementary degree, possibly up to a high school degree if we play our cards right."

"Which brings up what Grey has developed. I don't necessarily understand what they have created, but you should have a sit down with them. I'll join, obviously, as will the rest of your cabinet."

Selene stood there for a moment, blinking, running through what he just said as her eyes darted around the room. "He – wait, he didn't bring this up yet, this plan?"

"If you don't approve it, then the whole thing is canned. They haven't done anything just yet, at least directly. Nikola and Robert have been developing more than just ways to protect the empire, these are personal projects they want to bring up."

"Well, hell, I knew that. They bring them up all the time, though I'm starting to look into their previous ideas again. Look, we've had this discussion before, about the cultural shock of giving too much too fast. Their brains wouldn't be able to handle it, with their understanding of math or… anything really. Most don't even know about other lands outside ours; I doubt they'd even be able to conceive of other planets, let alone of galaxies."

"The picture we're getting from reports is that the people want to desperately forget the culture of Artinia or the old medieval setting. Most of what was remembered does not bring fond memories for most. The fashion has all but been erased within a matter of months, with everyone desperately embracing what we've brought. They're learning, you have to give them a chance to show what they can do."

"I know, I know. Ugh, food for thought, my main issue was that cultures evolve over centuries for most countries, creating their music and art styles, home designs and the like. People see that uniqueness and connect it with the empire. But I guess if most of what they had is turned to ash, brings bad memories and wants to be forgotten… I'll take a look. Another problem is Tal Salunbal would be left in the dust, could destroy their economy if we don't really need anything from them."

"Or, it could help Sultan Gazi to reach the stars faster, his dream. Could nudge them in the right direction, build a close friendship with the neighbor, eventually integrate them just like King Weren and Queen Ynshael. They control their nations under your rule. Gazi would simply be another royal listening to you. They could, along with Gold Pine and the west coast, become tech powerhouses. Gazi could become the representative of the humans."

"And the dwarves?"

"We can all get these off our chests during a meeting later, these are just suggestions for how to go forward, ma'am."

"And I'm listening. That's what you all are for, obviously. I surround myself with smarter people so I can fix all this. Well, if we're having another meeting after the ball, we can rework some more of our plans of action… again…" Selene replied, scratching at her hair.

"Won't that be after 10? Won't you be tired?" Will questioned. She could easily use **[Greater Rejuvenate]** to keep awake and go to bed early morning, but he didn't want to push.

"If it gives me some new ways to focus where we're going, I'm willing. The ball shouldn't stress me out too much. Start of a new year, we've been around for about 3 months, I've been on this planet for I think six, and I have no idea where my goals are now that we are a sleeping superpower. So far, everything we've set out to do right now has been met, but I feel like it's a slow start that'll eventually stagnate. Touching base with everyone while we wait for those three fleets to make landfall, then scheduling a meeting with the emperor of the Seong Neow Republic, and –"

"They don't want to speak to us, ma'am."

Selene paused mid-sentence, wondering what that meant, her mouth agape as she blinked rapidly. "Gala sent an ambassador already? Oh, right, the report was… wait, they don't want anything to do with us?"

"None, not one single thing. Apparently, the ambassador insulted them with opening borders for commerce, didn't follow proper customs… it was a gynoid, they don't feel that a woman can speak on behalf of men in their positions."

"I don't have that kind of plumbing. I'm not about to have a gene splice and genital mutilation just so they take me seriously."

"Gender inequality is still a thing for feudal Japan, on which the Seong Neow Republic is based. Back on track, the people want open borders for trade, but the government rules with an iron fist and bass ackward laws to punish those who leave the nation. They do so anyways now, sneaking away where possible. Some get caught, execution is… well, it's a thing for 'shamefully abandoning the country' so to speak. The people may be the government; the government is not the people."

The empress facepalmed. "That sounds more like North Korea than Japan. They must have a mixture of all the Far East. Just… whatever, fine, we aren't dealing with them then. They don't speak to the ambassador, I'm not going to fly out there and waste my time. They aren't my problem until they decide to become one, we're not here to bring democracy to the world like the U.S. wanted to. However, if their people come over our borders, they start something here we end it, got it? I'm more than willing to clean their clock just like with the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe."

"Dominic is way ahead of you on that, ma'am. By the way, we did find other tribes of orcs living on the island grouping we consider Hawaii. They live with pig men… initial meetings are completely different from the Grand Tribe."

"Hawaiian culture?"

"Samoan for part of it. They don't really care about meeting you, but they're willing if you decide to show up."

"Pretty easy going, I take it?"

"Very much so, but just don't try to piss them off. Artinia was fended off in a few books, on multiple occasions. Their isolation from everyone else has made them pretty good at water hedge magic, which they're surrounded by obviously."

"Good to know. Might be a time to talk shop with them later." Selene brought up pictures of the tanned creatures covered in tattoos smiling at an automaton drone walking on the beach. A subtitle was added with the phrase 'hey brudda, you ere for da coconuts or da fish?'

"Just remember, they are pig men, which means don't make any jokes about bacon."

Selene felt awkward at hearing that. There was at least one other reason why they were laid back.

 _ **Early Morning, 5th, January**_

Miyuki woke up to see Luko sharpening her katana carefully, cleaning and oiling the blade. It was a specially created sword made with the capability to launch foxfire with each swing. She didn't need to be within melee range to hit someone trying to jump back, usually catching the attacker off guard. It was also anointed with a hardness enchant, to lower the need for maintenance. To top it off, it could naturally be set on fire with no oils, merely using a small striker attached to the tsuba. The princess's ears rotated and flicked as she came out of her groggy state, wondering why the guard was so calm. "Is it my time to keep watch again?" the young teenager asked.

"Not yet, and honestly, the sun will be up in a few hours anyway. We're close," the wolf woman replied, wiping off all liquids from the katana and sheathing it. Her next weapon was her wakizashi, somewhat ignored for the past few days. She had to abandon her Nodachi at the palace, along with the bow due to carrying constraints, both much more preferred weapons for the open fields ahead of them.

"That's good to hear. We might finally be free to relax for once."

The wolf woman looked up at her from her blades. "Don't get your hopes up, we still need to get jobs to pay the bills, blend in where we can, and even before all that… unload the caravan. We're still labor last time I checked."

Miyuki's ears flattened as her mouth became a thin frown. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Luko chuckled at that. She'd have to get used to supporting them both with what was needed to survive in her new life unless, of course, she wanted to go back to being pampered in the palace… and married off against her will, having no say in anything happening to herself. "What do you think it'll be like? I'm… I'm a little afraid and… also a little excited."

"Who knows? A different society from ours. The caravan leader says that racism isn't allowed in the empire, at least public displays of it that is. He told me that it's only 3 to 5 Ri more to the border, with a few friends he made with some shops they've bought and sold goods to. They might be able to point us in a good direction, somewhere that –" Luko paused mid-sentence and looked around, her ears twisting like radar. It was quiet outside, being quite peaceful… too peaceful. No sounds of birds slowly waking up nearby, no slight shift of rodents scurrying in the tall grass.

"What's wrong? What do you hear?" Miyuki asked as she tried to listen to whatever it was that alarmed her protector. Her ears were far better than any human, but she wasn't used to the signs she needed to look for that something was wrong. The samurai got up slowly only to push Miyuki low to the ground and popped the katana with her thumb against the tsuba. The design of the handguard looked like a rising phoenix surrounded in flame and curving to the top. As she pulled her weapon out carefully while looking around, the caravan leader walked out of his tent while rubbing his eyes, a large orangutan humanoid of a man just waking up to relieve himself.

"Ah, you two are awake. Good. We're almost there, shouldn't be long before we pack up and –" that was all he could get out before an arrow slammed into his shoulder and sent him reeling back into the tent. He yelled out in pain as his wife screamed, a firebomb used on the canvas as others rushed out of their small portable abodes to figure out what was happening.

"We're under attack! Bandi- argh!" was heard by one of the drivers before he too was struck down by an attack in the darkness, his adult son rushing to help his mother and instead receiving a blade to his chest.

"Assassins. We need to run!" Luko snapped at her charge.

"Run?! What about the others?" Miyuki asked as her hand was grabbed and jolted upright as her arm became taut, struggling to keep up with her protector as they just shot towards the north as fast as they could. The young teenager looked back at the camp, seeing the destruction of the killers trying to catch them all and end their lives. It was to make sure there were no witnesses to the princess being this far away from the Jade Palace. Luko had already theorized it was to somehow bait the emperor out of the safety of the palace if there was no knowledge of where his daughter had gone… or whether she was even alive.

The wolf woman went full sprint forward, dragging her charge with her the entire way, her lamellar armor barely heard as they dodged through the destruction and ran for the border. They dropped to a shallow river without realizing it, wading through the cold water and forgetting about the bridge that was still somewhere west of their position. Once to the other side and a few hundred feet more, Miyuki pulled away and dropped to the ground, taking deep gasps of air and trying to recuperate from their frantic run. Both of them were soaked, with a small cast of a minor spell to dry their bodies. "We left them…" the princess said in sadness, commenting on the fact that those people were going to not only get them to this new empire but also give a little help in settling in. They abandoned them.

"We would have been next in line for our deaths if we tried to help. Come on, we have just a little bit more to go." Luko put out her hand and wiggled it a bit, motioning for Miyuki to grab on and continue. They heard sloshing sounds behind them, multiple pairs of legs heading through the water, with one of them falling at one point. "We need to go… now!" the teenager grabbed her hand and stumbled back to her feet quickly, her kimono torn and damaged near her legs, the cloaks forgotten back at the camp and most likely incinerated. They could hear the footsteps closing on them from behind, with the girl not quite capable of moving at the same speed that her adult friend could. The kimono tripped her at that moment, dropping the princess to the ground and causing a small bruise on her cheek. That gave the assassins all the time they needed to catch up, surrounding the two of them.

Luko skidded to a halt and prepared for a battle, growling at the attackers with bared teeth, mostly looking the same as any human. Every murderer in a circle around them wore a black mask, their own weapons ready to engage. One leapt at her, was sidestepped quickly, and received a slice across his stomach that melted through the armor, only to continue into another trying to catch her unaware. The samurai wasn't a royal protector for nothing, clearly showing it would take a combined effort of at least ten to stop her with two of their brethren dead on the ground. They rushed forward, receiving a frenzied defense, trying to keep them away from the princess and cutting the tips off of spears trying to keep range. She was doing well, getting a few cuts and gashes in that set on fire the outfits they were wearing and lighting up the area as they struggled to put the flames out. A whirlwind spin to send a wave of fire to get some breathing room allowed the woman to fall back for a moment. She felt almost honored that they sent at least one hundred just to take her on, with possibly more she couldn't see.

One of the assassins finally got the upper hand and knocked the guardian to the ground, with another turning around and heading back to the still prone teenager. "Luko!" Miyuki screamed as the woman blocked a dagger with her blade slowly being pushed down towards her throat with gritted teeth, the poisoned weapon starting to heat up in the attacker's hand. Just as the friend of the one who had the girl's protector pinned came towards her with a wakizashi, an armor-piercing arrow slammed into his head, immediately causing the man to crumple to the ground. In the distance, a woman was holding a bow, a hawk launching from her shoulder with some friends charging forward.

Another assassin tried to attack a female pink-haired paladin, who wasn't having any of it. Her sledgehammer caught him mid-swing and launched him through the air, cartwheeling across the river with incredible strength. They had a rogue in their group, and they weren't running alone. A second team was with them, a dark elf blade dancer and half-orc berserker among their number. A second paladin defended against four different assaults, looming over Luko to keep the murderers from finishing the wolf woman off with a kite shield.

"Marv! More coming over the river!" Miyuki heard the ranger shout as she notched another arrow. The second team didn't have a wizard, instead having a reasonably strong battle priest with them. Multiple flashes of searing fire blasted from his small mace, knocking enemies off their feet and causing their clothes to burst into flame. He was also providing multiple buffs in tandem with Marv, bolstering both groups and drastically improving their odds.

"I got them! Handle what's here so far!" a robed man in the back yelled back as he cast a spell to freeze the water temporarily, locking many of the reinforcements in place or incapable of crossing.

"How many do you see?" the second paladin, a man with a mustache, requested as he blocked a crossbow bolt aimed at Piper. The shield held surprisingly, with the bolt bouncing off and creating a small dent. A bright flash was barely seen on the receiving side, acting as a miniature flashbang.

"Still over fifty. Can we really do this?" Dina replied. "Tyran? Can we do this?"

"You're the one who wanted to help! We just joined in because it was the right thing to do! And yes, We can!" the paladin shouted back as he slammed his shield into two assassins, breaking the jaw of one while bringing down his war hammer on the other to finish them off. A gold-ranked adventurer party backed up by a mithril-rank group had come to their aid. Miyuki couldn't have been happier. Tyran wiped away some blood from his mustache and spat, mumbling something about the taste. A minor cleansing wave erupted from him as he cast a **[Aura of Purity]** to remove any poisons that could affect them. That sadly also removed the ointment from Dylan's daggers.

"Well… crap…" the rogue mumbled out as he resorted to rogue 101, lots of stabbing. "Marv! can't you just blow them up or something?!"

"You expect me to do that on a whim?!" his teammate replied.

"Yes! I expect you to do that on a whim! You're a wizard, aren't you?! You just froze part of a river! Turn them into goop or something!"

"It's not that simple!"

"It's never simple with you!"

"Moooooooore staaaaaaaabbings!"

"Can't you just erect a wall of stone?"

"I can't hear you over all the idiots I've set on fire! Literally!"

Luko managed to get back up with some help from the male paladin, jumping into the fight as well. The numbers continued to come to push them back, forcing their hands. The royal protector unleashed the full power of her sword, carving through four in one swing and turning their bodies into infernos launched back towards their colleagues in a hail of burning viscera and bone. Dylan slit the throat of another, cut the hamstring of third, and threw a knife into the forehead of a fourth heading towards Dina. "All this for two people? What the hell did they do to cause this? And where the hell is the border patrol we've heard rumors of?"

"Probably on the other side of the border, duh! We're standing on it!" Marv shouted out as he cast a fireball at two assailants. Five somehow managed to daisy chain over the ice on the river, crossing the ice and heading directly for Miyuki. "Heads up! Cut those bastards off!" the caster of the Orc Destroyers was immediately occupied with another assassin, bringing up his quarterstaff to block an attack and hold the line, while others defended the young teenager by herself.

"Are we still in the empire?" the half-orc berserker, Nirgorn, asked.

"Technically? Yes, barely" Tyran informed him.

Dina notched an arrow and aimed, but it was clear something was happening to her as she tried to make sure not to hit the kitsune just trying to keep her head down, the princess covering her head and closing her eyes as she had never been in a real battle. If her aim was off, the arrow would hit the girl, and that would be the end of it. She focused everything she had into making sure to hit the lead attacker, with the energy she wasn't noticing coursing into the projectile about to be unleashed towards them. She felt light-headed, her hands starting to give out as the arrow flew, firing off like a railgun and suddenly disappearing. The bow that fired it shattered from the immense energy that it couldn't contain, the force projected through it from its user. Time seemed to slow down for that last second as a blade was coming down towards the girl before the unthinkable happened.

Multiple massive explosions slammed into the ground around the assassins, with unknown bolts raining from the sky with enough kinetic force to cause tremors after their impact. Anything caught by the rounds was blown to pieces. It was like rain from a god coming down to punish those who would dare attack the girl, long rods of metal using gravity to become deadly weapons. All of that from one arrow. Marv's eyes flew open wide, never seeing an archer do that much damage with a single strike. "Holy shit…" he mumbled. Some spells could cause mass destruction, one was even known by him, but he'd never believed Dina was able to come close to that. He also understood that she wasn't anywhere near as powerful as some of the deadliest wizards. He was sure of it because he wasn't anywhere near them, and he knew how scary they could be.

Unfortunately, the ranger was spent after just that last shot, keeling over unconscious from whatever she just did. "Dina!" Dylan yelled out and raced to catch her before her head hit the ground. The concussive blast around one explosion slapped the princess into the dirt and knocked the wind out of her. Well over forty assailants were obliterated nearby, however. "Wake her up!" he shouted to the battle priest.

"Don't know how! She's spent!"

"You don't have a blessing or something like that to wake her up?!"

"Not something that normally is taught in my faith!"

"Then what is?!"

"This!" the priest repeatedly beat an assassin over the head with his mace, bashing his brains out onto the ground. He then caused a wave of concussive force to ripple from his body, knocking multiple assailants onto the ground. He promptly finished the combination with a second spell that caused golden chains to erupt from the ground and wrap around the bodies, most of which snapped the necks of the killers.

"Hell! It works!" Marv replied in the distance as he knocked away the sword from an attacker and blasted him back with a rock barrage.

"What the hell kind of god do you worship?!" Dylan snapped in disbelief.

"The god of justice!" the priest yelled out, pinning another ninja. "You. Will. Repent!" He finished caving in the skull of a prone assassin, looked up at everyone and realized he was covered in blood. "Not a bad day's work."

 _ **(Recommended Song: Epic Score – Vengeance)**_

The rest of the adventurers were starting to be surrounded by the remainder, even if they had the upper hand. Luko backed up and bumped into Tyran, with the paladin taking a more defensive stance. The dark elf blade dancer bounced from one assassin to the next, passing Dylan in the process and taking the head of a nearby target with her as she continued on, a shadow becoming physical through the hundred or so enemies before them. The half-orc, Nirgorn, swung a massive bat that caught three of the ninjas in the arc and threw them down the side of the river skidding across the breaking ice. There was a new problem now, as the leader seemed to mumble something in a shadowy mixed language, causing all of his remaining forces to start multiplying with shadow copies of themselves. "Alright… do we have a plan for _this_ now?" Marv questioned Tyran. The paladin just looked at Piper, who typically was in a good mood. Her mouth had a grimace on it, worried that they had bit off more than they could chew.

That was when a thunderous crack was heard, then another, and another, with a disruptive explosive tossed into the middle of the attackers causing the shadows to disperse in a puff of smoke. The assassins were being picked off, their heads exploding from _something_ firing at very long range, well beyond a catapult or trebuchet. Miyuki had no idea of any weapon that could do that, yet someone was firing them and getting closer… or were already there. One assassin was pulled into the weeds, a sickening sound of a neck cracking afterward. That was when a noise that none of the killers wanted to hear came, something they didn't understand was attached to a potent flying monster.

A silver dragon was out for a quick morning sweep across the skies and noticed the commotion, believing it could help out the adventurers of the Clockwork Empire. A wave of frozen breath washed across the area the assassins were standing on, turning the field into so many art sculptures. The rest immediately cut and ran as the dragon turned overhead, coming around for a second run. There was absolutely no chance of fighting against anyone with that capability, let alone the security team popping out of the weeds in ghillie suits, yellow optics barely seen underneath. The flying citizen was given a signal from down below to stop its assault and head back to its home, which the giant creature complied with.

The princess raised her head and saw that they hadn't been surrounded once, but twice now, with these unknown soldiers just tracking their movement, no other sound coming from the environment. They hadn't interfered at the beginning due to not yet understanding who was the one at fault, Luko and Miyuki, or the ones coming after them. Their assessment was of potential criminals escaping, not of people running to get away from an assassination attempt. For all she knew, they had been there _the whole time_. "Who are you?" Luko asked, pushing the teenager behind her with one hand while her katana was held out with the other. Both of their eyes shot to the sky as a bright light shown down from above, then two, as a pair of drones tracked their movements.

 _By the gods, the assassins never stood a chance…_

The armor they wore was nothing like the royal protector had ever seen, and they clearly weren't living creatures in any books she had read. Not once was she able to hear them, which was astonishing just how frightening that was to her. They were ghosts. "Customs and immigration are further down the road. If you want to enter The Clockwork Empire, you need to do it the right way, ladies," she heard come from the much larger form leading the team. A massive square shield was strapped to its shoulder like a pauldron, with small bricks attached to the outside of it meant as reactive armor. "As for both adventurer teams, your assistance is appreciated, but not required. Please move along."

"Where the hell were all of you? If we didn't intervene, they'd be dead!" Dylan snapped.

"We were closely monitoring the situation, sir. No harm would have come to them," the commander responded.

"Like hell you were…" the rogue grumbled out as he helped pick up the unconscious ranger. He didn't know if they were telling the truth, with the possibility they would have started fighting right when Dina had fired the first arrow.

"We… uh… I…" Miyuki had no idea what to say, stumbling over her words. This wasn't their main military. That thought had now occurred to them.

"We are requesting asylum within your empire," Luko interrupted as she slowly lowered her blade. The soldiers looked at each other for a moment, not once speaking before a much larger flying form arrived, aiming a spotlight down at their position and coming down with a ramp door slowly opening at the back.

"Reason for requesting it?" the leader asked.

"There are those who would want our deaths within our country."

"Are you criminals escaping? We will return you to your local law enforcement if that is the case."

"We're simple travelers, just trying to get to our caravan." The commander looked at the rest of his team.

"There hasn't been a caravan detected in three days at this section of the border, lady. We should warn you, we can detect if you are lying and consider that suspicious." The bodyguard made to speak again, but no words came out. There was nothing she could say that wouldn't sound off without giving the truth.

Her charge stepped forward and put her robed hands out in front of her friend in a T pose. "My name is Princess Miyuki Shizunagi of the Seong Neow Republic. I come to your country to escape enslavement," the teenager shouted out, making Luko glare at her. The girl flicked her tails out of the hole in her kimono.

"What are you doing?! What happened to keeping your identity hidden?!" the woman snapped at her through gritted teeth. It was an insane move to pull, as they still didn't know if they could trust the military here. "We could have just kept our mouths shut!"

"We were already attacked! They know if we are lying! This could speed the process up! We –"

"Checking with SECCOM of this province. We have a confirmed acknowledgment from higher administration, it's been raised to the top. You two are coming with us," the medium fireteam leader informed. "Correction… standby… adventurer teams, you are also requested to come with us."

"What? We didn't do anything wrong. We just helped, and we're being arrested?" Marv questioned.

"Not arrested. Your presence is requested directly by the empress." The caster looked at Dylan and blinked, then at Piper.

"Weren't we hoping to get an invitation somehow to the ball?" Tyran chuckled out, looking at the rest of his team. "I guess grouping up with of all of you has helped in that regard."

 _ **Four Hours Later**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Two Steps From Hell – Eria)**_

Eve ran down one hallway to the next, zipping between maids at the White Palace with Tariq following her, eventually being dodged by Jeeves as he spun around and walked backward while keeping an eye on them. Even though the old Artinian mansion was technically the fourth home and not quite as robust in amenities as the Clockwork Castle… or the airships… or the cottage inside the pocket dimension now built into a large house… there were portable systems added in and drilled through walls to provide a somewhat enjoyable stay. Wiring was added for the light fixtures with smart fiber wallpaper, along with mobile generators installed in each room. Cameras were added, with adaptive metal detectors at the doors and an electronic security suite placed in a spare room.

The doors had fingerprint readers on the handles and chip readers, only allowing the visitors for the night to go where they were supposed to go and staying away from where they weren't. The maids, at least the human ones, were coded in for areas that were further away from the ball so as to put less stress on catering. Once they got their first glimpse of an auto maid arriving and taking care of one room by herself in a few minutes, they thought they would be out of a job that night. Thankfully, they were relieved to hear that would not be the case, with Duncan actually standing up for them and… groveling. The empress was perfectly fine with it, even being asked at the end to increase their wages a small bit. They had to go through extensive training to maintain the palace.

What they received was a full package deal, room and board given, with some of the quarters commonly used by VIPs and instead converted into private lodging for the help. The auto maids certainly didn't need any of that, even finally giving the women a chance to have days off to relax every week. To top that off, their pay was doubled at the cost of increased responsibilities and holding themselves to a high professional demeanor in the presence of the nation's ruler and dignitaries. They were expected to always work in two maid teams for duties to speed the process up and keep everything running smoothly while the empress wasn't there. Some of them nearly cried tears of joy at getting far more than they expected. This provided a more personal experience for visiting dignitaries instead of a clinical stay.

The whole place would be stripped down and demolished later, worrying Duncan. What calmed him down was the acknowledgment that a new palace would be built in its place with a few days. This plan wasn't going to happen for at least a month or two.

As Eve dipped around a corner in shorts and a cat T-shirt, with Dahlia quietly following the entire way, Tariq finally caught up as they entered the main ballroom with quite a few walls demolished to expand the size of it to Duncan's dismay. A mural on one of the panels was torn down, showing a great battle from ancient history of how Artinia had come to be, no longer cared about as they altered storage rooms surrounding the central area into more dancing space and seating. Portable tables were erected and covered in fine cloth, doilies were placed with fine china and crystal glasses, the chandeliers were replaced with newer LED systems that could be programmed with ambient settings and even rotate.

The food wasn't out yet, with a wide assortment for most palates to enjoy being concocted in the kitchen, all of it with new high-end equipment that had the human maids in awe. There were even allergen-free meals being cooked, with no giant cauldron sitting on a fire or meat hanging on hooks freshly brought in. Refrigerators were installed, with vegetables from all over with herbs and spices arrayed on the countertops. It was an assembly line, with not just hundreds of delectable dishes, but enough to feed thousands beyond those invited. Spare food was going to be given to anyone still considered poor outside the palace walls. It was not considered alms as most expected, as the standard way of providing the food was the remainder of a dish or table scraps with a trencher. The people were able to enjoy full meals equal to the aristocracy, though without the fine china. This was unheard of, with compostable utensils, cups, and plates.

The young princess shot through another door on the other side as an auto maid deftly moved out of the way, eventually heading down another hallway that led to a staircase leading to the second floor, and finally to her mother's bedroom. It was remodeled as best they could with new furniture added, insulation injected into the walls and paneling layered on. Selene sat in a chair in front of a multi-panel mirror with Adesha and another battle maid, Emerae Orange putting her makeup on. Every time Emerae circled around her creator, her spiral pigtails dangled and bounced from the sides of her head, a bright and peppy attitude with a smile. That smile would follow her into any battle that might include her, potentially telling the enemy that she reveled in combat, even considered malicious as she'd dismember a foe.

Eve's mother opened her eyes after her mascara was added with a spray pen, blinking twice as the little girl ran to her side with Tariq waiting at the door with Dahlia as Emerae worked on her dark red auburn hair. "Hey there, munchkin, how'd your exploration of the palace go?" her mother asked as her daughter climbed onto her fluffy lap, a dark purple robe wrapped around the woman's body.

"What's that big door downstairs?" the white-haired girl questioned.

"Ah… that's… um… you don't need to worry about that. It's pretty boring down there with nothing to really see."

"Okay."

 _Nothing except a goddess that I haven't yet met and don't know how she even acts._

"Mommy?" Eve asked.

"What's up?"

"How long are we staying here?"

"Two days. Why? You don't like it here?"

"Aren't we going back to the big ship in the sky?"

Selene gently poked the tip of her daughter's nose, making her giggle. "Very astute. We'll be sleeping there, yes. I just don't feel the need to rest in this home right now with so many guests arriving."

"But… why are you putting that stuff on your face down here?" Eve asked as she cocked her small head, the black hairband with two floppy bows on the sides keeping her long white mane from falling over her shoulders much.

"Because I was wearing ordinary clothes before all of this and needed to speak with Tariq's father about things between our nations. Mommy has some things to do before the ball even happens. How are you getting along with him, by the way?" her mother responded. While his son kept Eve company during the day, traveling with them to the White Palace for the festivities and getting the chance to be a kid instead of a prince, Gazi sat around with Donovan and the empress dressed in simple boring clothes alongside Aldemir. It felt almost refreshing to not be studied as royalty and, instead, sitting around in comfortable attire with the dev in sweats. The sultan was good-natured in many ways and quite easy-going outside his own borders. He could finally introduce his wife, arriving just out of a cold front on the ocean. She had a minor illness, which was quickly cleansed by an accompanying sorcerer, acting a bit like her husband. Very few guards were needed, trusting in the empress to honor and protect a VIP and his family from another land.

"He's nice, but really… um… what's the word…" the young girl spoke, trailing off as she didn't have a very expansive vocabulary just yet.

"Formal?" Her daughter nodded quickly. "That's just how he has been brought up. You were both able to play, at least, right?" Again, another nod. "Good."

"Why do I have to wear those clothes tonight?" Eve asked. Her dress was going to be a powder blue with frills at the shoulder straps and reaching below her knees, with black strap shoes. There would be bows in her hair to accentuate her white hair. She was recently taught how to curtsey when introduced to someone, with Melsia providing in-depth instruction alongside Dahlia on how to act like a proper little lady in front of others, at least to a limited extent. She didn't have to act like that all the time, just when dignitaries arrived and saw her. If she didn't understand or know how to act, Eve could simply stay quiet and let Dahlia or her mother speak for her. When she felt uncomfortable, her instructor would have whoever tried to talk to the girl change the subject… or else.

"Because sometimes you wear special clothes for special occasions like tonight."

"Do I have to wear them all the time?"

Selene cocked her head in confusion. "No, not at all. It doesn't fit right or something? What's wrong?" she said, eyeing her daughter and worrying that Jeeves hadn't appropriately measured. Everything that the dev wore felt as if it was the most comfortable ever created.

"No, it's just… I like the shoes I'm wearing now. Those make more noise on the floor. They, um, slip too. I don't like them."

The dev giggled and poked the girl's stomach gently, eliciting a laugh from the child's mouth. "It's because the floor here isn't like the floor back at the castle. Just bear with it for tonight, and you can wear your sneakers again later. I'll check with Jeeves to get some rubber stick-ons sprayed on, so you don't need to worry."

"Okay. Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"You look really pretty."

"Thank you, sweetie. Now, run along for a few more minutes, we're almost finished. I'll come to find you, and we play for a little bit before the ball." The empress felt perfectly fine with allowing Eve to be out of her eyesight with the exorbitant amount of security in the area. The perimeter defense, as well as internal escorts, were everywhere, with hidden turret emplacements ready to pop out if an alarm was activated, emergency caches, and most windows locked. Four security were at every door, two on each side of them. Evacuation plans were in place alongside new interactive maps meant for those who didn't quite have a higher education, telling a person 'you are here' at the arrow and providing directions to restrooms vocally. Despite trying to show she was calm and relaxed, the dev was anything but that.

Most of what she was feeling was annoyance that she was going through a formal act like this, inviting people she didn't really know or connect with in any regard. Unlike Earth, there was no need to have a party of this caliber; there was no reason to socially network with many of the aristocracy, even if half of them were entirely on board with her laws and regulations. While there was some stumbling in figuring out how to work within the system, they eventually started to eke out some wealth. As an old saying goes, "you have to spend money to make money." So many of the old corporate fat cats on Earth didn't understand this concept, continuing to try and squeeze blood from a stone, and constricting employees by keeping their pay low.

The only ones that were still causing issues were the cream of the crop, eventually having a meeting with the empress at their urgent behest during the ball. The rest that were attending this party were all in agreement with what she was doing, looking for new opportunities to expand their businesses. From what she was told, only the ones coming to the meeting were going to wear older fashions, the ensembles far too expensive to waste and show what remained of their old money still around. The rest bought into the new designs, moving into a mixture of Elizabethan era frills and velvet. The bottom rung rich and wealthy were actually enjoying the empire changing things.

Once the makeup and clothes were put on, the empress stepped out of the room, ready for the ball still many hours away. Morlan and Elsei walked by from their bedrooms, both wearing their armor. "Uh, no."

"Your majesty? What's wrong?" Morlan asked.

"The armor. Wear a suit, Mor."

"I… I-I thought you would want –"

"The full plate is good for inspiring heroism and fear on the battlefield. I need you in a uniform or tuxedo to inspire elegance and respect, possibly some terror. I don't need heroes, I need them to see a Director of Internal Investigations." The warrior seemed to look sheepish, the reason seeming to be apparent. Selene rolled her eyes and smirked. "Let me guess, you forgot your suits back at the Clockwork Castle?"

"Yeah…" he replied as he looked at Elsei. He didn't realize some of his luggage was still in his room.

"Well, alright, go see Jeeves. He's tailoring up a storm right now. From now on, have a few pairs here when you're in Aureos. You obviously have quarters here as well, and it's not like I'm restricting you from entering this palace." Both of her subordinates bowed to the empress and headed off.

Just before they turned the corner, Morlan stopped and looked at her. "Your majesty, I had a question if you'd be willing to answer."

"What's up?"

"Would you be willing to allow further training for us?" he queried.

Selene seemed confused at what he was getting at. "You've already gone through special forces training, at least part of it. You're due to another few months to finish all of it. Is that what you're referring to?"

"I was… actually hoping for experience with some of the weapons your soldiers have available."

"Ah… uh… well…" the dev looked away and chuckled nervously. "We… I…"

"We'd just like to expand our horizons is all," Elsei continued for her partner.

"Accentuate your current equipment?" They both nodded. "I'll… you…" She stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Focus on the training you're in now, we'll worry about future-proofing you two later. No telling what we'll do for Boltar…"

"Understood empress, thank you for considering it," the elf replied as she bowed to the woman. They then continued out of sight. She brought up her character sheet and inventory in her Hud, checking over what she had just worked through in the past few days.

Before coming to the White Palace, she had made sure to try and get to level 400, with the intention to, at some point, head down into the dungeon to speak with Xaxara. Having a few extra levels, even if her skills and attributes were already restricted at 500, made her feel a little more in control alongside the Artifact armor and weapons that were crafted. She still didn't understand why her limit was already reached, worried that there was no reason to increase her level anymore, or that there could be a restriction she needed to figure out how to break. A quest of some sort, either out in the field or "finding herself" with some meditation, might be in order.

Her tech tier had finally raised another step, with Early Extrasolar Era now the de facto position she found herself in. The schematics received didn't stun her, with a good hour spent as she tried to make sense of everything smashed into her brain, with the intent that the next tier would improve on what little was learned. The basic premise of it was to start creating space stations outside of a solar system, reaching another star without thousands of years passing, and intermediate level long term space survival without a planet and still stay in a gravitational link to the sun, so the bases wouldn't be left behind as the galaxy slowly shifts. While it was the early form of the triple exploration tiers that allowed to peek their heads out of their star system, it wasn't going to be a picnic. If she decided to send anything out beyond the system's rim, it would be an expedition fleet designed for a long-term mission.

There was no real chance to use most of it yet, as her empire was still just getting up into space with the stations in far orbit, a base almost complete on the moon as well. Most of the work done at the moment was to get the space stations up and running, the moon base online, and the hundreds of probes and satellites launched towards the next planet nearby to check for resources and capability of easy terraforming. Four more mining facility platforms were being constructed in the asteroid belt, with their attachment to other major asteroids coming in the next month. Once the space elevator was online at midnight, and the first space station reached phase 3 construction in two weeks, they'd expand rapidly. The idea was to create more orbital bases even faster, eventually having the prospect of creating a space ring surrounding the new world or others.

All of this work to move mining to asteroids allowed the rights to the planetary mines to be given over to companies willing to buy them up, at least in non-restricted zones. The residual effect was the replenishment of the natural resources found with Selene's skill in Gathering and the unique ability **[Renewable Resources]**. That would last for at least the next decade before it would wear off, requiring either the government to step in again temporarily, or the mine to eventually run dry after years or decades. This made those mines worth way more than the rights would generally be, not only the original ownership causing a rush to grab them up, but also the fact that they would last a long time. The money given at the auction had to be given to the cities or towns, not the royal government. That gave a surge in cash flow for the mayors to spend on parks and theaters, with more public events happening like art festivals or wine tasting.

A primary concern that had cropped up was the _**Orb of Experience**_ dipped in the secondary color connected to action points used to upgrade the tech tier. Selene hadn't seen it do that since she started attaching all of her automatons to it. That meant the number of points being pumped into the artifact wasn't keeping up with newer tier costs. She quickly figured out an exponential model for the data and realized that at best, with her empire still being continent restricted, she could only go up another two tiers before it was mostly drained and needed to wait for a refill. While the orb could hold an infinite amount, the dev had apparently reached a critical crossing point that she was taking more out than they were producing. Expansion of the empire was needed, or it would soon take years before she could improve. That expansion was going to be upstairs and underwater. Conquering other countries didn't thrill her, and the effort to put into incorporating the people into her empire and all of its annoyance seemed like more work than just terraforming other planets with new technology or building star bases. Why waste effort on fighting others when there was plenty of real estate elsewhere unclaimed or waiting to be artificially constructed?

 _That's probably what aliens think out there, if there are any. No point in wasting time on an occupied planet if there are trillions out there for the taking. If someone is capable of moving from solar system to solar system easily, then it is possible they can terraform and colonize with just as little effort, probably not even care about being on the surface anymore either._

 _ **(Recommended Song: Jordy Chandra – Coffee Evening)**_

"I'm impressed with the education of your maids here, empress," she heard from behind. Selene turned around and noticed Gazi walking up smiling, suited for the event in a royal blue kurta with green embroidered leaves through it, coupled with cream-colored trousers. A ceremonial sword was in a scabbard attached to his black belt, cinched with a circular golden buckle. A red turban was worn, keeping his long black hair bundled up. While his shoes were pointed at the toe, they resembled a more conventional design compared to what she observed in Tal Salunbal, likely due to him wanting to dance with his wife.

"Ah, I assume you are referring to the human ones, not my creations. They had some time to read the books I see. I'm working on improving what they know," she replied with a returned smile. He put his arms out for a hug, which she accepted. In the past few days, they had found a friendship quite easy to build between them, with even a few petty arguments to help their neighbor rule more efficiently. Selene admitted it was refreshing, and annoying, for the sultan to tell her to take a bit more direct approach with her troops inside towns and cities, at least at first, even if they didn't do anything other than walk right through. It would show the people they were there, if not in the general vicinity all the time.

"Yes, they know almost as much as my farmers," Gazi chuckled out, with the empress looking sheepish. Artinia wasn't very competent with making sure everyone knew their ABCs and 123s. It was all for control of the lower castes, to keep them under the nobility's thumb. "It's alright, I understand you came into power only recently. I know that face, you feel as if they are not showing the best of your empire."

"No, I mean, sort of." She took a deep breath as he raised an eyebrow at her, the kind of look she'd get from a close friend. "We're doing our best to get things back on track, less war and more a chance for enlightenment for everyone. Education, art, culture. It's… going to be a long process."

"It always is. Our founder for Tal Salunbal did not build our kingdom overnight," he commented with a chuckle.

 _Rome wasn't built in a day… despite how fast automatons construct cities now…_

They both started walking down the hallway from her bedroom and down two flights of stairs towards the inner courtyard. While still cold outside for the sultan, they wouldn't be out for long. "May I ask you a question?" she said as she turned to look up at him while heading to another set of doors.

"Of course."

"How did Tal Salunbal deal with Artinia in the past? Was there ever a neutral or better relation between kingdoms? What about the Kohar Confederacy?"

Gazi averted his gaze and thought for a moment. "That… feels as if that is a loaded question. Given how the royalty of Artinia thought of anyone that wasn't within their borders... were they ever able to negotiate with us would be more apt. The relations between our countries was always poor."

"Did they?"

"Twice if I recall, both times I believe the king, not the most recent be advised, threw a tantrum and stormed out. There was no compromising as we would have liked; he wanted his way, and we were willing to give part of it in exchange for trade rights in the north. You can see how that turned out in the end. As for the minotaurs, they… well, they didn't exactly like that we wouldn't hand them some cropland for free. To them, there was an unused territory that hadn't been moved into yet, they wanted it. We refused as they had no claim, we had plans. That was the end of all negotiations from then on. The Seong Neow Republic… we don't have any connections to, I don't think anyone does."

"Huh." They both continued towards the throne room, now having the wall to the ballroom knocked down to open the area up for dancing and the buffet. The throne itself was also removed, replaced with a new clockwork mechanical chair just like the one in the castle back in the valley. The tile on the ground was ripped up and changed to marble with soundproofing below, as the empress knew the noise of hundreds of feet was going to turn into a cacophony on the ears.

"May I ask a question as well?" the sultan said with a raised eyebrow. She stopped at a table and checked the menu set up for that spot, a feast of meat and fish still cooking in the kitchen. Outside, there were pallets of spare supplies ready if the people somehow were able to work through the buffet prepared.

"Yes?"

"Why do you not prove to the people you don't need them, that they need you?"

She seemed caught off guard. Had he seen through her guise? "What… what do you mean?"

He walked off towards the balcony and clasped his hands together, leaning against the balustrade as she followed, both watching the city bustle and get ready for the evening. Every district was preparing for the coming festivities, with the entire population of the city spilling out and getting ready to eat and have a good time. "You provide so much for them, just as I've done for my people. However, you seem to have no restriction on coin, whereas I have to at times watch who I anger just so I can refill our coffers. It's a rope I cannot always balance on, occasionally stepping from one side to the other to keep things going. You, on the other hand, have no qualms with this."

Selene chuckled. "I'm supported by a powerful government."

"That does not need to be paid, who are utterly loyal to you, who are to be feared in a great number of ways. The maid that has been assisting me for any nightly snack requests I am very sure could end my life in the flick of a wrist. Many would dream of having this, as they would shoot for the stars and not care who got in the way. It appears as if you are dragging the people forward, entirely self-sufficient without them. Yet, you continue to try and keep every life stable, even refraining from snuffing out those who keep causing harm to what you create."

 _Uhhhhhh… I'm pretty sure I don't keep every life stable… the Limbo Vats are now a testament to that…_

The dev looked down and closed her eyes. "So… you noticed the wealthy and stupid, did you?"

"I have. Honestly, from the reports I received, they are part of the reason the Demon War happened here, the scars that were left that your minions, your… subordinates, creations, they clean up or repair. Nobility, aristocracy… at times they are worth it to have around, the rest… they make my hair fall out at an early age," he said, tilting his head to look at her for a moment, then covering his eyes and groaning.

"You know, Will joked about just getting rid of all of them. He says a lot of things, all of them to help me obviously. A few of them were things like force the dwarves, even the minotaur to join up due to how they act around here," she chuckled out.

"Would get the lands all under one banner, so other oddities don't arise. Did he say anything about Tal Salunbal?" Gazi laughed out, but suddenly there was silence between them as he realized her chief of staff had said something about his country. Selene looked away, worried that things had just become awkward between them. There was no answer yet. "So, he has said something about a potential plan to make us join your empire?"

Selene froze, wide-eyed and waved her hands in the air in defense. "What? No, no plans! There's nothing in the works, I swear! You don't have to worry."

Gazi smiled and waggled his eyebrows at her. "Yet it does hold some merit. It is a fact that there is a gross difference in capability between our nations, and I do not say this lightly. Since the last time we met, I knew with all of the knowledge you gave us to help in the creation of the balloons that our technology was nowhere near what you could provide if you just gave it to your people. I know, I know, you withhold much of it to slowly bring them into a better understanding of what they have. I… to my understanding, my kingdom does not have a chance if the empire decides to ramp up advancements."

The dev fidgeted, feeling like crawling into a hole and hiding. He was right. Despite wanting to play nice with everyone, at least where possible, eventually, her empire would outclass every nation and force them to have economic issues just by merely existing. No one would want to live anywhere else with all of the high-end amenities appearing here. "Don't worry about it, Tal Salunbal won't just disappear even with –"

"If Tal Salunbal were to join you, it would mean I would no longer have a sovereign nation, instead it would be another piece of the great Clockwork Empire. However… I know we could not compete outside of it, you know it too. The Kohar Confederacy cannot compete, the Seong Neow Republic cannot compete."

"I'm not trying to start anything with your kingdom, Gazi. Look, this is an awkward conversation we're hav –"

"I am a ruler trying to look after his people, just as you do for yours. I am not stupid, you must see that. Again, if we were to accept entrance, what would happen? Theoretically, of course," Gazi suddenly said. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes surveying Aureos from their perch.

"Uh… well, w-we… well, the standard drill? Laws and regulations, acknowledging me as in charge, uh… stuff… lots of stuff... some of it might sound dumb or complicated, others not so much… you'd figure it out pretty quick…" Selene looked flustered, stammering out her words as she tried to find some way to fix this. After seeing someone else ruling another country that she could befriend, who was doing a pretty good job and improving his country beyond the surrounding nations, the woman just didn't want to lose the relationship just because he decided on something. There was silence between them as she just clasped her hands together, not able to see the white knuckles underneath her gloves as the empress watched some of the streets far below.

 _Will, I know you were trying to help, but seriously – no, this isn't his fault, why did I just keep my mouth shut? First, I had problems with blurting shit out, now others figure it out without me saying jack all. Is it written on my face or something? I can't win sometimes… I should have said no. I should have just said no, he didn't say anything about Tal Salunbal, everything was about our neighbors._

The sultan finally broke the silence between them, birds chirping the only sound before that. "There would need to be some requirements you need to acquiesce to."

"Crap… I should have lied or something…" she tried to whisper out.

"Lied?" She didn't say anything and bowed her head down to her hands. There was nothing she could do. His hand gently fell on her shoulder, something no one else was allowed to do. "The first requirement would be giving me enough time to slowly implement the laws and regulations into our system of government. That could take six months, a year, two years, or even more. Until then, my kingdom is still separate. The second would be giving me a chance to let everyone know and adapt to a new future. The third would be allowing our government to still function without removal of my family to –"

"Weren still rules the dark elves, Ynshael is still the queen of the high elves, that didn't change, they just answer to me. Racism is flushed out the window, those who try it get a bullet in their heads or sent to a really nasty place for eternity. Look, this is all just hypothetical, right? And if you do accept, then… things could change almost immediately within those months or years. I'm not kidding about that. It'll feel like you were moving a million miles an hour with everything rushing by your face."

"Change how?"

"Uh… things."

"So, things and stuff?" he chuckled out.

"It's… complicated."

He stared at her for a long minute with his eyebrows up, realizing she wasn't joking, then smiled. "We can talk further about it later. Let's not have this ruin this night, as you wanted." She could tell the face he was putting forth was fake. He was utterly confused, yet very interested in what her response meant. They both turned to see a woman with short black hair and a hanging ruby tiara draped on her forehead, long green clothes with an orange sash flowing from her neck.

"Your majesty, I bring here before you, Sultan Gazi's wife, Sultana Emira Dahanara Arun of Tal Salunbal," Duncan said proudly, introducing the woman in a grand sweeping gesture. Her husband strode forth quickly and grabbed her hands, beaming with pride and happiness that she arrived.

"How was the trip?" he asked quietly.

"Interesting, I'm used to the tides and wind in the sails, not floating over rooftops," she replied to him as he kissed her nose.

"Ah, but that is where we should go, to travel in new ways, to help bring forth a new era of transportation. Wheels on the ground, flying in the air, swimming through the water… perhaps amongst the stars even."

 _That isn't that far out there if Tal Salunbal joins up… I don't want to give him a heart attack if he finally gets his wish… what the hell am I thinking?_ I _haven't even been up there yet._

"You and your dreams, Gazi. Ah, stop this, we are in the home of another."

"You would be surprised at how easy-going Empress Selene is," he responded as he hugged her to his side and walked his wife in front of the dev. The dev visibly jumped at hearing that, misunderstanding what he was saying.

"A… a-a pleasure to meet you finally, Sultana Arun."

"Is Gazi truthful in what he says?" Emira asked.

"My love, why do you do this?" he questioned, holding his chest as if he was struck.

"Because sometimes you lie to make yourself look better than you are in my eyes. You do not need to do this, I fell in love with you already and know you all too well" she snapped and pointed a finger at his nose as the brown-skinned woman returned her attention to the empress. "Tell me, is it true?"

"When have I lied to you?" Gazi questioned.

"When you said there was a giant dragon you slew with Aldemir coming to visit our neighbor here," Emira responded, her eyes half-closed with a frown on her lips. "He reported that the instant I walked into this home of hers, amongst many other things."

"You didn't harm one of my citizens, did you?" Selene shared the frown, though it was fake.

"I… alright, that might have been stretching the story a little…" he finally replied as he scratched his neck, wincing and hoping not to get slapped upside the head by his wife. "We… saw one… but… it flew away. We didn't do anything to it…" Emira and the empress rolled their eyes and laughed.

"We are friends, Sultana Arun, no need to worry."

"Then call me Emira obviously. I hate it when titles are used amongst those who are willing to be casual, as long as we can call you Selene."

"I'm happy to hear that. Selene it is."

Gazi's wife rolled her eyes and gave the dev a hug, then pulled away and groaned. "So, you have these events now as well? Did you get dragged into this, or did you decide to throw this yourself?"

"She doesn't want to have this happen," the sultan responded.

"I was asking her, not you, my dear. She is in charge here, obviously. Show some respect to her."

"I am my love. More than you know," he replied, giving a side glance at the dev. It made her want to avert her gaze as if she damaged their friendship.

"Gazi has it correct, Emira. This is… not exactly…"

"Fun? It seldom is when nobles are around. Always forced to look proper, eating carefully, and –"

"She doesn't worry about any of that, Emira. Trust me on this; no one will tell her how to act here, which is good. I believe the only reason she decided on this was because of them begging to see her," her husband said, interrupting her train of thought. Duncan cleared his throat as he slowly took steps backward, hoping to be dismissed. "Except that one, he's always been one for rules and traditions from what I have seen in the past few days. It reminds me of my viziers… too much. Etiquette at the table has frustrated me while being here – you! I don't raise my pinkie when drinking tea! I look at my surroundings when drinking it! – *Sigh* He doesn't cause you trouble, does he, Selene?"

The empress stared at the adviser as he bowed his head, hoping to not be punished. "He's done well so far, highly adaptive and a good heart. Provided he can work on that backbone of his, he'll go far," she responded with a smirk. "If you need to be somewhere else, Duncan, you can go if you wish."

"Thank you, your majesty. I hope you have a fantastic evening, one to sing about by bards for years to come!"

The dark-red-haired woman looked between both of her guests in confusion, hoping for some light shined on this. "I take it you are not staying for the ball?"

"You… did not provide an invitation to me, your excellency. I am not allowed, neither are the maids. I… informed them that they have the night off. Was… was this in error?" the old man asked, worried he had made a grave mistake. He seemed to cower a little as his ruler blinked rapidly.

"I didn't realize I needed to give you one, or the maids, given you are the paid help. I guess this was normal for Artinia, to give those to all of you as well? Huh, well, we have the assistance already, all of you can rest and relax. I'll have food brought to you all in your quarters if still around unless you wanted a night out in the city?"

"That's… you don't have to do that, your majesty."

"I know, and yet I'm doing it."

"T-thank you, your magnificence. Truly a kind ruler to her people!" Duncan said with a wide grin.

"Yeah, about those traditions. I don't know most of them, nor do I give a fuck. That's Artinia, not The Clockwork Empire. As far as you're concerned, they don't really exist these days, okay? If you don't have an answer to something, just ask. I wouldn't have known if you just disappeared before the ball. Etiquette is what I make of it. You know the rules of the palace, beyond those you just ask."

"Of course, your grace, of course. That's… oddly relieving. I'll remember that for the future."

"Good. Now, if you wish to be here, just come in. Otherwise, enjoy the night off." Duncan bowed deeply and backed up, turned on his heel, and marched off with some pep in his step, his arms mechanically bouncing at an angle while he moved with a smile on his face.

"You swear without care," Emira chuckled out. "I like that. You really don't take any crap from anyone, do you?"

"Only when my daughter isn't around. Then I have to keep the potty mouth in check."

"Of course, we do the same when Tariq is nearby. Those words are there to shock, not casual speak. Now, I should go get ready for tonight, there will be dancing, and I expect my husband to walk me out onto the floor. No stepping on my toes while we _approach_ the dance floor, my love. That's for when we're close."

"When have I done… oh… right, you still haven't forgotten that, have you? Oh, one last thing…" Gazi said as he squeezed his wife's hands gently, turning his attention to Selene, "back to the ones who are causing a disturbance for you."

"I'm taking care of them tonight during a meeting, don't worry. Sadly, it seems I have a full plate tonight, in more ways than one."

"If you wish for me to come with you, support makes things very easy to handle them. Those who feel they deserve more when they've done nothing to earn it are plagues that need to be cleansed from the land. Striking fear in their hearts and showing you are in charge, with others acknowledging your view from other lands, is a great way to let them know to stop or face everyone's wrath," he told her quietly. "I know you will have many guests and even some dragons, I believe. Showing you have stronger allies is a great way to let them know they are outnumbered."

"Way ahead of you. I'll be fine, don't worry." The sultan nodded and followed Emira, walking her to his lavish loft. A good portion of the top floor was turned into a VIP area where officials could stay from other countries.

As they walked away, Selene tracked the long list of guests already getting ready to head out of the inns they were staying at, with the invitations expressly telling them they were not sleeping in the White Palace. Quite a few of the upper echelons were up in arms about that, with their "donations" to the previous ruler allowing them some freedom of staying in royal quarters, fine dining, and able to partake in the harem that the empress now owned. The city was like a giant ant colony coming to life, with thousands of new faces all getting ready to enter this second palace of hers later on.

"Alright, all of you, let's see which ones will play nice and which ones are going to be on my shit list."

Will came in through a side door and stood behind her. "You want to know when I'm going to speak with the two brought in, don't you?" she asked over her shoulder.

"When you're ready, ma'am."

"Dina is there as well?" the woman questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"She is ma'am. The report has already been sent in with recorded footage. That attack of hers was… it was the equivalent of a LKKS from a bow." A Light Kinetic Kill Strike was a rain of bolts launched from orbit, down through the atmosphere and bursting to cause a flak barrage on the planet's surface. It was mostly designed for infantry and light vehicles, with some capability of removing heavier vehicles from a battlefield.

"She's related, that's a given now. I wonder… was that made by her? Instinctively even, given she's seen how our troops fight?" Selene quietly said as her eyes didn't leave the streets for a few more moments. The theory now popping into her head was that any children of players that grew up in the empire would have any special abilities or Martial Arts skills emulate their country's military. It was possible others in different nations had the same effect, with one focusing on holy attacks even with a bow, or perhaps summoning.

"Even with that type of ancestry, she fainted after one shot. That could tell us she isn't prepared for something of that caliber, not on a regular basis. She was doing what she could to save a life, not simply take one." The empress nodded and turned around, heading with him towards a large living room. Inside was Dina and her team, with a separate smaller room connected, keeping the two animal women inside. The ranger had already woken up again, speaking with her friends.

" – It was like I was just throwing everything I had into it, I… oh, uh…" The teenager jumped up from the couch as Dylan and Marv did the same. Piper stood at attention along with the second group, Tyran leading them.

"I'd like a word with Dina privately. All of you should stay in the next room for a little bit," she told them. There was a look shared amongst the adventurers, wondering why they were even brought there if only to be discarded as unimportant bodies connected to the ranger. "You can all come back in once we've finished." As the teams left to sit with princess Miyuki and Luko, Selene sat down and pointed at the chair opposite her. "Come, sit."

The brunette didn't quite know what to do other than acknowledge the command, staying silent as the ruler stared at her. "Um… we… thank you for letting us come to the palace, your majesty…"

"I've seen the report of what happened. You came to their aid out there, congratulations. Your integrity and conscience brought you to protect someone you didn't know. Not many can say that of themselves."

"T…thank you, your excellency…"

"Do you know what you did?"

"I… I don't know, I… I mean, you're referring to the… the…"

"The arrow you fired. That wasn't normal. Any high-end adventurers or elves have at best used Martial Arts skills that follow a similar action to casting a spell, some acting like small weapons of mass destruction, but nothing quite like that at your… uh… your skill level." There was slight hesitation heard by Selene as she tried to hide the fact that Dina in her Hud was a level 12 now, just about to reach 13. The assault on the crypt in Silvinholm and its defense, the abbey raid, the work done to catch criminals in Aureos, and the partial training by Morlan for only one day for the tournament, she had gained so much in a short time.

"You… you can tell?" the ranger asked.

"I can see many things, Dina; tell me, was that taught to you recently or by someone you knew in the past?"

The teenager fidgeted and crossed her legs, trying to act proper in front of the most powerful woman she'd ever seen. "I don't know, I just… I wasn't taught that, it just felt… natural?"

"What do you call it? Does it have a name like other Martial Arts out there?" Selene questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Um… er… Phoe… no… um, lightning… no… I guess I don't have a name given it was just the once." The ranger seemed to be squeaking out the words, unsure of how to speak to the empress.

"So, this is the first time that has ever happened. I take it you don't believe you can do it again?" Dina looked down sheepishly, feeling as if she looked incompetent. "Do you believe, with proper training, you might be able to harness it a second time without draining yourself?"

"Maaaaaaaybe?" the teenager winced out, her tone sounding as if it was more a question than an answer.

"That might be good enough." Selene put up her hand for a moment to silence any reply, pushing a small button to the temporary intercom installed. "Morlan, has Jeeves measured you?"

"Uh… yes, your majesty, we're all done."

"Good. Come to the second living room, the one with the ring sofa." The ladies waited as the warrior, and his partner, made their way to their location, bowing immediately after.

"You requested my… uh… presence?" he asked, his eyes locking onto the ranger.

"I did. You trained her before the tournament, correct?" the empress questioned. Dina looked between both of them, wondering where this was going.

"I… did… for all of a few hours. I'm not quite sure I understand where this is going."

"What is your initial impression of young Ranger Dina?" Selene asked politely with a smirk and a slight flutter of her eyelashes.

Silence clamped down on the room as Morlanion thought of what to say. "She's… er…"

"Be truthful, Mor, as honest as you can be."

The warrior huffed and shifted on his feet. "Well, as you wish. She's headstrong, takes insults poorly, doesn't really lead her team – not that that is much of an issue, her wizard friend is better at it – and in general, doesn't have much experience in actual combat." Dina was wincing at each point made, closing her eyes tightly.

"Is that all?" the dev queried.

He sighed quietly and shook his head slowly. "No. Once she makes up her mind about doing something, unless there is a risk of life or limb, she won't take advice, with it going in one ear and out the other. She doesn't always trust her team to handle something while she deals with another problem. She also relies too much on that hawk of hers to see the surroundings." It was like a hammer smacking her on the head each time, as the teenager squished her head down into her shoulders.

"I see. So…" Selene looked over at Dina, who looked as if she didn't want to be there anymore. "… just like everyone else trying to prove themselves?"

Morlan gazed at the ranger who finally opened her eyes, realizing what the empress had just said. "I was similar, yes. Those are only a few things wrong with her, but they can all be fixed." He rolled his eyes and decided to continue. He could see how she was acting, as if a child being told she was worthless and taking it to heart. "She has talent, raw talent, better than most I've seen. I wouldn't be surprised if she could figure out how to fire one of those rifles your soldiers use with pinpoint accuracy. With the proper training, which she doesn't have right now, she could be another hero."

"Provided what you just said were tended to and removed," the dev corrected. The teenager was just looking at both of them in awe, her eyes opening wide at suddenly hearing that.

"Yes, very much so. Now, might I ask what this was for?" the huge man asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"I'd like her to be a candidate for your agency."

Both Dina and Morlan gawked at her, the same word coming out of their mouths in unison. "What?!"

"Your majesty, empress… is this for real?" the ranger asked while blinking in disbelief and then pinching herself.

"What you don't know is things are probably going to keep changing in the next few weeks, and there are some things you will be concerned with once your team members drop some important news on you. This is an offer to do more than be an adventurer," Selene simply explained, receiving a small glass of sparkling cider from a maid. "Oh, don't give me that look, Mor, I have full authority to do this."

"I… I-I know that, your majesty! But… you said… you told me…"

"I told you that you could pick from a slew of candidates, one of which is Boltar right now. I met him this morning, by the way… he didn't like me at first."

"How did he come off to you?" Elsei questioned.

"Annoyed and blunt, said something about how poorly thought out the interior design was, the aesthetics being too bright like I was trying to blind everyone from all the shit hidden under the floorboards. He wondered how many men I had slept with in each of these rooms."

"And… you responded?" the elf delved further.

"I told him he should be an interior designer, maybe even jump into fashion so he could get some nice pants to replace the shit stain running down his back, maybe even a diaper so he'd stop looking like he took a dump while walking; also, a nice scarf to cover his dirt covered mug and gloves for those dainty hands of his that had never fought a real battle before. I'm pretty sure I also said something about his mother, can't remember all of it. He was surprised, laughed, agreed to talk shop from then on."

Morlan looked at Elsei. "I can't believe it; she already knows how to talk to him like we do."

The dev smirked. "I just know that if you talk smack, you better be willing to receive it as well. Now, back to this matter. She's going to go through training, provided Dina agrees in the first place." The auburn-haired woman looked at the teenager, who just kept looking back and forth between two of the strongest people she'd ever heard of, let alone met.

"Are you serious? I'd get a chance to be… by the gods, people dream of chances like this…" the girl brought her hand up to her forehead, her head reeling from the offer. "Can I… can I first talk to my team? I mean… I…"

"By all means, bring it up with them. Go." Selene shooed her with one hand to the other room. "And send those two headcases here while you do so, will you?" She took a sip from her glass and looked up at Morlan. "I know what you're thinking, and I don't want to hear it. You need agents, it gets her out of being an adventurer, and it keeps her from being another body in some dark dungeon. Plus, Ezra would be unhappy if she went meandering through the lands with another team. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, would you?"

"You know something, don't you, your majesty." The warrior sat down and looked at her while she continued to sip her cider.

"I know a lot of things, Mor, not all of it I will explain. Trust me on this; you want her to succeed in whatever teams you put together. That's all."

"What about her party?"

"Dylan has been offered a very generous position as a detective for the Aureos Police, Marv was invited back to the Wizard's Academy for in-depth research apprenticeship and eventually to head a team for expanding civilian magic. Keep that under your belt, please, I get a lot of information, and I'd rather it not look as if we spy on everyone out there."

"Do you?" Elsei questioned.

"I'd rather not say. It would scare many if they heard yes or no. Does it affect daily life for most? Not really." Princess Miyuki and Luko both walked in, the katana at the bodyguard's side magically sealed to stop her from pulling it out. "Ah, both of you sit down. Morlan, that was all; if you want to keep talking with Dina, you can, otherwise, enjoy the next few hours before the ball and relax. Afterward… enjoy the party obviously. Congratulations on your first teammate with Boltar, I hope you get many more, including Dina."

The warrior stood up and looked at the two animal folk, barely any fur on them besides their ears and tails, their appearance for the most part just like humans. He nodded at the empress. "Have you decided on a name for the agency yet, your majesty?"

"I have a few ideas now… how about… Einherjar?" Both agents looked at each other and blinked.

"Isn't that a warrior picked by a Valkyrja?" Elsei queried.

"It is, but considering I have three as my Generals – well, one is a headmistress – I would think they would accept that title be given to warriors who are beyond exceptional in my empire. What do you think? I'll run it by them just in case."

Morlan puffed up his chest suddenly as he blinked rapidly, realizing what that title meant. Einherjar weren't just warriors, they were handpicked elite meant to stand at the side of Odin during Ragnarok. He had gotten a chance to read a few books with stories about those gods now long forgotten in the library, now having a few of the tomes recovered from the temple that Hrist and her sisters visited. "That's… that's an honor."

"I'll see if they are against that name, but I doubt it." Both of them bowed to the empress and left, with the ruler's attention now set on the princess. She just stared at her for a minute, wondering why she was there. "A princess. Most likely, the daughter of Emperor Hisako Shizunagi, I assume. Now… why would you be entering my empire?"

"The princess wishes to leave her kingdom to request asylum here. I would think that an empress would already have that information given to her by her soldiers," Luko replied for the girl.

"Oh, I know that, but I wanted to hear it from her mouth, not yours. This conversation is between her and me, she doesn't require your interference and jumping to her aid all the time." Selene cast a silence spell on the royal protector, keeping her from speaking again until the dev was finished chatting with the teenager. "Now, what is the reason for asylum?"

"I am tired of being thought of as a toy to be auctioned off to some General's son, a tool to keep the peace in the republic. I came to get away from that."

"Hmmm, living a life of luxury only to escape and work your butt off here. That would be a drag."

Miyuki glared at her. "I would have to bear their children! I would have to cast… I would have to cast…"

"You're a kitsune, correct?" The princess nodded at the question the empress asked. Selene licked one of her canines and continued. "So, I have a question. If you have that kind of power, even with three tails – and yes, I know how many you have – why not, I dunno, strike some fear in their asses for crying out loud? Only the women in your family have those I take it?" The dev propped her chin on a fist and glanced over at Luko, who was trying to scream at her, with nothing heard. "Oh, shut it, she's going to need to explain it all anyway."

The wolf woman leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, frustrated and glowering. Miyuki returned her attention to the ruler of this empire sitting before her. "I… I'm not certain I could do as much as you think."

"Ah, so the books are true, there is a limit to how much power you can bring to bear in one area." The princess blinked at her, surprised. "We get some traders from your kingdom from time to time, I have some of the stories translated. Knowing the history of the world makes sure we don't repeat any stupid shit that your people pulled. Saves us pain in the long run, same for Tal Salunbal. One of those explains your whole royal line. What? You thought we were ignorant up here?"

The kitsune was silent, her mouth open and gawking at the empress. Finally, words came back to her. "I… I am here now, that's what is happening in the present. I can't change the past and now request asylum here. I do not want to be used as property."

"Let me break it down for you right now. You were found crossing my borders illegally. That's not really much of a problem; my border patrol caught you, by the way, along with adventurers coming to help out – wasn't expecting one of my citizens to come blasting in from the air, but whatever. Now, this is where things have gotten interesting. You were under assault by assassins. Let me repeat that. Assassins, as in paid killers. That doesn't happen often. Do you know what happens when your kingdom figures out somehow you are still alive, try and track you up to my borders, and detect there was a scuffle? Who do you think they will believe sent those hired swords, especially with you under armed guard here?" Selene told her more as a statement than asking a question for her to answer.

The ruler then continued, changing legs as she re-crossed them. "Now, I've already been turned away from talking to your stupid government, gods know why they wouldn't want at least some communication with their neighbors, so they don't get caught flatfooted, I mean it's just foolhardy. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, after all. The big issue is they'll think we sent the assassins and, well, you're here. Probably a change of thought, we decided to kidnap you in some grand plan to force them to give something up. You just caused a big fuck up in your country. I'm not really happy about that." Luko tried to speak again, waving her hand over the table. "Oh, fine, what is it?" The dev removed the spell and allowed the escort to talk once again.

"Don't you mean your country? Her father and the shoguns will send armies this way. Besides… I made sure to hide our tracks and smell."

"The… the potions you bought before!" Miyuki gasped out. "They mask us?"

"For a limited time, yes."

Selene let out a dry laugh. "I don't mean my country, I mean yours. You have no idea how effective my military is at wiping people out. The orcs and goblins are a testament to that on this continent; it's the reason you don't get any more raids from them. Look, this is what will happen if they somehow figure out you are alive, like catch wind at all about you being in the land of the living. The first step, they'll send scouts, try and find you. The second step, armies, as you said. Next, they'll demand we return you. If I don't, they try and invade. It goes badly for them, very badly. We conquer your kingdom in two days, probably faster now, given the upgrades and advancements we've worked on since blasting the Grand Tribe into oblivion. Now, if we do return you, I'm pretty sure there are still two choices given how stupid some people can be, with them somehow deciding to still attack for any involvement in this, exacting false vengeance and all that. That goes badly still for your people. Lots of lives will be lost. If nothing happens, you still go back and have the old ball and chain attached to your leg. See where I'm going with this?"

"We… we could hide away, they'd never find us," Luko replied, looking at the princess.

"Where would you go? A cave? Can't live in civilization because traders would still see you, and as long as the scouts don't try and pull anything obvious, aren't always easy to find if all their doing is acting like tourists. Sure, they can't go in restricted zones, but you won't be able to either. That complicates things and makes it only a matter of time before they figure it out."

"They won't find out she's alive, though."

"Did you leave a body double?" Selene asked with a raised eyebrow and a half-snarled up lip. No response. "I figured that. No body, no remains with recognizable features. Yeah, you just created a problem for your republic, I would just be an end result."

"But… you… you don't…" Miyuki started to say.

"Don't what, dear? Have to fight? Well, of course we don't if we turn you over. That's not what rulers do though when trying to protect their citizens. If your government decides to come here in some form of military strength to bring you back, you think I'll just roll over? That's not how this works, kiddo. Not one bit."

The princess seemed to look like she was about to hyperventilate, glancing at Luko in hopes she'd help. Her leaving could mean thousands would die just to bring her back, loyal to her family and believing they were rescuing the girl from a horrible life. It would be a one-sided slaughter. "Please… I don't want to go back… I don't want to go back…" there were tears in her eyes. Luko wrapped her arms around her and glared at Selene, believing she was going to pack them up and send them off.

"So that's it? We come all this way only to be carted to the Jade Palace with an apology letter?" the royal protector grumbled out.

"What is happening right now is you're here, not there. As far as we're concerned, I have no interest in creating some crazy scheme to hide you away from your father. But… at least until I can figure out what they'll do – if they'll do anything – you can stay."

"What about the adventurers in the other room?" Luko questioned.

"Why should you care? Besides, we'll just say this girl right here is the body double, testing the waters in our lands so to speak. The real princess was near our borders, so she took it upon herself to try and lead everyone astray so the royal blood could head back to the capital."

"Why would they believe that?"

"Because I'm their empress and you two are just random animal folk coming up from your kingdom? For all they know, you're both crazy and say all sorts of stuff. There's no evidence to prove you are, in fact, the princess, beyond the tails." The dev had made her point.

Miyuki beamed at her with sparkling eyes. "Thank you."

The dev pointed a finger at the princess. "I said until I figure out what your republic will do. No guarantees, but it's not like we turn away those looking for better lives. Look, stay in the quarters I'm giving you, don't cause a fuss. Maybe, just maybe, we'll hash out some more details of what will come after tonight. This is bothersome to me, so the least you can do is keep your head low." The teenager nodded vigorously, her ears perking up as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. "And you," she pointed at Luko, "make sure she doesn't get into trouble in the first place. I don't want to hear about some high and mighty royalty causing a scene from another land, got it? You keep both of your heads level around here. As far as you are concerned, you have no title here, just two women as guests in my palace. I'll have food brought to your rooms and clean clothes."

As they were escorted away from the room by a maid, Will flipped his chair and leaned over the back of it. "That's going to cause problems eventually."

"Not until they find out."

"You aren't going to tell them, are you?" Will asked, hoping she hadn't lost her senses.

Selene furrowed her eyebrows. "Fuuuuck no! The less stress within the next few days, the better, I don't need panic happening to the people because they see armies massing on our borders, regardless of if we can fend them off. The psychological effect would screw things up. It would also scare the crap out of anyone trying to immigrate up, believing they'll just get killed by us." She patted down her bangs a little and looked at one stray lock. "Well, given the fact they turned us away, I'd say if I didn't want a meeting before, I'd get one eventually."

"What will you do with her? The republic princess, I mean."

"She can stay here, out of sight, out of mind. I know it'll be a bit like a jail cell, unable to leave beyond the walls, but it's got to be like that until the Seong Neow Republic has already found out."

"Do you really think someone would report back that they saw her walking around?" her chief of staff questioned.

"Well, given the fact they tend to be executed for leaving their country without official authorization… those chances are slim until someone is stupid enough to think they'd get rewarded. Then, two things could happen: they either get rewarded as they hoped for and the government prepares their troops, or they don't get rewarded and have a knife slammed into their backs, again the government prepares its troops. Either way, let's keep a secure perimeter where the republic nudges against us."

"They could be rewarded with cutting their own guts out and allowing their families to get the reward in their stead for their transgressions and redeeming themselves," Will warned.

"Ok, that's a grizzly number three then. Still, if we play our cards right, that won't happen for a while."

"Or not at all," the automaton countered.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure the cat will be out of the bag eventually. I'm mentally preparing myself for when that happens."

Selene sighed and draped her arm behind her, staring up at the ceiling. Dina came back out, surprised. "Dylan… he's… he's going to take a position in Aureos… Marv… he's…"

"I know. Piper I take it has more work at the church with Ezra?" the empress finished her sentence. The ranger nodded. "Seems to me like your team is breaking up."

"I… I don't know how I feel about that. I thought we were close."

"You don't lose friends that easily. They're going to new jobs that pay more. Dylan and Marv are still going to live in Aureos, Piper too. Look, with new transportation everywhere, it isn't difficult for you to go visit your old posse. The question is, now that they've made their decisions, what are you going to do?"

The teenager looked at Will and blinked. He simply gestured in the air with his hand open-palmed. "Do what you think is best, young one. Her majesty isn't forcing you."

"I'll take it. I mean… if Morlan will let me."

"You're being entered as a cadet, not as an official agent. You have a long road ahead of you, but far shorter than others, I can easily tell" The dev responded.

"Not all of the cadets are as good as me?"

"Well… I wouldn't say that, but… talent-wise, you do exceed a fair portion of them. Do your best, listen to your superiors, trust your team. Notice your flaws, fix them, work hard, and you'll go far," the ruler told her. "Do you have any questions?"

"I… I'll probably have a lot of them after I leave, but for now, I'll… I don't have any. My mind is kind of a blank with everything being a blur."

"Well, just relax and take a breather. Hell, you and the other team that backed you up can come to the ball. I mean, I think there are what, two, three Adamantite groups already?" Selene said, popping her fingers out on one hand while looking at the automaton sitting next to her.

"Two, both due to standing their ground against a demon's nest now neutralized."

"It… feels odd bumping elbows with their rank…" Dina said quietly.

"You aren't going to be a gold rank adventurer anymore, you'll be a cadet in the Einherjar agency. Different badge, different people you should be looking up to," Will advised.

"Yeah… yeah! I didn't think about that. Oh… crap… I… um, I don't have a…"

"Dress? *Sigh* Jeeves." The empress gave an underhanded point at the door. "The rest of your group and the other team can do the same. I swear, without him, most of the people on these grounds would be naked…"

"A real hero to be sure," Will chuckled out.

"Papa Jeeves keeping us clothed, fed, and clean…" Selene grumbled out. "What would we do without him." She looked at her Hud's clock and grimaced. "Two down, one to go before the big bash. I can't wait…" the dev groaned out and let her head flop backward. As Dina got up to go be measured, the empress cleared her throat.

"Ah! Sorry! Sorry! Um… should I be excused?" the girl asked.

"One last thing. The two you helped out at the border? She isn't really the princess."

 _ **Evening, Winter Ball**_

 _ **(Recommended Song: Mozart – Serenade No. 13 in G Major, K. 525, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" Allegro)**_

Carriage upon carriage spat out their owners as they entered the palace, an announcement made for each person arriving so that everyone knew who was there, allowing them to get into their little cliques. Appetizers were served for those inside, waiting for the main meals to be brought out. A few ex-nobles were in line trying to get in, with strict rules keeping them from entering without following everything to the letter. "We know who you are, Genevieve Marton, you simply cannot bring your pet in with you," the security auto commander outside explained at the front doors.

"Countess Genevieve Marton, do not forget that!"

"Your title has been removed, Mrs. Marton. Do not forget that, either."

The woman looked around embarrassed, pulling at the neck of her dress as others smirked at that response. The soldiers guarding the palace really didn't hold any respect for anyone beyond their empress. "Leave my precious Fifi here? Why, the nerve! I have never had such issues before! Bring your empress here; I'm sure she will understand that my little girl goes with me wherever I go!" she spat out as her hands played with the fur of a Pomeranian. The dog barked a few times at the guard, who didn't show any fear of the small creature. To their side was a greyhound on a leash, sitting proudly next to his master.

"It is not a question of allowing them in, these are her majesty's wishes written down. There is a guarantee that your pets will be considered prey for her own pack."

The countess looked at her husband, who tried to appear as posh as he could with a cane and long feather hanging out of his hat while holding the leash. "My Andre and Fifi are strong enough to hold their own against such pale… such pale…" she shut up immediately as her eyes bugged out of their sockets, her husband doing the same. Bouncing around the corner was Blue with a rabbit found and killed, being chased by Ash, who was playing with him. These two wolves showed up that could very quickly eat Fifi in two bites or less, or snap Andre's neck in no time. Following them as she slid into a stack of boxes and knocked it over due to her size was Luna, the massive white lupine charging after her siblings with her tongue hanging out, easily the size of a large horse. Behind her were two drakes enjoying the fun, watching the wolves go right past the front door and back around the palace, dragons following. There was no doubt the greyhound would be outclassed in speed by Luna or Blue, with the latter capable of teleporting.

To top off all of that, the harem that the empress owned was trying to keep up, loving the exercise as they chased the myriad animal group playing havoc in front of the palace. An elven concubine was bouncing behind, her enormous bust swaying with her arms pressed to the sides. "Oooh, why do I have to wear these? It's so much easier to just go without this leotard!" she whined. The minotaur dashed right past her, wearing nothing more than a speedo and a big cricket bat on his shoulder, giggling.

"Try and keep up!" he laughed out as if it was a game to chase the wolves. The rest of the royal ladies and men of the evening carried on right after them, one dwarf giving a crazed waggle of his eyebrows and a massive grin on his mouth while he passed the ex-countess.

Both aristocrats blinked, with Fifi soiling her owner's hand immediately while whining. The greyhound pressed against the leg of the husband.

"You will protect them, yes? Surely there can be an exception?"

"We will not. We've already told you that pets are restricted from entering. If left unattended, they will be killed on these grounds."

"The empress doesn't control her own… her own…" the countess couldn't even finish her sentence.

"They are _wolves_ , Mrs. Marton. The empress is their pack alpha. As far as a wolf pack is concerned, your two pets are prey. The royal harem is not a group of pet sitters for you. Remove those creatures from the property, you are not allowed to enter until that is done."

Everyone else continued filing through the main entrance, watching what was happening, a few of the other houses trying to stifle laughter at what was transpiring before them. Genevieve decided to try and regain some composure and turned around, heading back to the carriage in a huff with her nose in the air. "She will not get the chance to see such a spectacle that we are in the ballroom then. The empress will just have to go the night in shame."

"She does not care, Mrs. Marton. Your presence will not be missed," the security commander replied. There was laughing in the background as others within the woman's level of wealth just shook their heads. She needed to follow the rules… or else. It was surprising that the guard commander, an automaton of the empress's creation, was so gruff with the woman. He didn't show respect for removed titles, didn't care who was supposed to be wealthy. They were visitors to his creator's home, they would show respect to them instead. There was a small conversation going on in machine language silently between all the soldiers. These flesh bags were not worthy of their maker's presence. They were not worthy of the presence of even the wolves that had assisted the dev in surviving the first month, or the concubines that had just become a spectacle.

Once everyone was inside, the gates were closed, and festivities began. Drinks were given to all, with no sign of the empress just yet. It was to be a reveal of what she was wearing, to enter the throne room and sit down, allowing everyone to continue to enjoy the buffet.

Some of the ex-nobility were surprised to see Melsia and Donovan there, though they were shown great respect… at least to their faces. The lower tier aristocracy flocked to them, "new money" as they were called, talking about the laws helping them get on their feet and build small companies. Donovan praised them, while the old houses chastised them for jumping to lick the shoes of the new ruler so quickly. The disdain for each side seemed palpable, with a division in ranks. A few of the older generation weren't that bad, even looked towards wrangling their peers in finally. Whether that would happen remained to be seen. Some of the old houses from Silvinholm stood with the Riktors, receiving scowls from one side of the ballroom.

 _ **One Hour Later**_

"Ok, time to head out to meet and greet," Selene muttered to herself as her daughter held her hand, with Dahlia and Adesha right behind. She had been playing with the girl to calm her down, as Eve was nervous about what to do inside. Cameron was opening each door with a flick of his hand, with a magic spell keeping the path clear of obstacles, a point man for everything as Jeeves kept things under control in the kitchen and the ballroom. Zaza and Nara were waiting at the doors to the throne room main entrance, with both of their children standing prim and proper in a suit and white dress, completely different from running after the wolves in their scaled form. Tariq and his parents were already sitting as guests of honor, with another smaller throne prepared for Eve. The mayors, governors, even the police and fire chiefs were all present to support their ruler. The numbers were substantially in the empress's favor.

"Ma'am, you still have your meeting in the red room," Will whispered to her as he walked out of a side room to catch up with her. The rest of her cabinet were already mingling, keeping everything that was a secret from ever being revealed. A few times, they denied anything being done by the empress for specific issues arising, making it seem like nothing was wrong to keep panic from washing over the masses. If they became aware there were still some demons hiding in the shadows and attacking villages, multiple fleets were heading their way with unknown intentions, or that there were still massive creatures underwater posing a threat, there could be hysteria. Propaganda was an art form for her administration now, as Gala informed a duke that favored Selene's rule that everything was fine, with plenty of trade routes opened between their neighbors.

"Yeah, are they all inside already?" she asked.

"They are waiting for you right now." The dev looked at Adesha and Dahlia, her order already plainly seen. They'd follow little Eve and help her get whatever food she wanted, protecting her along with the security detail. Meanwhile, the empress would go speak with the top aristocracy and see what they had to say. If the princess ever wanted to leave at any point, they would escort her out, keeping everyone else away from her beyond Sultan Gazi and his family or those sitting next to him. He was already acting like a godfather to the young girl.

"Okay. Eve, honey, go with Dahlia and Adesha. I'll be out there in a few minutes."

"Okay," the princess let go of her mother's hand as the maids led the girl through a side door.

"Dominic and Grey want to also inform you we've found six more caches of the drugged barrels with magical explosives on them. They've also caught multiple teams of mercenaries paid to plant them. There is now a signal that can be detected that links all of the ones we found, proving there are no more. All warehouses are under surveillance, but there is no chance of any others cropping up," her chief of staff told the woman.

"Good. Any of the mercs crack?"

"All of them took poison, all of them were resurrected. None wish to talk."

"Considering they're terrorists now… have them sent to ARC. They just volunteered to be guinea pigs. Maybe Robert or Nikola can pull something from their brains with the Limbo Vats."

"It's getting easier to deal with things like that, isn't it?" Will questioned.

"Considering they've had their rights revoked and what they were doing, yes. Treason against the empire on that level, accepting what they were doing and getting paid for it… I don't consider them human or even alive. If they wish to harm so many, it's safe to say we can do the same to them. I've come to the conclusion since my science advisors came up with that thing."

"Understood ma'am, I'll let Dominic know to cart them off from their cells." Selene nodded as they walked away from each other. "Oh, one last thing. The first space station is about to finish phase 2 construction tonight as well, just like the elevator. There are still quite a few amenities needed, but as a launch point and small dock, it functions. Juliet is in the ballroom right now with Romeo, they just wanted to get you up to date."

"Sweet, it might be fun to at least head up there for a visit. The others?"

"Just reached their points, moon base 1 will be coming online tomorrow just about noon. The remaining stations are in pod construction now, should be in position by tomorrow, then phase 1 construction can be programmed." The phases set up for the star bases were 1, 2, and 3, with a proposed phase 4 for Battle Stations. Currently, phase '0' was just the pod launched and barely habitable; at best, an emergency survival location to get out of the harsh void of space. They were getting faster at building them now, with the first finally able to assist in the construction of its sister stations. Building in the solar system would quickly snowball soon, without the rest of the new world even realizing it. While they were figuring out gunpowder, her empire would be zipping from planet to planet.

"Okay, that's good news."

"The first mining facility is working hard. You… you may want to skip checking inventory slot twelve…" he told her, worried she'd flip out at the massive piles of metals and resources. Just one asteroid out produced all the mines in the continent right now. Having multiple refineries and mineral excavation sites upstairs meant never worrying about supply for manufacturing again. What they needed now were things like noble gasses and liquids, which the other four would gather.

"I'll take your word for it. The third batch will be built after for… what was it… ice?"

"Correct. The second batch is for noble gases."

"Good." Selene stopped at the door to the main hallway that headed towards 'the red room,' a notorious conference area. The dev sighed and shook her head. "I just want to cancel this meeting and get this night over with."

"They won't learn unless you show up and let them know you won't cow to their requests. Oh, I'd hold off on heading to Star Base 01 before it hits phase 3. Gravity plating hasn't been installed yet. You'd be enjoying some null-grav for your trip, which I've heard can play havoc on your stomach." Will continued on, checking in with security in other rooms as the empress took a deep breath and headed down the hallway. She didn't know what to expect, just that the meeting wasn't going to turn out very well. These ex-nobles needed to be told what's what, and she wasn't going to take any crap. They were about to learn not to mess with her anymore.

 _I have the Zero-G skill… it shouldn't be a huge problem… still, probably a good idea to wait like he suggested…_

"Ok… let's do this." Selene walked forward with the double doors opened for her, laying her eyes on the array of people all sitting around a circular table in the middle of the room. Every single one of them had a smug look on their face that she wanted to wipe off with a smack. "Greetings to you all. You've called for this meeting during the winter ball, and I have agreed to show up. Now, what is it you would like to discuss that couldn't be sent via missive?" she asked as the empress sat down and clasped her gloved fingers together.

 _The monocle might be a good idea, after all. I should ask Gala for it._

"Oh, I think this requires your physical presence, your majesty," Alain said, the head of house Reysor in Silvinholm, the very same who warned the king of the rebellion. There was a gleam in his eye as he motioned for a stack of papers placed in front of the empress for her to read. "These are… things we would like you to oversee in changing how the empire works. We have many… er… concerns that need to be addressed. Please."

Selene picked through the pile, skimming her eyes across the requests – no, _demands_ – as quite a few alarmed her. After ten minutes, she flicked the last sheet onto the table and tried to remain calm. Her eyes raised a few times as she stared at every face for a moment before descending back to the ludicrous needs of the entitled sitting in the room.

"My son will not be ignored in this, you've read that part, right?" another woman in the room said as she held the hand of a young man grinning at the empress. There was a demand for marriage to the ruler, to produce heirs. Selene already knew dirty thoughts were going through the boy's head. The only thing the dev did was put up her finger for them to be quiet as she continued reading silently. The woman, her name apparently being Karen, looked at her in disgust.

The main requirements were marriage, reinstating titles, slavery reintroduced, diplomatic immunity, and payment for all the losses they had incurred during the war. Others involved lowing taxes for the wealthy, making them non-liable for any harm that comes to any workers under their employ, and doing away with the basic wage law. Previously, any boss could set what they paid their people, even if it wasn't livable. 5 copper a week was standard, now set to 8 a day as a bare minimum. If she didn't accept, they had unanimously signed the last page, informing her that they had secretly placed caches of chemical aerosol explosives around the empire, the very same that her troops had dismantled previously. There was a huff coming from Alain as he rolled his eyes. "Hurry it up." The empress glanced at him before returning her attention back to what was in her hands.

"Are you going to sign or…" her finger rose one more time. Any other government would have collapsed in on itself to abide by their demands due to not being able to find the caches. Luckily, the Clockwork Empire wasn't just any other government, with her automatons, androids and battle maids never sleeping and having a machine network connection to transfer information near-instantly amongst themselves and to her due to **{Communication is Key}**. Their sensors were able to pick up the key ingredients and track where they were going now, similar to those trying to make homemade explosives in the United States. They weren't used to doing this just yet, not expecting such an event to happen so early in the development of the nation.

As she continued in silence, her left eye started to glow, bypassing the first stage. Everyone else in the room seemed oblivious to what that meant, her temper all but dashed as she did what she could to keep her silent composure, her blood pressure skyrocketing in anger. Selene continued to flip through pages, occasionally picking up the previous one to compare with a slight nod in understanding; it wasn't a move to accept the settlement, but agreeing with a choice she had now made in her own head on their fate. The nobles in the room all looked at each other, now quite concerned they'd need to explain things in-depth to make the empress understand their needs, believing the woman to be slow in the head. She wasn't acting like they expected, with many others caving in given this ultimatum. The chances of stopping such a threat were almost nil, right? The dev just kept silent.

 **[Selene: Will, I'm scanning a copy through my Hud. You reading this?]**

 **[Will: We all are ma'am. They're acknowledging terrorism. Do they realize what they've signed? Are they that sure they have us that they would admit such a deed?]**

 **[Dominic: I'm reasonably confident their brains couldn't figure out the pointy end of a sword, let alone the fact that it's dangerous. The same goes for this. They're boasting that they are supervillain wannabes. Ladies and gentlemen, we are looking at the "League of Extraordinary Stupidity" here.]**

 **[Orlo: Given a quick psyche eval from how their body language is through the cameras in the room, I'd say high stats in narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. They don't care unless it gets them what they want.]**

 **[Gala: They don't understand how the real world works, just what is inside their bubble.]**

 **[Selene: I'm in agreement.]**

 **[Will: Ma'am, your eye is glowing in stage 2. That's… are you alright?]**

 **[Selene: I can see the pages lighting up. I'll check a mirror after this. Hold until I give the signal.]**

"You aren't going to sign, are you?" the head of house Treeyul from Silvinholm asked in a matter of fact tone as he now knew… things were about to turn bad. "You know we will activate our trump card, don't you little empress?"

All she did was shake her head slowly, not even looking up.

"Perhaps this should have not come to be…"

Selene nodded at that.

"This can come to an end easily if you just sign."

"Nooooooo, no it cannot. I'm afraid all of you are well beyond that point by now," the empress finally said in an indifferent tone.

"You need to understand how the world works around here, you cannot just come here thinking that Artinia has fallen and your empire can change –" That was when soldiers walked into the room and aimed their rifles at each of them. The empress put the pages back into a pile and lightly tapped the bottom on the table before placing the stack back down. She looked utterly calm despite the one eye glowing bright blue.

"Use the passphrase! Now!" Duchess Enel shouted.

 **[Grey: I should warn you, ma'am, the activation sequence is flawed. We just had an advanced EOD team check over the dispersal and ignition… none of it actually works for inorganic objects. The detonation sequence won't prime.]**

 **[Selene: Why did it take so long to get this information?]**

 **[Grey: Backchecking through the wizards in Aureos. The spells used to respond to vocal recognition don't work that way. They were meant to dispel summoned creatures and remove wards. What they tried to do was a basic sleeping pill protocol on the barrels, removing one of the defensive wards to cause the offensive to melt the sides.]**

 **[Will: So… they're all duds? We responded so quickly for something that, for the most part, is crude storage for volatile chemicals?]**

 **[Grey: Good practice for when a real terrorist threat appears. For the most part, just be amused that these people thought they had the world in the palm of their hands with such an absurd plan. A for effort, F for enacting it.]**

"You really shouldn't try it," the empress said calmly.

Alain opened his mouth. "Victory for the houses longing for eternity!" he yelled, his vocal cords seeming to emanate what looked like a specialized sound pulse due to a collar around his neck, the gem embedded on the front chipping apart. He simply laughed maniacally as cuffs were put on his hands. The vibration of his voice impacted the walls but was blocked by the noise-cancellation systems emplaced within the past few days. Nothing happened. "What's done is done. The people will follow us now. All of this could have been avoided if you had just done as we asked, but instead –"

"The caches of explosives never worked, and even if they did, we found them all. The mercenaries caught delivering them have been interrogated, more than likely cracked by now, and spat out everything connecting to you… not that we need any of it. Your supply chain has been destroyed. Your stupid shit never even WORKED! You do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, you go straight to hell." The dev stood up, adjusted her suit jacket a little, and left without another word. Outside the door, Dominic and Grey jogged over. "I had a hunch they were causing all this, we just didn't have all the evidence until recently," her director of intelligence said.

"Fucking… waste… of time… and energy… they're actually lucky… so damned lucky that I don't just kill… and resurrect them all… again… and again… and again… god damn it…" the empress seethed openly. Psionic energy was crackling around her; had anyone beyond her creations been nearby, one of the arcs might have clipped them and cause spontaneous combustion. A single strike carved a large divot in the wall as she did her best to calm down.

"What do you want to be done to them?"

"Limbo Vats. Their minds will be stuck in simulations while we get some good data on them. A living hell fit for what they just did, never able to reach their goals." The empress continued on as both turned around in worry at her mentality right now, watching her leave. "Torture them on occasion, put them in a horror movie or something once in a while."

"Should have ended their existences a dozen times over in that room," Dominic advised.

"Did they really think they could get away with it, against a woman that a religion popped up around? Who built this empire from the ground up?" Grey responded in a dumbfounded tone.

"I want the rest of tonight… to go by… without a hitch… not one…" Selene said as she tried to calm down with gritted teeth as she spoke down the hallway over her shoulder.

"Are you… angry, ma'am?" Dominic questioned. She closed her eyes and stopped for a second, taking a deep breath to reply.

"I'll answer that question after the ball, right now there are guests I need to go have a chat with. I'm not going to let this ruin tonight; they've been dealt with finally," she replied with her hands gesturing slowly in the air, pushing her middle fingers against her thumbs to try and reach a zen mode… somehow. As the woman passed a mirror, mumbling and grumbling obscenities under her breath, she stopped for a second and noticed what everyone else had seen firsthand. One eye, a bright blue halo light emanating from the iris and appearing to be bleeding into the pupil. She made a slight sucking sound with a click of her tongue and nodded at herself, heading off towards the throne room where everyone else was ready for her arrival. While she hadn't seen the supposed stage 1 glow yet, this was now making her wonder what was happening.

 **[Selene: Gala?]**

 **[Gala: Yes, ma'am?]**

 **[Selene: You still have that monocle, or was it never made?]**

 **[Gala: I've now put it in your inventory.]**

 **[Selene: Good, I need to hide my eye.]**

The double doors opened to the massive room with a grand entrance made by the ruler of the Clockwork Empire, as Selene strode forth with the new monocle as everyone was silently watching her. "It's her! She's finally here!" a few whispered. Once in front of her throne, her daughter waving to her with a small plate of cheese and fruit as her mother sat down next to the girl, the empress surveyed everyone before her bowing down or curtseying below the dais. Hrist sat on her opposite side, looking as if she could give Elsei a run for her money in looks and a somewhat revealing blue dress, with Brynhildr at the makeshift bar in a bright green halter top. Hundreds of faces all watched, waiting for her to speak, including Gazi and his wife with prince Tariq.

There weren't just ex-nobles in the massive crowd, but also those who understood what she was doing and controlled the towns and cities. Commissioners saluted her, standing at attention to show their undying respect. Even adventurers were invited, at least the highest ranks. Dina seemed to be in the mix alongside the Receptionist Tilly, who looked like she was trying to keep the guild master for Aureos from touching her rear. Giles raised a glass to her with Abby, grinning warmly with small plates in their hands. The look of those who wanted her there helped immensely to settle her temper down below the boiling point, the energy surrounding her body dissipating mostly at the doors, with all of it finally gone.

"Ahem…" Selene cleared her throat as the sultan leaned forward slightly, nodding at her with a smile. "Continue." The festivities started back up once again as she watched those dancing on the ballroom floor.

 **[Will: Those were the only ones who had disagreements with your rule.]**

 **[Selene: That's it? Seriously? All the others are ok with what we're doing?]**

 **[Grey: Yes, ma'am. They cut ties with those 12 in the red room due to the over the top reactions and idiosyncratic natures. Most of the ex-nobility that caused the destruction and corruption before the war are now dead due to the demons, with almost all of them turned into undead or considered MIA with no corpse found. For the most part… ding dong the pricks are dead.]**

 **[Selene: So we're in the clear?]**

 **[Grey: It seems likely. Out of the two thousand faces here, very few, if any, have a problem with the laws. The economy was rebuilt from the ground up after being turned to ash, after all; they're happy with being able to make small fortunes over the past months by investing in their workers and their own low-level research. They aren't oblivious or stupid; most just had to go along with the way Artinia ran things. They adapt quickly, at least those who want to. The next few years could see a massive expansion of companies turning into megacorporations that aren't against a living wage here.]**

 **[Selene: I know what happens when those crop up, Earth had too many lessons from history of keeping those from appearing. Let's curtail some of that if possible.]**

 **[Will: Was that wise allowing them to try and activate their trump card? There may have been caches we didn't know about yet.]**

 **[Selene: I had faith in all of you getting it right. Besides, I was pretty sure the noise-cancellation systems blocked everything.]**

 **[Grey: We're happy to hear that, ma'am.]**

 **[Gala: Here here.]**

An Adamantite adventurer party walked up to the first step and bowed deeply towards her as she came out of her com channel. "Your majesty, we are honored that we have been allowed to come here as escorts for some of the guests. If there is anything you require of us, simply ask," the leader spoke as he kept his eyes focused on the floor.

"Continue to enjoy the party," she responded. All five of them stood back up, walking by Dina as she watched them. The empress met her gaze and simply nodded, continuing to observe the party with her select few sitting next to her, a table being set up before the throne for her to eat at. Eve attempted to pull on the woman's sleeve as her mother seemed to be in a daze, coming back to reality as she picked her daughter up. Her demeanor changed to warm and soothing for the girl, but inside she was a swirling tempest of annoyance with what had just happened.

 _I should have executed them when I had the chance long ago! I've been too weak-willed when it came to absolving people of their crimes against others, especially the idiots that do that. I keep sitting back and hoping for people to embrace a new future, but in the end, it holds me back at the same time. I keep restricting myself from taking lives that need to be taken unless absolutely necessary. If anyone causes the same disturbances as those twelve again, it's Limbo Vats or death. I'm not waiting for another terrorist attempt. No more waggling my finger and calling them naughty._

Her smile seemed entirely fake, even though Eve was unaware. Hrist could tell something was off, but the empress didn't want to scare the child. Behind the monocle, the blue glow still going, barely contained behind the specially prepared glass.

Gazi leaned over and cleared his throat. "You know your maids are quite protective of the princess, right?" he whispered to her.

"Oh?"

"One of the young noblemen amongst the guests asked when she would be old enough for marriage, with his intention unknown for if it was a request for him or his son. He's not here anymore, taken to see a doctor due to this one right here," he explained, pointing at Dahlia while smirking. The battle maid sent video footage of the question asked to the empress, followed by a palm strike that launched the man across the room, nearly collapsing his ribcage. The dev could already see it was a light push, not even her full strength. She had evidence, worrying that she might be punished for causing a small scene.

"I'm pretty sure I abolished arranged marriages…" Selene groaned out. She looked up at her daughter's instructor, who simply kept her head bowed. "Good job Dahl, I appreciate that. You did well."

"Always your majesty. She will always be protected." While she was being praised, many of the visitors were now very much afraid of the ladies who doted on the royal family. They were not to be trifled with. No one else dared approach the princess again beyond a very select few, including Giles and his wife.

Another nobleman, an ex-archduke, walked up to the bottom stair and bowed to her. "Greetings, your majesty. I would just like to thank you for this incredible evening and allowing us to partake in it here. I'm so happy that we are among the citizens of the empire, with no more of that pathetic king. May he never find rest in hell, along with his soldiers."

Selene put her finger up to stop him. "Those soldiers weren't all bad, many have had to fight away from their families for long days, months, years."

"But the travesties they have committed –"

"Not all of them engaged in rape and pillaging. The rest… they were orders, young man. The hell that goes on in their heads after those wars is almost never-ending. Their consciences are still functioning, compared to the now-deceased mad king or a small number of his generals. You should feel pity for them instead because they returned to a land that seems like it doesn't want them, even when they fought to protect it. Do not forget that one of those soldiers is now the mayor of Silvinholm, and rebelled against Artinia to protect its population." A fat older gentleman by the name of Richard Fornower walked over with a glass of bourbon.

"I apologize for listening in on your conversation, your majesty, but you are correct. My shops are hiring these young men and women, now that they have no jobs. Their training allows a certain control over their emotions when put under pressure, with strong backs and keen minds. They are paid well for their service, and their faces are known to intimidate those who would try and steal away with goods."

The ex-archduke looked between both of them and smiled, nodding as he stood corrected. "My mistake for believing they were standing on the same level as our overthrown monarch. Perhaps I was too harsh in speaking such poor words about them. I am sorry." He took his leave with the older man back to their table, trading stories about what they did for their companies.

Tyran was congratulating the Orc Destroyers on leaving the trade for new jobs, speaking in hushed tones as to how they might prove themselves to the ruler, and get a chance at candidacy for the Einherjar. Selene leaned over to talk to Hrist. "What do you think about this name for Morlan's agency?" she asked as she jotted it down on a small piece of paper. The Valkyra looked at it with her blonde sister sneaking a peek. Her generals glanced at her and blinked.

"Elite warriors. I think they should be honored to be called that. I… that is a worthy name to use on their behalf," the raven-haired woman replied. She then turned her head almost mechanically to look at Bryn wide eyed for a moment, sharing a thought between them.

"Finally, seeing some living instead of dead. I hope their fates don't continue in the direction they did alongside Odin," Bryn commented as she sipped from a glass of Champaign after. Hrist tried to keep her composure as her sister waggled her eyebrows and smirked on the lip of the glass.

"Neither of you object?" Selene asked.

"Not in the slightest. I don't believe Skuld would either," Bryn told her.

"Where is she, anyway?" her shorter sister said as her green eyes scoured the large room.

"Keeping some of her students in check at the back of the ball. A few were rambunctious, having won the raffle to attend this party with chaperones. They just want to show off." A few guests shifted in the crowd to show the headmistress indeed scolding two young men, with their uniforms having food stains on their chests. Three others were joking in a corner, one of them taking another in a headlock and getting a noogie as he said something about winning the empress's hand in marriage eventually, and they'd all be sorry.

Selene just watched the crowds move and sway throughout the night, the dancing continuing on as thousands of faces enjoyed the winter ball that had been planned for weeks, finally going off without much of a hitch. That was when the ruler found out the harem she still owned had caused a scene in front of the palace earlier. She simply facepalmed for a moment as her daughter patted her hair, thinking she had a headache, receiving a kiss on her forehead, and having her back rubbed in response. That band of misfits would have to be talked to… on a later date.

 _ **10 pm**_

"Ugh, I should have never joined in a drinking contest with General Brynhildr," Morlan moaned out as he lay on a couch in a large living room, one that had the walls knocked out to add in eight others. While the aristocracy was now gone, the remainder were the people handpicked to help lead the lower government, all sitting around and talking the night away. These people, those who fought fires and caught criminals, were allowed to stay in the White Palace for the next two days. They were heroes, even if they didn't go dungeon spelunking or fight armies of monsters.

"Why anyone would think they could out drink a Valkyrja, I have no idea," Selene quietly said as she patted him on the shoulder while walking past. Liyana and her brother Davin were passed out on a pile of cushions, a few different desserts half-eaten nearby.

"You kept up with her… where do you store all of that? Not trying to be rude or anything, majesty," Donovan mumbled out while draped on a love seat, with Melsia dabbing at his forehead with a washcloth. He, too, was well beyond just inebriated.

"Hollow legs."

"Is… is that so? That's a thing? I mean, I don't… don't exactly question…" the man burbled out.

"I'm joking, Don. I have a high resistance to alcohol; it doesn't affect me anymore."

 _I wish I didn't tonight. I wasn't trying to keep up with Bryn, I was trying to get my mind off of the meeting. Funny how some things that protect you instead feel like they harm._

"Indeed, a fine advantage to have… oh, where is the bucket again, dear…"

The dev tried to focus on what was next on her agenda, the night not yet over for her as she saw the array of misfits that tended to hang around, all of them having some charm to them. Ex-Commander Alfred from Silvinholm helped move a few more onto waiting chairs, all too sloshed to get to their bedrooms just yet. He had somehow managed to kick the habit of drinking, not one drop reaching his lips. That had something to do with Marin, the sergeant that used to be under his command. The place almost looked like a triage hospital, with plenty of patients being tended to, some receiving small tonics to ease the symptoms or getting magic cast on them to cancel the alcohol enough to move.

"Your madjedgy, it has brin a pressure to… hic… preasure to… be hrer…" Duncan said, mixing up his syllables as he looked about ready to drop on the ground, KO'd from the party.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself. You should go rest, the door is right behind you," she replied as Selene picked up a closed top coffee thermos being served by a regular auto maid and started heading out. "Not there, the door is to your right. That's a WALL!" she suddenly snapped as the man wobbled towards the obstruction, was stopped and turned by the empress's hands, nearly ran into a table, altered his trajectory and stomped through the exit with his head lawling back and forth on his shoulders while he tried to keep balance. "Someone, please make sure he gets safely to his bed and isn't passed out in a hallway. I'd rather not find puke stains on the wall, nor do I want to give the human maids here a horrible job of cleaning up that kind of a mess."

As the auburn-haired woman followed after him, she caught sight of Bronze Team. "You guys! You two specifically." Deacon and Ethan both stopped midstep as Jorge pushed them forward with his massive paw of a hand, pointing at each other. "Don't try and swindle the adventurers who were guests here. They nearly got themselves in a world of trouble when you started mouthing about taking them all on in an arm-wrestling championship. Spirits are being served here last time I checked, and those tend to lessen inhibitions."

"Woulda nearly had them on it too, ah" Deacon laughed out as he slapped some metal with Ethan in a weird brotherly handshake. "Buncha pussies."

"You would have broken their arms and smashed them through the table."

"I woulda gone easy on them!... at first… reel them in with a double or nothing at the end…" the sniper responded in defense. Selene looked up at the commander behind them, waiting for him to chastise them.

"Ma'am, it was a party," the medium told her.

"You don't try and harm the guests with random fun. Besides… should have played poker instead…"

"You play, ma'am?" Turnie asked.

"I was a bit of a cardshark in college, helped pay for courses. People stopped wanting me in games after word got out, though."

"What'd you do after?" Turnie asked.

"Did people's homework." Bronze Team all shared a look between them. "What? Skills to pay the bills, guys."

"Hey, ma'am, about the… you know…" Deacon started to question her about the meeting before the ball. "They had their kangaroos loose in the top paddock, eh?"

"Intellectual capability is not a required factor to be rich or famous," she responded.

"I heard you sent them to the vats," Turnie suddenly said, with Selene rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, we'll see if we get anything out of their pathetic biomass."

"Did it feel good?" the medic questioned.

"Yup. I'd rather not talk too much more about it, my blood pressure is rising just remembering the event." The team put up their hands in surrender, deciding to change the subject. Selene was a still a little hotblooded right now after what happened, trying to cool down the entire time she was in the throne room.

"Do you feel this ball was a waste of time?" Orlo questioned.

The empress shook her head quietly. "No, it gave those who are loyal even more incentive to stay as such, the ex-nobles who are onboard with everything got a chance to see the face of the woman running things, and I got to see them firsthand and not think they're just mouthbreathers. Here's hoping they don't fuck the options I've given them." She continued on towards an exit to the palace, heading straight for a waiting helibot taking her back to her flagship. Eve was already put in bed just after 9, so she didn't have to worry about tucking the princess in. Dahlia was going to stay with her the whole night.

Once she arrived, her entire cabinet was waiting in the conference room. "We're happy you have the time to speak after all of that, ma'am," Will told her.

"I have a feeling I won't be going to bed until early morning. Did all of you get a chance to relax?" she asked.

"I have realized I do not like the taste of champaign," Felix informed her.

"You're a red wine kind of mech, are you?" Gala chuckled out.

"How'd you know? The vineyards that some farmers have been able to get up and running have been able to produce some decent Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm impressed they have the ability to age the bottles so quickly, with a magician coming around once a week to assist in the process," the secretary of agriculture replied. "Strangely, that spell doesn't work on complex beings like humans, probably for safety reasons or lack of understanding biology. I wonder where it was created."

Selene sat down and opened the canister, pouring out a cup of coffee and started to drink. "Ok, so, I'm here for some sort of interesting plan of action Grey and Nikola have concocted." Everyone was silent as they looked at her. "As you all are aware, most of our work has involved key things. Those were: one, to get the economy back up and running and we've done that; two, to get people incentivized to get an education. We're partially there, with them still working to keep everyone going. It's too early to determine how well we've done. Three is getting their infrastructure updated within boundaries of their current era. Frankly speaking, with them entering the Renaissance, they have the latest tech possible until the next phase without having to work for it just yet."

"Four would be cleaning out the crime that was latched in place everywhere," Will interrupted, pointing at her.

"Yes, that would be four. I know that look, Will. They're taken care of, the job was done."

"I'm just saying, there is a reason it was called the 'Red Room.' We have resurrection capability if you needed to take out your aggressions further."

"Look, that would have been for nothing if we did, in fact, resurrect them. Ok, maaaaayyyybe it would have been nice to air condition that smug, fat ass sitting nearby, but it's much better to just shove him in a vat and see him barely touch his goals in a simulation only to have it wrenched away in a reset. Besides… I'm pretty sure we just strained crap out of the gene pool now."

"We just worry about you, that's all ma'am," he responded.

"Thank you. Now, five was… er…"

"Agricultural enhancement with ranches becoming obsolete. Farms are easier to take care of with a wide array of vegetables growing pretty much everywhere, including the new varied trees introduced," Felix said, assisting the empress. "Bar a plague that festers right under our noses, which means the empire is already truly destroyed, food shouldn't be an issue for those paying for it."

"Which brings us to a minimum wage system, which has been balanced now. People can now live on basic pay per day and still manage to save for new amenities, pay taxes and, in general, not be afraid to lose their homes. Gradient taxes have closed the gap for the poor and the rich now, with a difference of thirty percent between their workers and themselves" the Secretary of Commerce, Akuchi, explained with a distinct Nigerian accent.

"Good, but we still have a lot to do, at least for ourselves. Most of what gets done is building and keeping things out. Both parts of that are in thanks to Juliet and Romeo over there," Gala said as she pointed to the two in charge of constructing just about everything. Their crews were strewn throughout the land, getting bases and cities to rise from the dirt, sometimes within a day for the smaller locations.

"Alright, what's this plan you've got, Grey? Nikola?" Selene asked as she sat back and tried to relax.

The director in charge of her intelligence system throughout the empire put up one finger in the air. "I just have one question before we explain. Have you gone to see Xaxara?"

"Nope. I was thinking of doing so, but that might have ended with me taking out my anger for no reason."

"Isn't she the embodiment of lust, sorcery, and corruption?" Dominic queried.

The empress gestured with a wave of her hand in the air. "Elesia, when I met her, wasn't exactly friendly, despite being the goddess of kindness, beauty, and nature after all. Besides, as has been shown in stories from both here and Earth, gods can be fickle creatures with different personalities. For all I know, she's jovial and takes jabs at people. I don't want to put a blade to her neck just because I'm pissed at some ex-nobility and a misunderstanding in how she speaks. She's still alive, right?"

"Barely. The chains keep her from accessing the flow of faith from her followers. Frankly, corruption might be a bit low in the area, so I'd think she'd normally be getting her energy from lust or magic users," Dominic reported as he put down a large coin he was carrying on the table. His visage was of a 1960s politician just come out of the military, sharing some similar suit designs to Will, only with a more muscled build.

"Wondering if I should break one of those…" Selene questioned herself as she scratched her chin.

"Not until you know for sure she isn't a threat. Once you go that route and she is hostile, we're coming down there to stop her right behind you" Will snapped his fingers and pointed at her. The empress put up her hands in submission. They were very protective of their creator. The artifact quality tier sword that was crafted had the capability to severe the existence of a god from their own celestial qualities, acting as if the deity was mortal. It was a defining characteristic of all artifact tier weapons, something that World Class Items didn't share. What the latter had over the artifact tier was a more diversified list of already thought up creations. Artifact tier had a total of 300 items designed that Selene knew of, given that players rarely found them. Celestial quality was just around the corner, only two ever found in Divine Apocalypse.

"Now, for the pet project we've thought up," Grey said as he looked over at Nikola, who nodded at him. "We believe we can speed up the process of education for the people here, and in so doing, speed up tech era transfer."

"What does this involve?" the dev asked, looking around for further enlightenment.

Nikola pulled out a bag and placed it on the table, opening it up and taking a syringe with a glowing blue gel inside. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is liquid experience, knowledge in an injectable form."

"How much is in there?" Will questioned.

"One experience point," Robert responded in place of his colleague. Everyone in the room blinked, thinking it was a joke.

"Wait, what?" Selene questioned for everyone. It looked as if there was enough in the tube to baste a turkey with.

"We know the amount inside is visually misleading. This is just the beginning of the project to determine if it was even possible. The design is off of a basic analysis of the orb our empress has, along with low-level integration of the 'cheese packs' in her inventory." He was referring to the booster packs that players could get created to speed the process up of leveling in Divine Apocalypse.

"You were able to figure out how the orb works? Can you duplicate it?" Selene asked quietly, furrowing her eyebrows.

"No ma'am, we haven't gotten that far. It's an unusual artifact. We're actually quite surprised no one tried to search for it, considering the object can do, well, all of this for you. Maybe no one else out there can make the same use of it as you can. Regardless, back to the topic at hand. If we refine the process of creating these, make them smaller, and with larger quantities of experience, maybe specialize them with certain types of knowledge, then all adults will have basic education, and we can get this ball rolling," Robert informed her.

"We're talking at least elementary school level here, at least at first," Grey commented.

"How would this work? What's the time frame?" Gala asked them.

"If we do this in sections, entire cities brought into clinics… three years for basic training due to the number of provinces. That doesn't include research time to improve the design," Nikola replied.

"So that seems to drop us back to square one. The standard curriculum schedule is still 12 years, with us streamlining that down to 10. That doesn't speed the process up very much with everything combined and _only_ giving us elementary school degrees injected" the Secretary of Education, Minerva, stated as she added to the group. This was the first time she had entered a meeting with everyone else, focusing on getting schools set up and assisting the heads of academies to understand their responsibilities. Skuld worked closely with her on an almost daily basis. She looked very similar to a teacher, ponytail and glasses with a blouse and long skirt.

Selene sat there thinking for a moment.

 _That's better than most countries back on Earth, shaving 2 years of high school and putting it instead towards college._

"Ok, so… how do we fix that? I'm interested," the dev asked.

"Give us some time to refine the process. By our estimates, we can double the experience stored every week, with that time frame changing after three months into quarterly. Providing more scientists will not make this go faster; unfortunately, the experiments won't take less time with more hands," Nikola told them. "Afterwards, take each province, give them the serum, give them a chance to adapt."

"We should definitely restrict how that experience is used now that I think about it, the chances of wasting it on random information is too high," Robert told him quietly as he leaned in and wrote down on a tablet with an electronic pen, jotting notes for later. "Specialization seems required."

"I concur. Now, to expand on this, there is a technology that is brought up in stories since forever, either that or magic. Time dilation. Now, magic on the scale we're talking about would take an exorbitant amount of mana, which we can get from the generators, but positioning would be difficult, and planning out travel restrictions in the area would be… annoying, to say the least," Grey continued to explain.

"We'd use that on a province to get civilians back up and running after the injection? Won't that have a disconnect with the rest of the world?" Dominic asked them. "If they believe it's such and such date, and others they come into contact with outside the bubble say otherwise… all I'm saying is information would be disjointed between everyone suddenly, not to mention the aging of all present inside. Communication, now that it's become better with the postal service, apprentice wizards running messages… that's going to be a problem. Hell… birthdays missed, holidays… that's a mess waiting to happen."

"What if we provided a paid vacation per city or town?" Selene asked. They all looked at her.

"Care to expand on that, ma'am?" Will said.

The empress rubbed her forehead and looked at the ceiling of the conference room. "A trip of enlightenment, provided by the government. They get temporarily put to sleep, injected in specialized facilities, brought back to their homes after such and such time. They get to have a nice long dream – monitored, of course – they come back to their houses with no real lost time. Provide the age regression serum as well that Nikola and Robert want me to take, at a much lower strength."

"Those facilities are going to have contact issues with… oh, wait," Will said, then stopped midway. "Our communications aren't restricted by time fields."

"You nearly forgot about that?" Gala chuckled out.

"It's never come up before. With the magic immunity films in our construction and active defense systems installed, it's never even been a thought. Well then, I guess we should get to that tech to use it first."

"We're gonna do this with magic. I can't get to the tech yet to make this feasible with science." Her cabinet all looked around at each other, suddenly worried.

"Ma'am, is there a problem with the orb?" Will queried. None of them knew of the exponential model she figured out, that the actions produced was now less than what was needed for future tech tiers. Selene explained that the artifact had another two upgrades in it before it was drained and needed to be filled, with experience being a non-issue. The room went silent.

"So let me get this straight. Drones, androids, along with us… we're not producing enough actions to maintain a consistent excess output anymore?... We need to expand upwards quickly then, to balance that out," Dominic suddenly said, tapping a pointer finger on the table matter of factly.

"We're already getting four stations in orbit, the moonbase will be operational soon, the roids are producing now, the elevator comes online this very night and –" Akuchi started to say.

"Four? We need double, triple that. Send terraforming systems to the next planet, send transports with more of us to build up the solar system. We need space colonies, outposts, science facilities on the moons, push out there. We need subaquatic bases, floating cities on the oceans, as well as in the sky. Four is a paltry number, Akuchi. That's not going to cut it in the grand scheme of things," the Secretary of Defense told him, interrupting his colleague. Dominic looked at the empress and made a sound that was similar to clearing his throat. "I… apologize for that outburst, ma'am. Just some devotion to the task at hand. I hope everyone understands."

"No, you're right." The dev sipped more of her coffee and brought up a holographic image of multiple designs for cities, space colonies, and fortresses created by Juliet and Romeo. "Fact is, we've reached the edge of what we're going to gain on this continent. Could conquer the dwarves, or the minotaur, or the Seong Neow Republic, but frankly, that's a waste of time when we can just go somewhere else."

"It also means integrating all those people into our society. That's… a lot more work for little gain," Gala informed them. "Frankly speaking, grabbing anyone else outside would take more time to get them up to speed, clearing crime out, fixing things… obnoxious tedium."

"Far easier to just construct more of us and go up, turn millions into billions or trillions, let the organic population live in peace down here for the time being," Dominic commented.

"Weren't we going to hold off slowly incorporating new tech to the citizens? To allow them to build up their culture?" Felix asked around the room. They all looked at their creator.

"If there's one thing I've now been hearing and seeing, it's that they want to forget Artinia. Everyone wants to move forward into something new." Selene sighed and tapped her fingers on the table. "They want to absorb anything we give them. Orlo had a discussion with me about handing off hundreds of musical instruments and books of new art styles instead of just letting them figure it out. Fact is… they'll figure it out regardless of what is put in front of them, we're just cutting down the time it takes for them to get to play with a piano or a DJ board. They'll pick what they want and write sonatas or rap for anyone that will listen or buy their equivalent of a Van Gogh. Their creative sides will flourish more if we let them get their hands on it, provided we can make sure they understand what they're doing."

"Instill morals in all of them. Could have that as an injection," Akuchi said.

"I believe that wouldn't be against our policy, compared to the loyalty serum we could put in the water treatment," Nikola responded. The dev still didn't want that used. It would be no better than the mind control liquid in the barrels, making them no more than nobles who were still in charge. Free will still needed to be free, even if the government was trying to force better tools into their hands to express it.

"We use the floating cities," Selene told them. They all looked interested suddenly. "After the injections, give them a chance to prove they have what it takes to excel, for the betterment of their fellow man."

"Nobel prizes?" Robert asked.

"Exactly! Except we make it more common; those who prove themselves, they get to live on one of those cities, leagues above what they are used to. Instead of the Renaissance Era, they get high-end steampunk homes with all the accouterments, proof that they had what it takes."

Will nodded at that. "Would instill loyalty through action, show their conscience is working, their reputation would give them a ticket up or out onto the water… or under it. Would they eventually get a chance to go into space?" he asked.

"In time. That's still pretty far out there, just focus on getting that jump. That could… what, shave off a few eras, right?" the empress said, looking around for acknowledgment.

"Could work. Provided we get all adults with a high school education, incentivize college after… we'll have a lot of unemployed, at least temporarily while they find themselves," Felix said. "We'd cut out what, a few time periods they'd go through? That saves us a few decades."

"The only problem would be those who are still greedy and only pushing themselves to get up to the cities. We should have a test in place to catch those who rate highly on the dark triad score," Grey advised.

"Agreed. Also, anyone who is still highly racist or prejudice against others. Don't need that tainting the communities," Romeo replied. "Getting tired of having to set up outposts between forests to keep asshats from thinking they can still pick on the elves."

"I thought we blew those miserable idiots up?" Gala grumbled out as she leaned back and sighed.

Dominic flipped a datapad in front of him and swiped down a card game. The dev's creations could multi-task well beyond any organic creature could. "That would be that one village we cratered, and that isn't all of them. While hate crimes are illegal, some don't have the brain cells to acknowledge the law. It's surprisingly difficult to change their views, lost causes in many cases. Some abide, a good portion doesn't. That's what our penitentiaries are for, after all, to weed out those who won't let others live their own lives the same as them, who cause pain and suffering to the communities they are a part of."

"So we're in agreement? We can perform the experiments?" Nikola asked, with Grey looking at their creator.

"Yes, sure. We're a go for the cities too, combine this whole thing into one big rocket launch towards a new future," Selene replied. "Hell… I should probably take those tests for the dark triad. Somehow I get the feeling it's becoming easier to take those lives."

"No, you're not" Will told her. "Orlo would have picked up on something during your chats, advised you if he noticed certain traits that could cause you to become disconnected. We're all loyal to you obviously, but we'd warn you if we noticed psychopathic tendencies arising. The fact you're here, in this meeting, trying to figure out how to get everyone a brain boost, while still not forcing them to salute you ala Hitler, is a testament to that."

"If we do this right, there would be no reason to stay on the ground," Gala said.

"On the contrary, rip down the old towns and cities, build new ones similar to those sci-fi paintings some artists have created in the past, streamlined utopias that reach for the sky and still work in harmony with nature. Not that difficult to do once we aren't working with citizens stuck working with muskets and rapiers," Juliet said as she looked at Romeo. "Steampunk doesn't have to look rusted and mucky, it can be just as shiny and in touch with nature as anything else. We just have to design it right, incorporate regular technology in with a little extra science for streamlining."

"Better population control too. More advanced civilizations don't overpopulate as quickly compared to their neighbors, meaning less encroaching on the environment, less damage to the planet," Felix said.

"This isn't going to be used on the children, is it?" Minerva asked.

"Only adults. Ages 1 to roughly 22 will not be allowed to have the injection due to the development of the body and brain. If we intended to provide the injection to all, then far more research would be needed to make sure we do not create serial killers," Nikola explained. "That would cause a substantial extension to be tacked onto this endeavor. I doubt anyone would want that. Besides… I'm fairly certain this should be a one-time event, with the conventional education system in place taking over."

Silence filled the room, with all of them agreeing. "Ok, so we're done?" Selene asked. They all seemed to nod.

"One more thing, empress," Nikola said as he looked at Robert, who acknowledged his interruption. "We've mastered the Early Paleolithic Era in all advancements and research." The dev furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"Uh… we're… I mean… what?"

The automaton scientist smirked and clasped his fingers together on the table. "Let me explain. The research stations you had in your inventory, you gave all of them to us. We've put them to good use, improving on old designs. Yes, that may sound useless, at least at first. You must understand, creating a stone dagger that can cut through steel is no small feat. It goes beyond that as well, though. Mastery of that era has provided roughly a five percent boost across all other eras we reach, along with certain effects."

"Wait, five percent… that might not be that large for some situations, but if it causes generators to pump out more power… that's a pretty huge boost in the long run. There's more?" the empress asked.

"Very much so. I sent all of the data involving stone research and its properties to Juliet, every study we initiated. It'll speed up digging tunnels by cutting the time in half, with some interesting designs in stonework for construction."

"It means if we wanted to, could make a fort or a house that could withstand a massive earthquake or a military assault," Juliet jumped in. "It also means new ways to get houses up on better-designed foundations, better placement of plumbing with less need to repair pipes from shifting, new mortar mixtures for bricks, an easier job for my crews or human utility workers."

"I'm sorry, and I know this is awesome, but… how long did this take to get one era maxed?" Selene chuckled out.

Robert almost looked embarrassed. "Ma'am, we're sorry, but there's only so fast those advancements go without some errors jumping into the mix if we push it further. I'm not gonna lie, we used time dilation magic on them already. They _really_ do not like that. Whatever they do in your inventory, trying to enforce new rules on them outside of it tends to cause… bad things. We try to let them work through understanding new material while we focus on other projects. Less… property damage… to the ARC."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, are you saying they blow up if someone tinkers with them?" Will asked, raising his metal eyebrows in astonishment at the science advisor, turning his gaze to the empress.

"That's one way of putting it…" Nikola mumbled out.

"' Going critical' would be more apt," Robert commented. The footage was played in the middle of the table of one such event, locking down the room and encasing it while activating all defensive systems. The whole place rocked from the blast. Just one of the old research stations was like a hydrogen bomb going off of high yield. The same could probably be said of the magic desks Selene used to have to craft specialized inks for magical scrolls or incantation tomes. The security camera actually _glitched_ from the energy warping out in the video.

Selene's eyes were wide. "Good to know. Let's not do that again without warning me first."

"We weren't expecting that to happen at all. There was no indication anything like that would have occurred," Nikola said. "All the same… we'll be a lot more careful with future experimentation on creations of yours in the future, I can promise this."

"Don't uh… don't go tearing holes in reality, ok?"

"We'll do our best to avoid that, empress. All the same, we've now diverted the stations to Middle Paleolithic Era. It'll take a month or two to finish, giving another five percent, but we do wonder what passive improvements it will give us."

The empress had previously thought her creations got passive boosts from her perks, but this was probably the reason behind those stations in the first place. The old research into the grass creating new lubricants for the automaton's joints, new nutrients to feed into other plants, organic pesticides that didn't harm the environment, she had forgotten about all of that after the empire became as large as it had.

The idea of the tech tiers was to give access to whatever needed to be created by the player in Divine Apocalypse, with Selene having everything in the tier each time she upgraded. The main thing she needed to remember was it gave the basic form of it, a boring low-quality piece of equipment that could be improved further. While initial steampunk railguns were powerful, lowering their energy consumption, rate of fire and range could quickly be done in a few research stations. Time was the restrictor for them, and would only increase with each tier. The Information Age, for example, might take years to completely maximize, even if they already had all available tech.

The dev checked on where she'd received time dilation technology, and it was well past Late Extrasolar Era, as well as only speeding up or slowing down time by one microsecond. This was where the research stations would shine, eventually completely outpacing magical spells entirely… unless there were some improvements at the writing desks, of course. "Well, continue on with letting those things do their job. Are we done?"

"I believe there is still need of a discussion for terraforming the next planet we've been sending probes and satellites to," Will said as he brought up another docket. "We could always leave that for another night." They all looked at each other as the empress sat back down.

"I'm gonna stay up anyways for the activation of the elevator. Might as well here this out," she said as the rest did the same. The meeting continued on into the remainder of the night, with Selene calmed down now that everything was falling into place.

 _Meanwhile_

Yuri walked out onto the deck of the ship and looked out onto the open water. In the next two days, they'd be seeing land after two weeks of travel. She was eager to get the job done for the Supreme One, report back what they found. Entoma was sitting on the edge of the upper deck, eating one of her green biscuits and waggling her legs.

"We're almost there," Yuri said as she put her hands on the railing.

"Do you think Ainz-sama will allow me to have some leniency if I accidentally eat one of the locals? We aren't going to know what is intelligent there," Entoma asked.

"Do your best to avoid that if possible. If not, at least do it out of my sight. Perhaps it would be best to wait until we meet one of the other fleets coming behind us."

"Ah, that might be good. But if it's who we've been fighting, won't they just disappear? I hate it when that happens, I can't get a bite to know what they taste like." The arachnoid thought about the army that had soldiers who vaporized on death, possibly returning to their creator to the north. They still didn't know how that was possible, but one thing was for certain: Ainz, their great and all-knowing master, he had far more answers for what was happening than they did. There was a reason for every action he took, and they would loyally follow every order he gave them to the letter.

"Contain your hunger to the food on the ship, sister. If we do well here, this mission will be over before you know it, and we'll back in the glorious Sorcerous Kingdom once again," Yuri replied.

"Very well. What if the locals attack us? I know we'll do our best to keep hidden, but if that eventuality does come to fruition, what do we do?"

"Defend ourselves as expected. If that happens, I do not see an issue with… indulging."

"Ok! I almost want that to occur, but I know Ainz-sama would be unhappy if I did it on purpose." Entoma looked up at the night sky, watching the stars and glowing moon. It was cold outside, with her moving very slowly around the ship. She wasn't enjoying the temperature, but her Dullahan sister was undeterred by the weather.

What she didn't notice was the drone flying high above, watching them and relaying its footage along with a spy satellite and stealth submarine underwater. In the far distance was the second fleet, very much a day behind them and not following the same trajectory, in hopes of finding a new landing point on the new land. One thing was for sure, things were about to get interesting with the next few weeks once the northern army arrived. Yuri only hoped they could find something on this continent that would interest the Supreme One.


End file.
